Speed
James Dean died On Hwy 46 west of Lost Hills ’55 silver Porsche Spyder going too damned fast Drove by there the other day coyote crossed in front of me alive and running fast enough My young cousin, brand new motorbike cross street in Berkeley 1:00 am Just going too damned fast All these years…
Read MoreLeaving
He’d be leaving town soon. He’d be leaving, lightly loaded, on the bus. Two items still to part with: A car with bad breaks, significant steering problems, and bald tires. That poem that ran much longer than Poe would ever allow. Epic. Five hundred pages of it. It was the last of his stuff. After…
Read MoreWindows
There is a window that invites with its invisible rim screenless screen diaphanous curtain ripples in the breeze. The window breathes in and breathes out the inside air and the outside air together and it scatters the light a burst of orange mosaic butterfly wing diffuses sunlight flutters on an exhalation from an indoor exultation.…
Read Morewind telepathy, lost agency, and a barking dog.
the volunteer morning glories sound their single white note, floating on noise-chorus tangled, green audio. flash of goldfinch beneath pale memory, moon yellow butterfly zig-zag flight hardly less than vivid, a crow barks—squalling orders overhead below small aircraft motor bothering the silence. relentless squabble brothers fight again next door, train whistle commentary passage along the silent…
Read MoreCarnival Ride/No Carnival
My first reaction is to put Ben in park while hanging upside down. Ben is my first new car and is in the middle of the road sideways like a plaque clogged artery forcing all movement to stop. The crash was a macabre dance of slow-motion destruction. Front loading washer on the delicate cycle. Passengers…
Read MoreIt Started in Eastham
Your mother believes in Egyptian cotton, eating meat, and a person can never be too thin or rich. Your dad lives in the land of sentiment and poetry and sends chocolates and scented soap. Their bed is white on white with matching comforter and shams. You chose your backpack for contour and cobalt blue pulls…
Read MoreTV SOUND OFF
Lingering closed caption from previous commercial Zales Diamond Store over black & white footage of a rat crawling garbage
Read MoreDad is Inside Mom
Dad is inside Mom. They are so far up each other’s business that Mom engulfs Dad like a sausage casing. They operate in stereo now, in layers. The heft of them, standing on one pair of feet wearing Mom’s blue Keds, takes up space in the kitchen. Stretched and misshapen like an old man’s track…
Read MoreMy Marriage: A Haiku
Love left long ago Recently, I did the same Rebirth is timeless
Read MoreStinging, or Conversation with a Pin
Stinging me—that pin. Caressing you—this curve. Imagine me that night forgetting you this morning. Lulling me, an oversight, goodnight. Alarming you under dark, rough morning. Reminding me of pain, forgetting you for pleasure. Shaming me for denying. Accepting you not believing. Always in a rush, never out of time. Lazy busy me. Enterprising deliberate you.…
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