Speed

speed poem

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…

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Leaving

leaving short story

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…

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Windows

windows poem

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.…

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wind telepathy, lost agency, and a barking dog.

wind telepathy lost agency and a barking dog poem

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…

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Carnival Ride/No Carnival

carnival ride no carnival poem

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…

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It Started in Eastham

it started in eastham poem

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…

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TV SOUND OFF

tv sound off poem

Lingering closed caption from previous commercial Zales Diamond Store over black & white footage of a rat crawling garbage

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Dad 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…

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Stinging, or Conversation with a Pin

stinging or conversation with a pin poem

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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