Nesting

Boudoir branches
Avian dreams
Back and forth
between green leaves.

Eat the gnats
that mill in swarms.
Tiny swirling circles.

Cry my cry
though know
one comes
Can birds sigh?
If so, I'm one.

Alright Altar Boy

Alright, Altar Boy
of the worst
sacramental misgivings
shibboleth fire
transvestite kisses

Nibble on
a loaf of bread
as you kneel
on the curb

How to invoke the gods:

Tentacle dreams of untold night
the notches of my spine collide
the muscles tighten cross my back
the tingling speaks to what I lack
Flaming flame of seaborn spheres
the struggling fish assuage my fears
the tightening net the struggle binds
the black-eyed bruises
the slack-jawed wife.
Oft told, the wants that starve the needs
The beaten traveler strikes his steed
The craggy sailor cuts his beard
The captive swimmer swimming far
From aft to end to fore to yaw
And still the lure accepts the stock
the hook yearns for a fleshy jaw
the traveling sailor shoots his wife,
the cephalopodan stiff, the night

I cut my hand
on a piece of glass
from a broken
wine bottle that you smashed
We tried to drink
what remained inside
behind the old construction site
The cops walked past
but never guessed
the violence of
that night
When you took my
hand and didn't
notice
the blood in the
street's cold light

The Philosopher

I bet she's a lot of fun naked.

She has a way with money
She never seems to care
Put me in your wallet, dear
So I fall out
along with change
loose receipts
lint
Put my on your bookshelf
The one in your office
with the rams head busts
carved out of stone

Atmospheric Perspective

Unrelenting gusts
leaf through my hair
earth presses against
the weight of my step

I cry, I cry
through a
silver sieve
(plated)
Drip drops
the wine:
Tannic victory

Atmospheric phases
of mist
twinged bright
across the lanterns
tacked fog
to fog
to eyelids,
misty cheeks,
perspective

Lady of the rocks
thy immaculate cave
offers no shelter.

Distant figures
forms
compose themselves
for you
a gust reveals
a calm
conceals

Retreat

Instant
retreat as slick as your hair
Custer should have been
so brave.
The Alamo always falls
Carthage is always razed
And no one can recall
Sweet Cassandra's gaze.

The Propheteer

Within map lost

and without

no home

but home what home

Port Passage grant

me the silver bell;

one of the glimmering set.

A door is opened, room revealed

a mattress of corn husks

a pillow of fur

a cup, full yet with

still-warm petals, still

So take me to the diorama

Bring me

To waltz under full

halogen moon

full halo of a moon

Stalled memory

of my favorite melody

or was it tune

Just can't recall

I don't collect, recollect, collect

collect

So Once

Autumn would have me

among the somber rushes

and blusters, gales,

and saffron leaves and;

Toward the rose horizon

Refracted

Twice the beam

wavers and shakes

And the cold glow

Bathes us both.

The Hits

Under the door a

footstep echoes

followed by another

and so forth

Whistle bright

whistle slow

As the hits

drew nearer

We got the beat, yeah.

We got the sliver

under the door

through the blinds

Across the sheet

And so forth

the echo fades