9/30/13

the maestro leering,
scissored teeth, his crimeboss mug
lined as a flattened palm
pull my sway to his orbit
the curve of his fat belly

9/29/13

split the thick rind
wedge the slit with knives
hands turned into claws
pull the flesh from its cracked shell
golden strands, seeds like white pearls

9/28/13

backyard fence slung with
ivy and white flowers, lights
bobbling on a string
dusk finds us pulled into rings
pressing words to opened hands

9/27/13

electric spiral
births all-knowing zygote drain
suns bloom new, decay
amid checkerboard chaos
lapsed synapse, newly-fused path

9/26/13

the blue-black morning
echos with my cadence:
measured fall of feet,
monotonous sawing of
weak lungs, throat choked with effort

9/25/13

cracks in the sidewalk
crawl with chicory, the last
flowers of the season
fall singes the knotted stems
blushes scarlet the leaf tips

9/24/13

slip under water
tilt back your head, silver throat
open to the sky
your humble stance, legs askew
sweet vulnerability

9/23/13

the evening stillness
broken by a pipe knocking
in the basement wall
upstairs the cat migrates from
bed to bed, her cotton steps

9/22/13

in the coal cellar
the cat snuffs, pawing boxes
touching cold concrete
she probes the perimeter
tail hung with cobwebs and dust

9/21/13

the day's rain, endless
dangling streamers of grey crepe
and shuttered windows;
at sunset a lone pink beam
sets fire across the river

9/20/13

benzaldehyde whiff
dizzy from butter's richness
and the soaring heat
sheet after sheet of cookies
hearts and wreaths to seal their love

9/19/13

the thunder of blood
and I'm blinded by the bloom
of stark white sheets
gnawing feeling that never
subsides, never stills my hands

9/18/13

I part the dark room
with one outstretched hand, grasping
for the bed corner
folding my body for sleep,
I find you, I always do

9/17/13

the embrace of sleep
two soft arms bearing respite
and a yard of rope,
manacles, a pillowcase
to bind my head, and strange dreams

9/16/13

cigarillo puff
floating down the sidewalk, thick
as a man's bare chest
small cloud and I, side by side,
neighbors in the autumn air

9/15/13

velvet galaxy
a milky way of strung beads
and tarnished chainlink
lustrous stars, facets burned warm
where the sun stroked their faces

9/14/13

run, wooden horses
the up-down levers wheezing
in the jewel-lit dark
noses flared, wild eyes all white
spooked team bolting in circles

9/13/13

suspended amid
the brick, an open cypher
of a window frame
and there, behind gauze curtains,
the smooth line of a boy's back

9/12/13

sky shook down on us
stifling mornings, the cruel heat
waves of roaring rain
she shook us to the same corner
serendipitous junction

9/11/13

my hand's swollen hinge
bust knuckle leaned to one side
with queasy indifference
coddle the ruined joint, prop it
against its neighbor's backbone

9/10/13

iris in the weeds
lush low of purple on dusk
blooming unbidden
she sits frozen at the bus stop
her blank face, her bruised eye

9/9/13

push back the worn vine,
scavenge the wind-fall harvest
marked with black loam
toothed flesh of the fruit, crisp bite
bloomed to sweetness' embrace

9/8/13

back to the warren
we pull close, memories of
warm food and cold hands:
the last false days of summer
sweat through the open window

9/7/13

these neon caverns
lush with painted women, booze
spilled on a bass beat
pull to the corner, notice
the plaster holes, ripped duct tape

9/6/13

five hours, I remained
still as a granite obelisk
parting sun from shadow
the hours pass unbidden
under the hands of my task

9/5/13

shirtless with his scars
wry mouth, ink-flecked fingernails
drinking flat piss beer
a crown for this slouchy king, lord
of hard years and nothingness

9/4/13

the chill prick of fall
slides through the slatted fan blades,
collects in the corners
I wake, half-frozen, feet curled
in the thin refuge of blanket

9/3/13

light spilled off the table
and puddled, honey pools
blushing the worn boards
I tug the curtain half-mast,
hide in the lip of darkness

9/2/13

each exhale chained a twin
syncopated lungs panting out
clipped bruised breaths
a dark spiral opened within
and I curled as if in death

9/1/13

we dine in treetops
emerald ceiling bowed to touch
the rim of your plate
concierge of cicadas
plucked chords of spiderweb prey

8/31/13

stacks of cracked spines, slung
cheek to cheek on sagging shelves
some wet afternoon
your cough, heard across the room
tugging the sleeve of my heart