the tabernacle chorus.

make yourself a martyr
ashen faced lover
can not scream in-your-slumber.

find yourself concerned
half-way filled with cancer
does this feel better?

these eccentricities will evaporate
no need to drown in impetus
just try to stay awake
keep your head
above water long enough
to release the rust

when you see land
crawl through exhaustion
here comes fruition
(a new decision)
make,
make,
make a new life.
new steps,
new strife.
find this all complete
and untarnished.

the rest for the museum
cobwebbed mausoleum
forget-it, it's forgiven.
see you smile again.

leaving berkeley

fogbank engulfed
the tops of the buildings
and i thought of whom
next to
i'd like to be sitting
as being stuck in traffic
is a perfect time for laughter
for squeezing fingers
for being sober
and high off eachother.

ambrosia found.

and it tastes of honey
a nectar to harbor
peace for these fingers
from constant disaster
peace for this spirit
peace here forever.

real hope.

did they tell you about it?
did they make it seem worth it?
if you tie your shoes properly
you'll fall no more.
if you find trusting easily,
you'll trust no more.
if you make love accordingly
if you fill it with everything
adhere to your honesty
this will be yours.

and you are?

the words so good i could not write them
see them outlined
in any fashion
by any context clues
or font and colour
what is
is perfect
so i'll be silent.

heliotint

if i place the sun just right
to accentuate the axis
and cast your long shadow
gracefully on it
to make your limbs longer
so that they might
traverse this earth
and make the space between
non-existant.

footprints in the clouds.

privvy to insist
this peacefulness
has a right to exist

intending to enter
said methodical wonder
drop all doubt
and swim in it's splendor.

a jar. open.

old and wise
as i can be
i'll swear to you
that i have seen:
angels with smiles bigger then mountains
eyes that erase years of discomfort
hearts that are purer than de Leon's fountain
all woven together to make one person.

candid chivalry

stare at me from clouds
ashen locks wisping loose
surrounding a soft,
steep climb to
green seas above
flustered structures.

(a month later,)
(to rise from this slumber)
(trace all these lines)
(drink from these fountains)

backing out of treaties

clinton goes to harlem
to stay in the news
the new guy wants
a 'protective blanket' (to tuck us in)
from missiles
in a desert far far away
that won't come today
but could any day
so we need to feel safe
and this blanket will work
as any blanket does
for children
who cover
their heads...



02.14.01.

on the tines of an empty fork

stare at walls watching them bennnnnnnd
stand on the outside tryin to get in
there are people in the walls
i can almost see
their skin

trying to slowly starve myself thin
stand on the outside trying to get in
it's harder than it looks to
get in the walls
and live

i am peeking through the cracks
it's black n full of cobwebs
plaster chips n nails n shit
n i could get in
if i didnt have ribs
or maybe if this head of mine
wasn't so big...


04.22.01.

tobbaco seppuku

the ashtray stares at me
like a forest felled to extinction
mountainous grey ash with brown stumps protruding
allows me to chart my progress
shows me just how much work it is
killing myself
but what other form of suicide
is so legal?


08.11.02.

scene_53 (in haiku)

above mirrored lake
the face, cadmium yellow
studies her regrets.


06.09.02.

to the girl beneath the rising sun, when my letters grew scarce

sometimes i look out my window
watching the sun set
thinking i can see Japan
thinking i can see you, smiling.


04.28.94.

maturity prayer

want to be big
no worries
smiles and paint and music
want to tower
cast a shadow
on the globe
block out the sun
moon in paper bag
iced down n cold
stuck on a pole
tired and old.


09.10.01.

sharp

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhshe eminates odors
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhshe's ravenous,
mad
i'll curse her
tomorrow
with distance, she asks
a shove in
the backside
keeps most beasts
a w a y
i'm tattered
i'm lonely
i've nothing
to say
i hope
i can break her
or make her
my clay
i hope
i can tame her
contain her
or blame her
i
only
could touch her
with fingers
with eyes
i
only
could leave her
to keep her
inside
i
only
c' cleave her
to keep her
my knife.

(blank nails resting on the tin floor)

when begins begin

when you arrive
could you just pause time
so that you'd never
have to leave?

waking up.

dissolved the asymmetry
the randomness lined up
and made to order
the everything is coming
the everything is coming
days and nights soon filled
with silence and screaming
and
oh, god
it's happening
theraputic somethings
arms all latched together
and wondering
why you waited so long
to realise what life was supposed to be
contented happy
and arms for wrapping
lungs for breathing
and hands for holding.

failed disdain

you are the smile i forgot i had
the happy i thought i lost somehow
and i
i am the home you thought forbidden
the placid domain that kept itself hidden

and all these wishes
wishes no more.
just the truth.

mesquite ohs.

the differences
and space between
encourages salty brows
and this semi-gleam
if it takes traversing
a quarter of the world
to make this better
i will.

what can your city do?

my city is a magician
mine can disappear.
my city gets eaten by clouds
when twilight is near.

what can your city do? (part 2)

i drive daily
over these hills
and without fail
am amazed
by what i see.

a perfect.

he only told them stories
and thought that they would keep them
he only wanted glory
for everyone around him
something just like happy
but never thought it'd happen
his own little secret
close enough to keep it
never thought he'd live it...

(had all life been this gleaming)
(a repository of flawless)
(would those moments hold breath)
(or would you even notice)

smiles in the dark. (supposition)

this heart savvy
this heart no longer sore
these dreams no longer blemished
this life demanding more

imagination all rampant
insinuating more
finding it all perfect
and all to be enjoyed.

do not disturb

don't touch the handle
there are sleeping angels
so let them dream of eachother
and when they wake
to gaze at one another
find these moments
perfect together.

a martyr.

sliced all his fingers off
so he couldn't bring them in
into his pockets
for fear of helping again
grasping these appendages round
money he didn't have
healing the others
ignoring his own scabs
so just grab the tourniquet
to stop these bleeding hands.

dawn of never

calamity is all in perception
just like services rendered
and your needy complexion
but when i put down
my washingtons and franklins
to support a family
which was never mine
due to your lack of interest
in being a man
it makes that part of me
the friendly involving thing
die.