homeless man
who smells worse than sour milk
held right under your nose
used to come in every day
and buy one cup
with his scraped-up change
fell asleep every day
on the same black velvet couch
homeless man
got sent away every day
by one angry choking employee
who was usually me
“Febreze” was applied to the couch
after his departure each day
to take away the smell
and the memory Continue reading Fencing →

I stand and stare at the landscapes;
my eyes darting
from The Olive Trees to the cypress,
from the muted day to The Starry Night.
I have hunted for this moment
in two countries and two states
(three if you count the mushrooms in Amsterdam),
and now my gaze is pulled
from one canvas to the other, repeatedly.
I cannot help but notice
His obvious awareness of the energy’s flow
throughout these views of the world;
the harmonic unity of objects imagined to be separate– Continue reading Ode To Vincent →

I used to bury myself
under piles of leaves
I would lie beneath for hours
Be organic
And still
And silent
Urban life does not afford me such
indulgence
These days I long
For the suburban simplicity of autumns years past
I remember:
Caverns
Rainstorms
Walking
Mermaids and Dragons… Continue reading The Meaning Of Fall →

I think of you on nights such as this,
air crisp and damp like a Bay breeze–
the walks we might someday take
late in the night,
after i’m finished closing the cafe.
These hours belong to us,
the fringes of mankind,
the shadowlovers and moondancers.
I can call you at any hour of darkness,
unafraid of retribution,
knowing that you will fly to me.
I lock up the doors and we begin our journey– Continue reading Angelus Noctem →

So you said goodbye
And I know what that means
Waking up next to a stranger
Again
Even if he does have your face
Maybe once in a while Continue reading Triple Ex →

I pronounced it after two years–
Years of silence
And wondering what I’d been missing;
Cue the airplane–
The propeller is roaring–
The door pops open–
The wind is blowing–
And I am inching out–
Testing the air between us–
The silence that hangs
When I am hanging from an open chute
Seconds? Minutes? Years? ago…
I was tumbling mad screaming
Through freefall
So lost in my experience
That I forgot what was rushing towards us… Continue reading “I’m Jumping Out Of An Airplane On Saturday” →

Lately
I don’t want to eat.
With every bite I bring to
My lips
I see visions of my parents.
Father
Was in the Navy–
I remember He’d do pushups
With us kids sitting
On his back
Or else we’d crawl under
Lightning-fast
Before He’d descend. Continue reading Eating →

(for Josh Gilliam)

1. Annunciation
it was april
and i was standing in the window of the cafe
like a whore in the red light district.
the neon sign read “five points espresso”
backwards through the glass
and it was poetry night.
i was on spring break
of my freshman year of college
and i was reading a piece
i’d written to an ex
from birmingham
who i found to be empty
when i scratched him
with one painted fingernail. Continue reading To Have Known You Biblically →

-Dragonfly-
Larger than life we danced in an enchanted forest,
Heeding beats, following Motion
Laughing and pulling each other through
The impossible twisted throngs
Of smiling massive sweaty gyrations.
Still funny how the sun rose
On a decimated downtown hotel–
We had trekked by moonlight
To a magical castle
And trudged back to a filthy parking deck. Continue reading Spirit Guides →

a bitterness in the air
brings back fond recollection
of you and i,
wandering the streets of a strange city together,
the taste of strong coffee and dutch apple pie–
later white wine as we tabled our differences;
languages are not merely spoken…
i think again of the smell of hotel pillows
which must be a universally recognizable odor
not unlike the scent of carnal desires Continue reading Canal →