Three Rays
the chair
sat empty
at a table
seating six
moments of
silence
mixed with
hilarious eruption
the five
rocked back
to the tune of three
a broken record
they tend to play
over and over and over
never tired
of the notes
the golden notes
of days
they bask
in its ray
and pocket it
away
for when the sun
don’t shine
and the moon and stars
are somewhere else
instinctively
they know
each of them
they know
batteries can die
if you don’t
keep ‘em charged
so they stay
plugged-in
TL
Appa
he was
what he was
my first love
and i met him
in an airport
in New York
on a rainy, windy day
in the middle of
November
and i didn’t know
who he was
or what he’d say
or if it even mattered
and it didn’t matter
much at all
nothing mattered
but the moment
that moment when
he looked at me
and i him
and everything else
fell away
and i was
all there was
or ever would be
and we got
on that plane
together
and he held me
all the way
and we never spoke
but i could hear him say
all these things
to me
he kept telling me
all these things
and i just
looked at him
as he said these things
these jumbled, rumbled, tumbled
things
that ran together like a sing-along
and i just sat and listened to the song …
his house
he says
is mine
the room
upstairs
is blue
the little wooden bed
is where i’ll rest my sleepy head
the books against the wall
some are short
some are tall
like the dolls with their hair
some are short
some are tall
like the dresses
and the heels
the records
round and round
like the dogs
and their barking
some are short
some are tall
like the tweets
in the cage
like the snowflakes
on the shield
the sword
like the memory
of that moment
the length of all these years
with him, without him
some are short
some are tall
and i saw him
two times more
in an airport
that 5th grade summer
that college freshman break
and both times were
short and tall
TL
Pings
the sensation
of sound
can carry you
back
to infancy
and forth
to sedentary
pots clanging
the show on television
the door opening
… closing
the spoon scraping
the bowl
the dog barking
people talking
the rain falling
the wind blowing
the AC clicking
the heater switching
the washers running
the phone ringing
Granny singing
somebody laughing
somebody crying
the chair pushed back
the page turned down
the footsteps in the hall
the hand on your head
the pat on your back
the kiss on your cheek
the memories you keep
the alarm buzzing
the shower sting
the crank of the car
the tread
stopping-turning-gliding
put it in park
get out and walk
daylight
to
moonlight
TL
She Is
when it comes
to tangible
things
and though
pleasing
surprising
thoughtful
they were
and thankful
I was
it is
an altogether
indescribable
amazing
thing
to open
crumpled packages
taped and tied
and she’s helping you
open them
birthdays
Christmas
Mother’s Day
Valentine’s Day
Any Day
she’s helping you
open them
can’t wait
for you
to see
what all
she picked out
for you
special
in her room
among her
most favorite treasured things
and she could
love, love, love
the locket
or the music box
or the peach tinged rose
or the silver broken butterfly wing
or the neon marker
or the mouse that jabbers and zags
or the Mexican maracas
or the monkey that jumps out of his box
or the rocks she found in the river that day
or the heart shaped paperweight
or the mustache pen
or really quite anything
that was given
or kept
or loved a whole lot
this is what
she wraps up
in crumpled paper
taped and tied
for me
to open up
TL
“Master Builder”
she brought
to me
a little Lego tree
on a little piece
of grass
attached to a strip
of sand
that was
attached to a strip
of sea
and said,
“see … that’s a tree
and that’s the grass
and that’s the sand
and that’s the umbrella
in the sand
like at the beach
and that blue part’s
the ocean …”
TL
Fighting Fish
and I forget
how long
but it’s been years
since we
bought him
on a whim
at that pet store
down the street
found him sitting
on a shelf
with a ton of other
fish
sitting in the same
boat
his speck eyes
sizing us up
and we agreed
he’s the one
and she held him
careful
in her backseat booster
all the way home
but the best part
was that moment
when
we lifted the plastic lid
off that container
and poured him out
into a big bowl
of water
and watched him
swim
and he did
a backstroke
and a butterfly
and scuba-dived
and looked at us
through his glass goggles
and winked
with those speck eyes
TL
Did
he sat
beside me
and smiled
like he does
and asked
“so, what’d you do today?”
like he already knows
what I’ll say
and at first
I thought about
saying
what he already knew
I’d say
“nothing.”
but for some
reason
I said
something
“well, this morning
I wrote a poem
and watched a hummingbird
fly
and let the dogs out
and let the dogs in
and fed the cat
and gave the baby rabbit a bottle
and changed the bird’s water and food and laid a fresh sheet
and did the same for the white rabbit
and dropped 4 pellets in the Betta bowl
and put the dishes in the washer
and the clothes
and waited on the Queen
and made a cake
the bed
her read
and worked out
and watched her nuke a burrito
and cut it up
and cleaned up Kool-Aid
the toilet
the crumbs
the counter
and watched
“wax on, wax off”
and cooked macaroni
and baked chicken
and put the laundry away
and taught her how to do
a jumping round-house kick
and played some music
and moved to it
and tried to find the UFC fight
for Saturday night
and let the dogs out
and let the dogs in
and fed the cat
and gave the baby rabbit a bottle
and put the dishes up
the pen down”
TL
Emersion
the cloud
above
tore like cotton
in my hand
like marshmallows
in hot water
getting smaller
dissolved
like bubbles beaded
in a bath
getting lighter
dispersed
like foam fingers
on a wave
getting closer
diffused
the print
battered in sand
burned
TL
Facets
there is
a silver stream
that trickles
through a village
and weaves its way
through town
and country
and state lines
covers continents
and boarders and walls and fences
over mountains
sea and air
it seeps into the street
through doors
and windows and bars
can get at anything
anywhere
at anytime
the armored man
the strongest woman
no difference
in the pocket
or the purse
the silver drops
the same
TL
Seeker
just yesterday
the train whistle
blew through
Opelika, Alabama
wherein lies
Historian Henry Stern
TL
Drift
the distant
rumble
reverberates
the ripple
a drop effect
of summer
saturated in sheets
hung out
on the line
to dry
like the bills
of bark
that fall
and scatter
in circular motion
picked up
like a sail
TL
Mortal
if it meant
she could
she would
she’d suit him up
and send him
high
straight for
the magic pie
that Armstrong ate
the slice that made him
dance on air
and nothing was hard
up there
like it was down here
where a maze of medicine
can slow it
not stop it
and she knows those
who’ve been there
who are there
but it’s different
when it’s your door
and the kids are yours
and they don’t know
what you know
and how can you explain
what you haven’t yourself
only that
we but live
of us all
on a watch
of gold
not ours
to wear
and so it is
and so it was
and so it will be
for we are
what we are
not born
of this
lest we forget
from time to time
He will remind
TL
No More
he looked up
with those sad droopy-eyes
and almost caved
but steeled myself
and turned away
two’s enough
no more dogs
no more rabbits
no more birds
woke up
the next day
to a tiny panther
and she looked up
with those bright yellow eyes
and said, “step aside”
so now I say
no more dogs
no more rabbits
no more birds
no more cats
TL
White Dove
Sam i am
was a quiet man
who talked a lot
about simple things
like where to put the comma
in a sentence
he’d call me up
close to midnight
to make sure
and I loved him for that
for caring that much
about that
dog tired
and red-rimmed
he never gave in
put himself in their shoes
he understood the product
the first-read
and nobody knew
out there
but I like to think
they did
just didn’t know it
all those years
’til that morning
when they were left
wondering
what was missing
something was missing
somewhere between the line
the day Sam i am
turned off his lamp
put down his red pen
and never called me again
TL
Baby Blues
she’ll get in
her car
and drive
and maybe she’ll
put on some music
and maybe she won’t
she’ll be hot
from the run around
and crank the AC up
full blast
so she won’t mess
her makeup up
but it won’t be the sweat
she has to worry with
she’ll stop at the light
and wait for it
to change
and she won’t see
the scene
in the shield
the grass, the trees
automatic movement
she might take a sip
if she has a cup
and her cell might ring
and she’ll pick it up
and probably answer
and depending on
who it is
she’ll talk or won’t
and the closer she gets
to the brick
the further she’ll go
inward
so the outward
will be light and bright
and ready for hugs
and “welcome back”
and repeat questions
and repeat answers
and she’ll laugh
like she does
and show pictures
and it’ll be ok
‘cause she knows
the clock on the wall
never stops
and being busy
makes it tick faster
so she’ll stay busy
and when it’s time to go
she’ll get in
her car
and drive
back to him
TL
Tourist
there’s this
segment series
new
that comes on
T.V.
between Redemption
and Flay
and I record ‘em all
and watch ‘em
when it’s just me
play
rewind
pause
and the kimchi
burns my eyes
TL
Ballerina
still has
glitter
on the toe
this small slipper
gold
spray painted
for the show
it turned
a kid
from nowhere
into a star
somewhere
TL
Pilot
the trees
stood uniform
in passing fields
of golden hay
still and strong
untouched by man
or natural disaster
their grand simplicity
made perfect
in ladder limbs
brimmed in giant tears
that brush against
the feathered bird
that lights upon its rung
to rest a bit
before it up and takes off
and flies
over yonder
TL
Knowledge
don’t you know
what don’t you know
i know i don’t know …
that’s what i know
then you know
what you need to know
TL
Danaus Plexippus
they have
but a month
or so
to live
before
they die
and so
they fly
across
blue sky
and kiss
the forehead
of a flower
and travel trunks
to land the lofty leaf
nearest the light
that’s why their wings
get burnt
why they get thirsty
and drink all the dew
in Mexico
and if spotted
by a child
they might
linger there
for a beat
or two
less there’s a net
or the jail of a jar
or a greedy grab
then it’s like
they were never there
at all
for Monarchs know
when to stay
when to go
they live
as if they know
they only have
but a month
or so
TL