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

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

The Turning

then she turned toward him

shouting out the phrasesso it seemed to him that

she had closed the door on all
the questions he had voiced

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]

Newspaper Blackout Poem #2

Calendar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

Do We Cheat 'Em?

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

Why?

Do poets tell only the truth?

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.

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

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

Newspaper Blackout Poem #1

The Office

"welcome"
amiable, careful

"up to date"
i didn't listen

"pay attention"
completely out of touch

"listen please"
jabbering at me

"manager," he said

[revised 3-14-10; originally posted 6-12-09]