Pinch
You must take him with
a pinch of salt. The flavor
is better that way.
Brink
you bring me right to
the edge of thought, and leave me
gasping to speak it
Crossing
fear is a sharp bridge
tying then to now with lies
burned by the crossing
One Then Another
one step at a time
that’s the way I want to walk
through the world with you
Lingers
Taking your fingers
in my mouth, will I taste your
imagination?
Night Song
the crunch of new snow
is weaker than the singing
of the north-bound geese
Forced Air
the house is breathing
stretching, rising, filling up
like a newborn’s lungs
Small Offerings
the touch of my hand
making small offerings to
your soul through your skin
Fleeting Snow
the snow melts faster
than I can come to hate its
late-winter insults
Housekeep
I could swear that I
just washed all of the dishes.
So…what the fuck, sink?
Shower Thoughts
What if each stream of
water down my skin were made
of your fingerprints?
Green Walls
beyond the creek, all
the old emptiness has been
eaten by the leaves
Dealing
There’s this, and there’s that,
and there’s all the things. What if
we just said, “Fuck it.”?
Runoff
running my fingers
through your hair until you melt
like snow in my hand
Eclipse
this world of falling
wolves stops at the stillness of
the moon’s dark feathers
Teeth
in this thin, high air
exercise feels like clawing
covid in my lungs
Uncoffee
someone else has made
the coffee, and it’s as weak
as a newborn sponge
Catch
you melt in my hands
as I cup them to catch you
and drink your body
Failure
my quest for coffee
has met the desolation
of a barren pot
Nostalgia
I think that we are
desperate for each new day
to be yesterday
Captive
your body holds my
imagination tightly
in a shattered breath
Essoré
Every word is a
drop wrung from my soul. It has
always been this way.
Bravery
take heart and recall
that you can only be brave
when you are afraid
Spring
I love when your
potential energies all
become kinetic
Theft of the Magi
Experiences
matter so much more than Things.
How to achieve this?
Get caught shoplifting.
You’ll go home with nothing but
Experiences.
False
clocks are all liars
we know this from experience
they can’t tell true time
Aftermath
though I’ve washed my hands
and can’t see it anymore
my skin smells of blood
Next
I’m optimistic
Though this cup of coffee failed
Surely the next won’t
Time Left
we should get more than
“fuck me while the world burns, then
hold me in the dark”
Fallen
I dropped a small piece
of butter onto the floor
and it just stayed there
Vision
I feel like old glass
but you hold me to the light
and see clean through me
A Lesson from Social Media
if all you have are
weak-sauce complaints about tone
then you are losing
Tidal Wave
it will not matter
how strong your umbrella is
when the wave crashes
Very Coffee
it seems like maybe
this morning, making coffee,
miscounting happened
Communication
Ending every text.
With punctuation is so.
Passive Aggressive.
Character Brewing
It builds character
to wait for the things we want.
Except for coffee.
Holding On
on days when I can’t
hold on to you, I have to
hold onto something.
Riverstone
I hardly noticed
as the endless flow of you
wore my edges smooth
Smoke
you are in my thoughts
like the lingering scent of
woodsmoke in soft wool
Liquify
the caterpillar
must liquify its whole self
to be born anew
Swallow
I want to swallow
the words that leak from between
your ragged, wracked breaths
Used Up
your deep, wet kisses
taking me until there is
nothing left to take
Surrender
A bright wet murmur.
The creek is singing about
new-surrendered snow.
I Had A Giraffe?
I’ve lost my giraffe,
so, once again, I am short
like other people
Thirst
my taut soul, lifting
like a chalice to your lips
drink me through my skin
Morning
In a snowy yard
the rising sun makes shadows
of the spring-bare trees.
Around
the tip of my tongue
slowly circling your wet
imagination
Morning Tragedy
there is no coffee
and I must brew more without
having had coffee
First
before all the words
beneath sinewed life and bone
breath comes first in verse
The Too-Late Bird
I’ve come to regret
mornings when I’m not the one
who makes the coffee
Little Revelations
the small things
that land like flames of gravity
sometimes hit hardest
Brownie
I wish that people
would keep all their god-damned nuts
out of my desserts
New Year
2024:
366 days.
Leap Year Time, bitches
Bitemarks
Want has many teeth
and when they are sunk bone-deep
there is nothing else
Saving Daylight, Not Sunday
Today only lasts
23 hours. This should be
a thing for Mondays.
Cup of Lies
coffee is a dark
happy lie about how much
life I can handle
Guiltless
kiss me as if you
were unashamed of the taste
of your own pleasure
6:15 AM
“Why am I awake””
he mumble-grumped to himself.
“Mornings are stupid.”
A Perfect 10
he attacks the world
joyfully, like a meerkat
with a Mt. Dew
The Spaniel’s Morning Lament
Will nobody feed me?
I’ve dined only on neglect,
that bottomless bowl.
The Fuq?
“WTF”
does not seem like it should be
five syllables long
A Moon for Freya
travel on, sweet girl
may the full moon carry you
and see your soul safe
Christmas Lies
“Papi hurt his back. “
“The Waffle House will be fun.”
“We were out of food.”
Mistaken
terrible people
living their lives mistaking
pretense for substance
Split Tale
TFW
you realize your father
will cost you your sons
Flight
time is a raven
feathers falling between us
always on the wing
Cold Comfort
why am I staring
into the open freezer?
why did I do this?
Sarah and Isaac
He never said “stop”
so you just went on ahead
with the sacrifice
Equity
your living daughter
deserves as much attention
as does your dead son
