When the Boys Said to Her

For I saw with my own eyes the Sibyl of Cumae  
hanging in a jar
and when the boys said to her 
"Sybil, what do you want?" 
a word was heard: "liquor."

The Whys

Do mulards know the whys
of what's been prescribed,
That daily
gavage?  Do

we?

Darkness

This evening the dark undressed
I saw the darkness drunk
sprawling upon the lonely streets
and lined with bones that never sleep
I heard an infant gasp and scream
By windows saw the darkness crawl
knocking against the stars that groaned
I saw some falling and some broke
But then I heard the darkness retch
I heard it pray night long for death

Bull Shark

What you need to know:

I am a bull shark.
What you need to feel:
dread (and only dread),

when my jaw muscles
twitch, crack turtle shells.

What I need to know:
Why am I afraid of you?

Why the Two...?

Why the two feet?
To kick yourself.
Why the two hands?
To shake our own.
Why the two eyes
that can't reach?

Shore at Night

I saw with my own eyes
the moon
decapitated

The head floating on waves
so black I thought I'd seen
the world in mourning

I too saw luminous eyes
cloaked in ripples of dark
out of respect for the dead

Seven Seas

Can't recast the past?
'Course you can!

Caught the whale
Cooked and et

If Love

I sometimes wonder if love
detests itself.  How else
explain
its sole
fixation on others?
Perhaps if love could love
itself
we'd suffer
less

Old Me

Why must we grow old
Why has fear taken hold
The dread of timeless loss
My searching eyes look
Just like the old me
The curly haired little boy
Dazed by the tiptoes of beauty
That took refuge in his innocence
And bestowed upon his fleeting being
A longing sense

Neon Sign

I write poetry for appearances' sake.
But though the phrases sweat
the feelings one might have felt,
they're the neon sign in front—
I keep the goodies stashed in back.
It's not you but my own self
I've failed and long misled:
Aching emotions can't be kept
nor driven out in verse—
as if an evil curse—
unmet, unfelt; unwept.

My Cells

My heart must play the drums
My breath an ancient flute
My creaking joints join in
I sometimes wonder if my cells
Could hear it all
Would they 
Enjoy this symphony

Shifty

It's safe
you can be
soft around the thorns
of shifting hate

Wait

Wait for it

Wait for it

Wait

The snow

Will melt

If you

Would Wait