Month: January 2016

Alas

once you

put on

an inner tube

(xs, small, medium, large, XL, XXL, XXXL)

it’s hard as

to get it off

suctioned there

at the waistline

you carry it

round

as if you were in

your first three trimesters

what a sobering thought

(especially if you’re a guy)

so, there you are

hopping around

from one foot to the other

wriggling and jiggling

pushing and pulling

trying your best

to pry it off

wondering when

or if

it’ll ever deflate

so you can finally

swim free

and clear

of the plastic

lap for lap

flip over on your back

and float

then dripping wet

emerge from the waves

like a sculpture

like a Greek goddess

that has shed her toga

and doesn’t mind being painted

in the nude

TL

Receipt

the cat

was waiting

for a pat

for he’d

brought me

a bird

a little brown bird

and he knows

how I love birds

and I’ve tried to tell him

that I prefer them

in a tree

or on the breeze

but he just stares at me

puzzled

for he’d

brought me

a bird

a little brown bird

and he knows

how I love birds

TL

Mere

people wait

for miles

to stand

at the foot

of a mountain

and take a puff

and look around

a tree

find its leaves

in light

they sit at streams

and stack pebbles

and pretend

as the faucet runs

without a handle

down the fall

making bubbles

that spill over

the side

and when

they get back

to concrete things

like clothes

and shoes

and handles

that turn

hot to cold

they look around

TL

A Turtle

it may not

summit the cliff

like a lion

or break the horizon

like an eagle

or quake the ground

like an elephant

or rush the wind

like a giraffe

or swing from trees

 like a chimpanzee

or eyeball limbs

like a gator

or circle a ship

like a shark

or slip the night

like a panther

or rip the roots

like a bear

or run the land

like a horse

no, it might not

be a beast

not even close

but it’s determined

to get where it’s going

if it’s headed out to sea

it takes no shortcut

if it’s headed across the street

it takes its chances

if it sets its course

it stays it

sand or sea

grass or leaves

storm or no

might take it time

a little like a lifetime

to get where it’s going

but there’s no quit

under the armor

might not make it across

never even stand a chance

but a turtle

a hard-shell turtle

will die trying

TL

Beheld

I watched

a flower fold

its color drained

and the dress it wore

a ruffled puddle on the floor

unzipped at the seam

the stem above ground

at loss

without blush

TL

Shifting

on a frozen breath

held like a lake

when the sun

touches ice

a matchstick scrape

bled against the grain

a flickered flame

the stick its last smoke

rises to the cloud

nearest the sun

TL

Overcome

wanted to cry

on a Wednesday

but didn’t have time

so, I laughed

instead

TL

Vivid

woke up

late

dreaming weird

dreams

and I never dream

much

just she

and me

in the car

a blue car

had just

put our clubs

in the back

and got in

but instead of

going forward

we started slipping

back

slowly back

and kept moving

backwards

but we weren’t

anywhere near a course

we were on the hunting land

and we were lost

down this long dirt road

rolling back

further and further

and then the car

in movie slow-mo

flipped over

and landed on

all fours

and kept rolling

slowly backwards

until it finally stopped

in the middle of nowhere

and we got out

and I made a cell phone call

and then I heard a man

clear his throat

from a shack in the woods

and I told her

quick! get back in the car

then I woke up

weird, huh

TL

Consumption

a plate

is put down

between the fork

the knife and spoon

napkin and stem

a glow of light

shadows the room

a scent of softness

brings the shade

chairs slide back

and forth

the stem sips

the plate is raked

the napkin tossed aside

the fork, the knife, the spoon

at rest

all go down into the sink

the washer

scrubbed and polished

and well-used

TL

Depth

I hold out

my hand

to touch

the snow

a fallen flake

hard edges

melting all the while

it won’t ever be

as it was

in the air

wandering

taken on the map

of my palm

it streams

past the pyramids

where the wild horses run

skimming the shores of Siberia

back to Baikal

TL