6/27/13

the thump and rattle
from the basement; lay supine
cradled glass of ice
below, the laundry creaks dry
upstairs two beds stripped faceless

6/26/13

in the unlit room
manila pages gather
the setting sun
faded text and cheap black ink
hold tight a world I've not seen

6/25/13

black sky empties
over this cut in the rock
its broken houses
cowpath streets fill with water
asphalt creekbed, hail, torn leaves

6/24/13

the heat clings thickly
in the darkened house, windows
seeking slim breezes
fish two olives from the jar
respite in the salty brine

6/23/13

I pull weeds barefoot
stacks of plantain and crabgrass
wither in the sun
I leave the buds of purslane
tender red jewels, small kindness

6/22/13

the empty chalet
dark wood and still sooty flues
double-wide doorways
flung to reveal sallow slopes,
parched grass baking in the sun

6/21/13

we move like clockwork
stirring pots, chopping spinach
pressing tortillas
a woman with three heads and
twelve arms, feeding an army

6/20/13

you call the sun out
to perch over my shoulder
the day of your birth
glasses of ice water melt
beside our hands, locked fingers

6/19/13

make the rounds, press hands
as the band comes alive in
a ping pong chorus 
I collar you at the bar
to hand you a slice of cake

6/18/13

lay with silent ease
legs entwined, stacked like cut wood
bellies warm and fed
from one squinted eye your smile
stretches into horizon

6/17/13

hold this absence
like a pulled tooth in your mouth
the gap between houses;
a blank spot on the sidewalk
still casts a shadow

6/16/13

how many footfalls
take us from flattened flood plain
to rocky hilltop
two-hundred cement steps and
the rattle of our pink lungs

6/15/13

thimble of bourbon
on the red porch, lean legs crossed
in a painted chair
night falls in the tree city
headlights and wood knots and us

6/14/13

flip the record, love
or put on something crazy;
let me feel the beat
a line of empty beer cans
stack of empty cardboard sleeves

6/13/13

storm clouds roll by, thick
tongues of moisture, wide
furrows in the sky
plants climb and volley, green shock
to the wet lawn, the grey dusk

6/12/13

erase my footsteps
forget my words, break my teeth
push me out breech-birth
leave me under a toadstool
tonight I curl with the worms

6/11/13

had that dream again
where I cannot see your face
only your thin curls
I whisper to them, how much
you are loved, how you are missed

6/10/13

early morning fog
shrouds this muggy monday ride
into the city
a mayfly corpse curls, thin prawn
in the well of my window

6/9/13

this billy goat girl
ripping vines from the side wall
with flat shoepeg teeth
she grinds stems into green cud
and turns, bleating, in the weeds

6/8/13

there was some trouble
on the way home; the drawn pit
the broken spirit
men are worth their golden weight
but still we catch eyes and doubt

6/7/13

in the darkened bar
the boys throw darts, trade mild barbs
curse the cramped bullseye
they hoist and set their wet mugs
chaining rings on the table

6/6/13

a bounty of leaves
folded and bound; chlorophyll
staining fingernails
wash the grit from the pale root
rip the leaves and make them bleed

6/5/13

cook in the kitchen
barefoot, sway your hips with a
cup of rye and ice
record spinning, hopeless drift
eight-ball avocado pits

6/4/13

a sunny lunch hour
in the park, book propped open
the palm's shallow crook
warm your spine on the cement
brain lurching with bitten words

6/3/13

a head of cabbage
hides a heart-shaped core; he boils
water, stirs the sauce
his polish bride rolls golabki
harmony in the kitchen

6/2/13

clusters of houses
fairy-rings of beige mushrooms
bloom in fallow fields
doors locked, shades pulled tight to blind
blank faces of behemoths

6/1/13

in a sunny field
wine mingles, glass is broken
under the groom's heel
the bride laughs, her chair hoisted
by a sea of loving hands

5/31/13

ancient rockface, wet
with spring water, braids thick woods
to the pebbled cliff
blue mountains recede behind
acres of empty ozone

5/30/13

spiderweb glasscracks
and the amber rush of rye
puddling below
the head-sore heat of the room
ruined bottle on the bed

5/29/13

my new favorite song
the sugar in my coffee
sleepy morning kiss
simple wednesday pleasures, joy
the art of proximity

5/28/13

I pray on the wings
of bus rides and coffee shops
street-corner glances
I pray to the god of names
to put mine in your strange mouth

5/27/13

majestic zero
day of anthills and tv
fridge door swung open
I melt into the couch-weave
worthless hours, humbled body