7/27/13

smell of creek water

clings to my hair like algae

waving, rock-bound rust

I slip under the surface

feet pressed against the furred stones

7/26/13

the sun sets hotly
singeing weeds, blinding hillsides
baking the gray dust
in the cool of the castle
stray winds run through the courtyard

7/25/13

kitchen addition
our childish spaghetti
swift nick of chili
greens and garlic; our palates
carved to spoon fruit of the earth

7/24/13

the sun rose, brand new,

like it wasn't tired of this

sour old up and down

stand under the fresh circuit

feel the first rays fall to earth

7/23/13

dark morning hour
the thumb of nightfall still pressed
to the sleeping streets
the moon slips from the sky, a drunk
vanishing from a bar stool

7/22/13

my keeling ship, ten
feet of rope to lash my hands
to the shaking wheel
adrift in this wild sea
I grit my teeth and pull north

7/21/13

spillage of small stones
pastel houses cloaked with vines
cracked concrete, wild weeds
streets coil and branch, endless
as days fall to wet evenings

7/20/13

drum beats, heartbeats, sweat
thighs shake, muscle and sinew
grinding to the noise
the thin sling of a whistle
cuts through like a laser beam

7/19/13

my two-ton head, squared
as an anvil, pounded smooth
by hosts of hammers
I drag it across the room
the dead weight, the crooked neck

7/18/13

the flat hand of heat
clamped over our mouths; dim noon,
the oven's belly
ice dwindling in a glass
dish of cold grapes furred with frost

7/17/13

grease-soaked paper bags
chinese take out, white boxes
the curl of red ink
we spoon rice on the front porch;
husband and wife of three years

7/16/13

air a cubic mile
chain of dew suspended,
creeping swelter wall
clouds roll on tank tracks, hover
heavy and deadly, bad men

7/15/13

piano wire nest
on the hot sidewalk, hammers
and pins like lost eggs
the rotting carapace, smashed
mahogany funeral

7/14/13

sun leaks through curtains
pulled tight to blind this house
the still dark air within
an avocado stem shimmies
in the breeze of a box fan

7/13/13

in this tin-roof bar
we unwind the evening hours
over bunts and runs
baskets of popcorn, cold beer
the bat cracks, we stand to leave

7/12/13

inversion of two
your wonderless passage home
my keen displacement
race down city streets solo
eyes glued to your graffiti

7/11/12

crack the spines, white scars
and yellowed pages, dog-eared
creases of affection
stack these treasures, brittle leaves
and the scent of vanilla

7/10/13

the sky broke open
let loose a thousand clenched fists
on the morning streets
punch-drunk and soaked, we scrambled
for bus doors, our mouths agape

7/9/13

smoke-hued feathers
plumes of steel, red-earth and lead
layer in disarray
patchwork tussle of pigeons
stabbing beaks at spilled breadcrumbs

7/8/13

eyes peeled open, raw
from gummy half-sleep, clenched hours
adrift in a dark room
my head is filled with stuck gears
gauze and words I keep from you

7/7/13

we perch, tenterhooked
on the lip of darkness, deep
black ocean trenches
our eyes hoist flags, plunge curtains
scramble to form blind order

7/6/13

thrift store bric-à-brac
chipped saucers and stone kittens
pink pasteboard boxes
glass bottles with a thick inch
of syrupy pine cologne

7/5/13

coffee on the steps
painting my toenails in the
early morning sun
my unlit house is full
of silence and sleeping men

7/4/13

the sweating alley
bricks baked red, hissing steam
from sweat drops, spilled beers
aunties and uncles make time,
share seats, mouths lined with years

7/3/12

the dim bulb glows orange
in the darkness, filament
a thread of lava
we talk in shadows, glasses
sweating under summer stars

7/2/13

woodsmoke and cured meat
the scent is everywhere, curls
through parted curtains
cicada sunset, cool dark
graveyard full of fireflies

7/1/13

overnight green stems
thrust up, thick and verdant, sweep
out in search of sun
turn the pot, hear hymns of praise
drifting from the knotted roots

6/30/13

inkwell sky, lightning
flashes of neon, rumbing
mechanical churn
hoist my charm in the midway
he takes a photo, laughing

6/29/13

standing in a lot
hands deep in dirt, tangle of
weeds at my wet feet
rain-swollen clouds perch above
threaten mildly, cross house cats

6/28/13

sky crowded with stars
wall of buildings stand sentry
flush us to water
we fight our way upstream, swift feet,
bridge muddled with people