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losswhen i was bornloss1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
i lost my subtlety.
my many shadows around a single fire
shrug.
with them go the metaphors,
the ambition of water,
the horse and dog
sounds.
i get warm
& find myself
saying things
i mean
like
"i just
don't know."
the zootonightthe zoo1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
the zoo is on fire.
the trees are burning off
an angry yellow light
into the black eyes
of the animals.
like a mountain
at the end of the world
the zoo is on fire.
the trees burn
straight up and down
& the animals are terrified,
glowing
in their exhibits.
some escape,
some dash against the fences,
the bars, the glass
others lie down
& wait.
there is nothing else to do.
the zoo is on fire
like a city at war,
like a ruby in the palm of a murderer.
the animals
confused by doom
panicked by flame
make terrible noises
as the fire closes in--
the screaming giraffes lope back & forth
in their enclosure.
the e
why my kitchen floor is stickythe green bottlewhy my kitchen floor is sticky10 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
that you threw at me
was half-full
it missed me and hit
the wall
shattered like a glass vase
but a different kind of flower
inside.
it was the last thing
that neared my face
that you had held
so when you stormed out
in your skirting thunderhead
and the glass cloud
of your outraged breathing
i put up imaginary
police-line tape
and chalk circles
bordered the droplets
and broken glass.
i was guilty
but i would follow
procedure anyway.
even if it meant
you coming back and seeing me
bowing low over the linoleum
as if begging.
a thing about insanity"what the hell are you doing!" he screamed,a thing about insanity1 month ago in Free Verse More Like This
"letting them out"
// and i remember sitting in those walls screaming screaming "theyre coming to get me theyre coming to hurt me theyre coming they
//
and when they ask why i sleep with a light on and why my eyes are oh-so-wide i turn my head, questioning
you cant seehearfeel them too?
do you remember leaving me in those cold white halls? i do
you dont remember the others screaming in small rooms, strapped to beds, pins and needles pushed into them to stop their demons
you dont remember my demons, either
Day and night.Day and night1 month ago in Free Verse More Like This
In the dwindling light,
a pine tree houses a blurred moon.
The stars come out,
making imaginary animals
out of our telepathy.
A boy lighting matches
when he should be asleep
watches flame
turn into the walls of his room,
the dirt under his fingernails.
.
From the light streaming in off the street,
something catches her eye--
a thrill of sun
through cola,
an arpeggio
of birds.
When she turns to look
I touch her hair.
It is like a shimmer of water.
It is like remembering the girl that I adored in childhood.
When she turns back
I am still touching her hair.
It takes so much courage
to show love sometimes.
.
Instead of slee
Narcolepsylurid enigma, andNarcolepsy9 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
a stroke of starry night
vulnerable, you are
achilles heel and weep
the loss of venus and mars
and all her pitying apathy
of bittersweet occultation; but
for only a moment of silence
lonesome quarry of internalized wars
and striking, clement gems
just unfold:
sleep
3:0333:039 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
All-Nite
chewing peanuts instead
of saying things//I Am Waiting For The Words
& The Words &
The Words.
0
A FEW GEESE SHRINK TO PAINT-FLECKS.
THE RIVER AT ITS WIDEST
SAYS.
3
fail.love.fail.
love.fail.love.
fail.
0
a zipping about,
? i want what
is what//i want
what is
3
bluffs & hollows &
woods.birds mount-branches
smash into windows,
*
0
nobody said, he
said. nobody
3
all other parts, nvm.
he touched to have indicated.
this one is the one.
0
& he took it
& made it better.
3
except.
goes by Universethe little black straygoes by Universe1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
with white flecks
wears a tag on its collar
that says
"if found,
keep."
EvolutionA guitar shape somewhere inside the cityEvolution1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
Though I don't play
Anymore.
I watch the water as it plays the
Light & the brine out through your hair. Wild & oceanic as it is.
Blue-white &
Rusting slowly, your life
Ends & ends & ends.
A little bird disappears into an apple tree by the river,
Knotted up with the
Song everyone secretly wants to hear.
One of the few things able to fly, the little
Finch damn well better sing to me.
Forms buzzing & altering & nothing.
Let there be a fruit that can make me forget
I am other than all I see.
Even as lonely as the winter gets, as I get,
Ships flash their lights onto the ice. Onto me.
Th
out the windowis it rainingout the window1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
or are there curtains?
the compass floats in its water
& disagrees with the same walls
that i disagree with.
where is the circle,
& when is the moon coming?
whose battalion of tulips is this?
how many casualties from the rainshowers?
what is like a city?
it's not me leaving this,
it's not a wine glass or fern leaf or washrag
or a mirror.
the eyes of the dog are not just eyes,
not just dog.
an orange peel rocks back and forth on the floor
with its legs in the air,
the rain has come inside,
the rain walks with wet bare feet
& drums its fingers on the countertop
while it laughs at the look on your face.
the ra
tailor!the world doesn't fit.tailor!1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
the cities burn up
without vanishing,
the barns and the empty fields
listen for thunder.
i wear the world
and the sleeves go all the way
down
to the ground.
everything mixes
and results
in hot water.
the world seems awkward
around the neck and chest.
the knees and groin.
my parakeet doesn't recognize me,
my dog is dead.
the buttons are impossible to find,
the buttons holding everything.
the perfect moments of the buttons.
the fabric is nothing.
the weave is zero and light
once it leaves its source.
i take it off
i take
it
all
off
and as night falls
like a horse into the deep
middle of the
romance, quickfrom the center of some vanished candlelightromance, quick1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
she says my name
i close my eyes
and nothing else happens
madeas the rain poursmade1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
down
turning everything
into a bright gray
sheet
i pedal my bike
along
shivering & coughing
fighting
for ground
the whole
way
knowing
this
is how
the world
is
made.
big mothersunning in an open fieldbig mother1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
a snapping turtle
the size of a fat tabby.
as i neared,
it lifted its head
and opened its beak,
giving me time
to ponder
all
that would fit into
its bite.
i turned to leave
and the snapper
closed its mouth
only after
i was out of sight
for a long time.
in thereyou press your fingertips to the glassin there9 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
to show me that touch
is
a way of making circles.
i don't know you
so i keep walking
as the rain blows at me.
like thisthe emptier the room became,like this9 months ago in Free Verse More Like This
the less i remembered.
now the room is stripped,
just walls and a chair on carpet that you would look at
and say,
"November."
it's only because i am about to leave this place for good
that i can sit so quietly.
there is something soothing about the possibility
of flowers bunched in a green bottle,
waiting for you in the next place.
whitish mottles on the inside of the glass
where water has dried.
like voices you heard once, but now only half-remember.
a version of something totally lost.
this is how the world is formed, i think.
i stretch my arms out
and look at the the bare walls.
whenyou wake upwhen1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
feeling good
the air smells like rain
the windows show you
a glowing sky
it's day
you're breathing fine
walking through rooms
ready.
*
taking notice
you bend down,
pick something up off
the floor--
a comb
or a watch or a magazine
a pencil or a book or a cat
a shoe or a bank slip or some thread
a dead fly or
a dead spider
or death
& standing back up
with it in your hand
another
hundred years
begin.
mp3everything is going to the beatmp31 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
& there is a big circle
the world edges toward
i watch a sky slowly change color
& think willingly about trees near water
about the likeliness of love
in a dog's eyes
the open spaces
of a bird's life
& the view
from my rooms
the song changes
but the moon is still cold
& i think
"the beat
might go on forever
this time"
walking through town
i shrug my shirt
up & down
to overcome the waist
of my pants
someone thinks
i've almost
started dancing
& i'm not sure
they're wrong
palm readingwhat does it say,palm reading1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
she asked,
& held her palm out.
i spread her fingers apart.
your life will open & remain open,
i told her.
what does that mean?
she asked.
i slid my finger
down her thumb
& palm
to wrist
where i held it
over her pulse
& said
all
y-
our
m-
any
p-
et-
al-
s
w-
ill
f-
all
as
you
beg-
in
to
lo-
ve.
killer instinctthe patrol car pulls upkiller instinct1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
idles at the curb
for a moment
then
engine still running
the girl cop steps out,
fiddles with her spotlight
to shine into the park
onto the bench where i'm sitting.
i sigh and wait.
she struts up
like a man
in her dark blue uniform
& her black shoes.
she clears her throat as she walks
and her voice sounds
young.
and i think,
easy, guy,
this one's got a gun.
she stops a safe distance away
and rests her hand on the butt
of her pistol.
"hel-lo, little guy,"
she says.
"yes ma'am."
"what are
you doing out here?"
she leaned forward ,
put her palms on her knees
and sounded delighted.
"sitting
and enjoying the eve
ReminderYou forget more than youReminder1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
remember.
You are older than you look,
though younger than you feel.
You wish that the blue flame
were cold instead of hot,
more like a damp flower
than a gunshot.
But it's not.
You have loved, though since then
you wonder
if you're still able to do so.
You feel you aren't often yourself,
as if you changed your name
like the week changes days.
Your favorite shirt is the blue & green one
with the turquoise buttons.
You don't really know a person
until you've seen them at their worst.
You like to run a pencil up and down your forearm
because it feels as if light
were moving between muscle and bone.
Sta.sh
