Friday, April 30, 2010

Chance Meeting


he walked toward the same couple he had seen before

he shouted where it was possibly a mistake to shout

but they turned toward him, apparently friends

the woman came to him and put her hand into his own

she said that she'd had no chance before and then became herself

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Weird Tale

he had returned from the future

and demanded, forcefully,

a pencil, inspecting it from

back to front and around again

in ten seconds we were

visible and standing beside

the very dark out of

which we had been turned

he opened his chest and took out the night

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

$2 Bill

she tended to make a big noise about things

like the time the guy followed alongside her

as she walked home from work and dropped a

two-dollar bill at her feet when they came

to a cross-walk.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Cold Spell

cold came back last

year or thereabouts
he looked it up and

almost yelled but

in something like that

discretion is best

in order to immerse

himself more and more

his condition an exaggeration

and waking with some difficulty

he reached up and caught her,

persuading her

during those days after

on the loose, ever after

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Duel


Then the gentleman smiled

Reminiscing on past faces

His distrust vanished

Apparent to him that

I was no challenge

Saturday, April 24, 2010

First, Beautiful


She hugged his body.

He rolled over
empty cans.

She sobbed
about his body.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Down the Middle


i tried to stop the pressure

tongue hanging wet, she

apologized

we would lie against houses

down the middle

he could not

tear his eye away

we kissed

quiet, at last

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A Question


trouble, do you need

us, all shades of restlessness &
delicate nuances of

lamentations, we are but
the ethical absolute,

an inflection given to words, well
aware of our sticky
barefeet?

do you need us?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

What About the Sun?


he's mad enough at society
what about the sun

if she may be then still
come too late to greet

with his hands and a brick
pounding a beat still dark
outside the window

Monday, April 19, 2010

Spy Story

choked, gagged
his chest of drawers
toppled on top
consulted by dialing
"worth a try"
soon they appeared
turned forward to read
the foreign trade
unquestioned report

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Avoidance

somewhat delayed that morning

you returned to find her sleepless

at the kitchen table ready and

waiting to end the avoidance

you've heard, seen and been

everything and everywhere


but positively not someone

comfortable with being where

and who you happen to be

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Summer, Washington University in Saint Louis

five smokers outside in a circle
four boys and a lone girl
in black and white stripes

one guy shuffles his feet and paws
at the ground with his right foot
like a horse, a stallion, a randy
thoroughbred

the girl swings her arms in front of her
back and forth until she suddenly

hugs herself tightly and then
explosively un-hugs herself and then

she begins to swing her arms again
and the next guy in the circle
begins to shuffle and paw

Friday, April 16, 2010

The Turning

then she turned toward him

shouting out the phrases
so it seemed to him that

she had closed the door on all

the questions he had voiced

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Cool Poem


when lester young --

the president of the saxophone --

said "i'm cool" he meant

nothing was wrong -- nobody was

going upside his head -- and

he had his sunglasses on

so he could see you better

[for Joel Dinerstein]

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Calendar

what the fuck
am i supposed to
do with a sci-
fi date like
twenty-ten?

Monday, April 12, 2010

A Queer Kind of Virgin

Slowly pulling her downward
Curious most curious
Recalling the boy’s face
As much as his balls
Nude, small form
Rocking on his heels
Relax, holding
Legs and arms slack
Once, twice; her body
Her shoulders and arms
Powerfully stroking
And then letting his cock
Dribble on her breast

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Youth Is Wasted

but quite determined he scaled the
banks of the universe arriving to make
what he feared cease to exist in an
an instant, he often asked his friends:
under what circumstances are you
known?
Since the young so often
shift, so they want
an ample shielding, a
full cavity so much

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Camera Obscura

You make a pin-hole camera
from an old cardboard box
with film stuck inside at one end
and a hole pricked in the other

You uncover the hole and
light streams in exposing
the film and then magic
and science work it out
and a picture is made

Exposure of the film to light
can be minutes
not seconds or even
fractions of seconds
more than time enough

The still is captured sharply
but the moving
blurs and becomes
indistinct

After your camera is made
someone says
hey, let's make a picture of us
fucking

And so you do and the picture
shows skin on skin, yes
but neither bulging veins
nor butterfly labia
are revealed and clearly
no penetration is revealed

On the periphery but not out of sight
captured in their quotidian glory are
a broom and a dustpan full
it is true

Friday, April 9, 2010

Sins of Omission

up after a moment of

laying in bed wondering

money has to be dispersed

owed to a list of general

strangers desiring to

get a few leads.
information neither created
nor destroyed.
revision of characteristics

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Poontang

"poontang, poontang" the girls chant

sitting in a circle as luna doles out the goods

i sit listening happy with my wine

ecstasy supposedly but cat -- cathy to family

-- later reports that it was more like speed keeping

her up all night watering plants in the dark

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Salesmen

stone the free-wheeling
a proposal; an action
neither man wants to compete
though to get a few leads
they had absorbed
a set of instructions
this and the spacer button
factions were taken over
an "L" and a "A"
and then it's every man
for himself!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Myth

rubbing his eyes, hercules saw
nessus' hooves as he turned
to carry deianira across the river
as though he'd given her up
to the flood
and she barefoot, too, why
would he do such a thing?
arrow hydra-dipped loosed
across the river at the two
strikes but does not kill
and poisoned blood turns
white shirt to red

from nessus to deinira
a charm to make love bloom
to hercules far from home
and in the arms of another

hercules wears the shirt and starts
to sweat and swear and he understands
as the poison burns his skin
fire to stop the fire
burn to stop the fire

Monday, April 5, 2010

Strategy

she came to him
and he carefully
built a chance

but knowing his
foe he tried to
insure his success
before finally she
saw that her hostile
country would suddenly
come to defeat

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Do We Cheat 'Em?

Poetry books are filed in the library under
non-fiction.

Why?

Do poets tell only the truth?

Saturday, April 3, 2010

And To See

he's mad enough at
society -- a good deal.
what about the sin?
then comes home too late. greet
it then. she may be staggering.
with his hands he threw the
rocks pelting the window.
dark outside but inside
light as he watches them;

as he logged everything.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Damn the Daylight

it gets
light too early
.

grandmother up
first and cursing

damn the daylight

the hour
when they were in back
dreaming all by themselves

while she
looked at the clock
and shivered, thinking of
the early morning chill

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Trouble (Disrupted)

out looking for trouble? do you need
to be reeled in?
it had been
all shades of restless
delicate nuances
no explanation, but we
had a word -- an inflection --
aware of the pressure
built up and counting
to two hundred and...
"
now within seconds of it!"
just put it in like a torpedo
and keep him the man

he slept for about
half an hour as was required
like a capsule
disrupted