Chapter 1 - It's Coming!

Catastrophe made her hungry

Until she ate herself sick

And drank to swallow heaves

The tornado is over

In its path

Human suffering, felled trees

Leveled buildings

G-d’s wrath

Claims the innocent

Leaves the destitute

Brings love home

A woman quotes newscasters

Cross-streets, casualties

Disregarded warnings

Your time is coming

You better have your house in order

Family in line

Taller to shorter

It’s coming. It’s Coming. IT’S COMING!

Chapter 1 - Sleep

Before my bed was made

We could study case histories

Of serial perversions

But my hand looks so much

Older now and my breast

Is soft

The mystery makes no sense

Sleep

Succumb

Sleep

Don’t stop to dream

Just sleep

Save yourself

Sever social bindings

Sleep severely

Serene

Chapter 1 - Unchartered land

As if I were a gentle lady

Captured by pirates of the sea

Your voice stands as a beacon to me

Leading me to shore

Weak in the knees

From salty breezes

To your firm unchartered land

You should know it pleases me to

Feel your strong grasp on my hand

I am woman, you are my man

Let our loves begin with freedom

And so our souls cannot be cheated

Let us create a kingdom

That will not be easily defeated

Chapter 1 - Mother

Of life

You have given us the roots

We need to balance

Help us now to spider

To reach our goals

Set ever higher.

Mother, you are sunlight

Shine upon our chosen paths

Delight us

With what you know

So that we might follow.

The seeds you’ve planted

Will always grow

With a tender touch

And your love in groves.

Chapter 1 - Consolable River

Known are we

Into such precarious pretense

You, quivering a foretaste

Of our predestined kiss.

You, deceptively straight-forward

An arrow aimed

at underwater prey.

A tower of burnished passion

Leashed by sentimental love

Chained to worldly possessions

Set free on fate’s truest hand

Caged but not imprisoned –

A selfish man with a long-term plan

his (in) security.

Enjoy your women as flowers in a vase

My love cannot blossom there among

Such leggy stems

Competing for standing water.

You must become the river ever-changing

Your white water the turbulence of expression

Your whirlpools enticing me to exploration.

I walk your sand shore

Dowsed by your sullen waves

I feel the pull of your current

Swift and sudden.

Will I never feel your liquid touch surround me?

Am I never to be carried in the arms of such a powerful force as you?

You challenge me not to sink to your level.

I should forgive myself strength

And you, succumb

To the merry, whimsical pull

Of your nature

Your passion

We could drown our

selves in that consolable river.

Chapter 1 - Lady Luck

On lottery tickets and love

Lady

Luck is for the queen of cups

I play my numbers faithfully

It just doesn’t add up

Sucked upon like a fireball

Spit out when I got too hot

My shoulders shrug

And I sleep

Still life on satin sheets

My lover has a big head

He’s full of me.

Chapter 1 - Halo-ed

I would rather sleep in the desert

Than under a willow tree

With a fool in a single bed

The half-moon was moaning

As I lied

Halo-ed

Without you.

Chapter 1 - Uprooted

And into the night

Have you sensed my presence

In uprooted flowers

And summoned my spirit

With desireous flame

Chapter 1 - Suspense

He comes

And goes

He rarely throws

Me only bits

Of what he knows

I speak of sanctuary

Embraced by arms and legs and

We sit all but feet apart

His determined silence surrounding us

In my private room – he rests his

Head upon my heart and says,

“We are only mating”

To this I say nothing, for I

Know not what weighs upon him

Hours spent alone have gotten

Me this:

A man in suspense

Has but one wish

And that is happiness

No cares, no plans

Just memorable, portable

Bliss.

In this state he is oblivious

To hours spent alone

He knows not of what he may have missed

Chapter 1 - The show is over

I write for myself

A captive audience

Quiet. Attentive.

Nearly inaudible

Eyes search the crowd

Knowing

No one

I shout, I bow

I clap

My presence is known

I am no longer alone

They hear my words

On this stage

In this spotlight

I am warmed

By the company of strangers

I am welcomed

By accomplished artists

But life goes on

So I leave it

To those

Aspiring

Chapter 1 - Doubt

Your time will come, sweet thing

So just ride it on for now

Years will pass like days,

You’ll see

And then

Where will you be

In an old house

In a forest

On a swing with a

Book to fill up

With life

You will not miss.

You will be

You are

What you feel inside

And I

I feel that I could be

A faithful fountain

Of passion

Shared by all

But who will really know me

And what will

My words truly mean

To you

Do you

Trouble yourself with doubt

Like me

Instead of letting time

Work it all out

Chapter 1 - Any Game

Hearts grow fond of

Each other’s company.

It’s a wonder our

Legs don’t grow together

Breaking the ribbon

In a three-legged race.

Empty sadness

At the fair’s end

Consoled by first prize and

Some chocolate pie

Winner’s pride

Soon subsides as

Lonely gloating

Gets silly in the backseat

Or the rearview mirror.

Tiny wrinkles in your skin

Just like his

Give away the prize

Laughingly you embrace

You own reflection

As your only friend

At the end of every competition

The race goes on

So, produce or

Be e-rased.

You can dance and play

But you are nothing

Until you create

The taste is sweet

Of any game.

Chapter 1 - for Luis, the Spaniard

Orange fingernails

And Spanish legends

Of human tails

Lawless as we are

By our creation

Made just in nature

To defy the cosmos

And destroy entire generations

Shivering chills

Through the length of me

Pass thoughtfully

To leave me cold and trembling.

Sorry I can’t remember your last name,

Circa 1994

Chapter 1 - Archaic

In the wake of angels

I lie in wait

My leopard pounces

Leaves me motionless

A mere detail of gloriousness

Head heavy with presence

Sounding of trains

Resounds in travel

Poor souls plotting suicide

Challenging death

Tons of metal

Crushing bones

Like wood blocks or

Sand between my toes.

The smell of cinnamon

Invites him in

Power from a bit of glass

To stranded pearls

Passionately wrapped

around.

Back on the tracks

Trains call out to me

I am available

Disregarding serious talk

Or drunk within

My own reflection.

I am learning to fly

Angelic

Archaic

I am learning to die

In my sleep

Chapter 1 - Pretending

He left me

Twelve red roses

I’m pretending it was you.

He says, “If I ever go –

I would only go

With you.”

You only laugh because

You’ve been there more

Than once without me.

He says he wants to

Marry me away

From all my sins.

You dowse all thought

Of morality in carnal pleasure

Temporarily.

He loves my brain.

You worship my body.

I blame him

For all the pain

I have ever known

And he says he is sorry.

You are forever in the mood.

He tells me that he loves me

I am pretending it was you.

Chapter 1 - Easy

Easy on the ice, she said

I am in love with her cherry

Red head.

Bestial knobs of horns

And her pert pale chest.

Make it to go, I say

With extra whipped cream

Please.

I fondle her beads with my eyes.

Pay me some more attention

Before I give you his money

And go.

I sit with a thorny bush.

One violet rose for company.

Girlfriends laughingly embrace

As I write

My words flowing with a sweet

Stinging moisture that permeates.

Chapter 1 - Doom

How dreadful is doom?

Doom.

Doom!

Doomed…

And damned are we

Druken, sorrowfilled

Foolish, money minded degenerates.

Doomed.

Chapter 1 - April is over

Mayday!

The captain has returned

To her ship

On voyage to victory from the dregs of defeat

Reigning o’er the land of freedom in

Pursuit of happiness, the right to bear arms

And partake in naval piercings

Umbilical regality.

A half moon holds promise

Of wholeness

Stars are cloaked

By city lights

Veiled like strangers are

Standing on opposite corners

Sharing the same street

You were there

With he and she.

I was not alone in your company

Troubled to sleep

By an odyssey

Of silent discovery.

My gift to you security

Sincerity

Joy shared vicariously.

Chapter 1 - No one dances anymore

He is a cottonwood of a man.

Born again – as they say

And I, a child of the earth.

My motto –

Excess in moderation.

Billy asked me to dance.

I had one eye on him since he lumbered

Through the door.

He took my arm and led me

To the floor.

Is this romance?

All graceful and awkward instances.

Billy says we’ll have to practice this

One hundred times before we get it right.

I don’t mind.

Chapter 1 - The Underground

The world of reality

Waits

Time stops to freeze dripping

Water from the pipe that lead

Me here

Silent language of palm

Scratching out messages of

Hypocrisy

In the black light

I see her eyes

Green with animosity

Swallowing a letter from my lover

Savoring memories

I chose to chew

A path

To the other world

Where music soothes my senses

And your words give me shelter

From heartless, lascivious stares

At the underground

Fear wears many disguises; most cunning is hate.

Chapter 1 - Perfect Mutilation

Another battle –

For now I am victorious.

The war rages on in the

Heads of those

Whose hearts pound, pumping

Madness into bodies

With the tired look of extinction.

I will leave the dead behind.

Living, breathing, lifeless skins,

Forgotten friends

Who long to be buried thoughtfully

Regretfully, happily.

I shudder in the heat of today –

Erase the shame!

I cannot disguise the pain

Of this masochism, permanent

Overload, perfect mutilation.

Chapter 1 - Base Effrontery

Words make a path to my

Tongue more silent and

Venomous than any sudden

Flood of tears.

Groping.

Violent urges

Curl my fingers into fists.

Death grips me and gnaws

At my pride.

Fervid, I am –

Frustrated.

Strung out across the boundaries

Of utopia

While the diabolical vicar

Cackles.

Must I grovel as you gibe?

My ephemeral folly

Finds me grappling

With infamy.

I find this affinity for evil

Base effrontery.

Chapter 1 - Temptation

Cradled in canopies of temptation

Our juniper universe

Orbits earth and sky.

Melancholy scatters itself like leaves

Under feet.

Anemone breezes

Smell of trampled begonias

And we dance.

We are dandelion oracles.

Jonquil – desireful in thought.

Silent in belladonna’s spell.

Vines of ivy entwine us

Tranquil seedlings

Lovers serene.

Honeysuckle is the color of our fate.

Rustic.

Raspberry remorse stains my teeth.

Regret.

I chew shameful peonies

As my petals make me bow.

Chapter 1 - Jumping Someone Else's Train

A silver twist of the tongue

And I am yours

Half an eggshell resting at

The edge of your thoughts

Just where the grass stops

Growing and the tracks begin.

Your caboose is long in coming.

Your presence known in the traffic

Of two entire cities.

I am not the only one who waits

Just to see what lies beyond

Your miles of empty cargo on

Northern rails.

Chapter 1 - Liars

I know all there is to know

About liars

They are the forgetful ones

The ones with busy schedules

No courage left for truth

Honesty doesn’t make money

Men do

Tell me what I want to hear

Then disappear

You’ll never stop selling yourself

But you’ll always come up short

You think the ways of the world

Are yours to fondle

You’re buying wealth and gaining

Power. You say everyone and

Everything can be bought or sold

All the while this devil has closed

The deal on your soul.

Chapter 1 - One Soul

Oh, mother earth

Dear father time

I am just a girl

One soul

Drifting into dreamscapes

I lie awake in your mountainous plains

Night is day.

“Resume,” you say?

Resume…

Resume!

My feet are with you, mother.

My eyes have seen you, father.

Passing as clouds will

Soiling my hands

Am I weightless as I

Walk upon your land

Without ambition?

Months of thirty-one

Compare to leap years

I am reminded of time

By a changing moon

It is then I travel onward.

Chapter 1 - My dream

He is a fearsome, handsome

Bird of prey

Who befriended me and took me away

Heavy under my weightless presence

We soar above city traffic

Night lights up the sky

We rise with the wind

Hovering just above human hate

Our visions merge

The rabbit goes limp

In the bloody claws of the eagle

My eyes are open

Even the winged one must rest

I may not be as strong

Or brave

But I will stand on bare feet

In a naked land

Where men are hanged in muddy water

To carry us through

Oppression and conformity

And other worldly danger

 

 

February 6, 1993

Chapter 1 - Have you Herd?

Ladies shake it on the high plains

While their men grind in underbrush

My butterfly’s tongue tastes of

Your sweet stamen as

Our fruits fall to the wind

Scattered

At the feet of dancing girls

And open mouthed men.

Stomping,

Chewing,

Moving on.

Chapter 1 - Whatever

Whatever comes to mind

Be it rain

Or fog

Or sleep

G-d’s masterpiece

And belief

Is for the persistent

Heartache for the weak

Everything has already been said

Chapter 1 - Anarchy

You come to me

In the wake of my slumber

You leave me fascinated

Eager and poemless

Abandoned at will by fleets

Of countless gentlemen

These lines hold me fast

Obliged to speculate

The next of thirty with-

In but not between

The confines of

This space

A page

A state

A limited perception

Underlying

Anarchy

Chapter 1 - Without a care

Were the sky made of water

And the ocean air

I would swim among the birds

In waves

And soar with fish on wings.

Each cloud would be an island

Where I might rest with angels

And land that does not sit

Could travel light in the wind.

I would breathe a rain of

Oxygen bubbles

Falling upwards toward the ground

And of speak of whales

In foreign tongues

While the eagle tells tales of

Sweet whistling sounds swallowed

By the sea.

If the sky was blue with water’s glow

And the ocean white with air

I would be a changeling

And dance and fly and float

Without a care.

Chapter 1 - The Reaper and the Gardener

Just like ripe fruit

My dogwood flower fell

Was snatched up

By strange hands and

Dropped in a basket

To mingle with the

Fallen fruits of others

Passing this way.

Mine, the solid flower of ivory

Bound by silver chains of ancestry

Lost to a collector, a gathering

One of many; oblivious

To my single bloom.

Who will know me? Who will come

Into my secret garden to

Count my petals? Who carries the

Seed lost to a stranger?

Who will bury it once more?

Chapter 1 - Absent Wrath

Would it please m’lord

To hear me say I love thee

Would it please you to look down

Upon my face

Your sword unsheathed

on bended knees

An absent wrath in swollen lips

Chapter 1 - Would you mind if I told you?

He’s black

He is a man

And he is black

His eyes are black;

Reflecting the darkness

That surrounds us

In the light

Divine, his smile

Illuminates the decades

His lips are black

He speaks and

His lips move

As the mouths of instruments

(From) so full of shape

Sweet sounds

For no one

Not even me

His skin is solemn, soft

An anomaly of centuries

I never touched

Never knew

Of such

Supreme purity

Deliberate in his darkness

And I in mine

Would you mind

If I told you

Chapter 1 - As loud as silver

I’m in the mood

For music!

Left behind

Offending instruments

My pleasure pipe

Stolen away!

There is hope in

The blues.

That young lady right there –

She knows about blues!

Yes, she does

Man, you don’t lie

And you play a mighty horn

Mister – sing me a song

Rock me side to side

Until I’m satisfied

I get so excited!

I’ll play along

If I’m not too busy dancing

Feet got the beat

Fingers pound a rhythm

My heart attacks my chest

Begging me to blow

Man, BLOW! Go!

Oh no,

I am fluteless.

Music makes me forget

Woah!

Is it my turn to solo?

Bad news

She was my voice

In tune

Out of my mind

As loud as silver.

Chapter 1 - The Blue Chicago

The sun

Gave rise to

A mighty phoenix

From the ashes of our

Sunday afternoon

The menace of storm approaches

Colossal clouds break up rays

From mountainous horizons

Of earth and sky

The rain reaches up

Teasing us with cool

Droplets on the lid of an eye

Or in my ear

The sound of thundering voices

An electrical siege

Excites us

We swing out

Heavy.

Chapter 1 - Faultless

Faultless crowning words

Transforming – frozen

Knuckles cold and solid

To the hands of ladies

Soft, fragile and warm

Delicate, transparent disasters

Love bindings

Bracelets, collars

Remain

Giving others something to envy

Chapter 1 - In a sunny December

Oh, my!

What a world

Where spiders weave webs of deceit

Dangling from cast iron guard rails

Watchers watch

Doers do

While the others

have too much to say

to hear you

Here

let me show you

it's like this

everywhere you go

Chapter 1 - Orchid is my Sky

The moon

She smiles at me

Above all billowous masses

Below us, buried deep

Once bitten fingernails

Furrow brows

And trouble sleep

Faces shine in blindness

Victims or voyeurs

She laughs

The moon

When she is full of breast

Illusory, impetuous

I am her child

Sycophantic

in my dream of flight

Compelled

by the coming night

I am ripened and

Given wings by the

Scent of parting lips

Chapter 1 - Sticks & Stones

He said,

I’ll beat you

And I

Don’t hurt me

I’ll beat you with my mouth

He said

And I said,

Please

Throwing sticks at neighbor girls

We laughed together

For want of better targets

Mute and motionless

Like dad – tied and gagged

Chewing gum

Hot tennis shoes

Whining women, broken cars

And rocks

Why are you a girl?

He said.

Chapter 1 - Serenity vs. Frustration

We are wind, supine over glacial waters

We are petals of burgeons drifting to ground

The rainbow resultant of misty rains

An autumn leaf in a mellow course of river

The rising sun on a winter’s day

We are curious visitors to foreign lands

 

Serenity

 

Glorious beauties surround us

We walk the distance immeasurable

To speak nothing of sorrow

We are the tempest, torrid over desolate earth

We are withering blossoms in standing water

The destruction following deluge

An arbitrary soul caught in a whirlpool

The scorching heat of desert summers

We are selfish missionaries to third world countries

 

Frustration

 

The unknown taunts us

We run virtual marathons

To hold back shouts of happiness

Chapter 1 - Love Ballad of the Introvert

Can’t reach

No fear

Feel pain

Sin again

Watch yourself

Wonder why

All you see

Behind closed eyes

Leads you back

To certain demise

Chapter 1 - The Mountain

The mountain burned bright

Darkness has passed and left me to

Snap pictures of dead rose bushes and

A woodpecker pecking on an iron gate

Another sleepless night turns to midday

As I flounder on the shore of the shallow

Water of sanity’s ocean never again to

Be submerged in the salty seas of that which

took me much too far away from me

Chapter 1 - Buried Alive

I hate his hands

His face, his mind

These tears

I’ve lost control

Of my emotions

He ties me in knots

By my hair and

Fists are flying

Go away

I never wanted you

Get away

And keep your distance

She doesn’t hear

My pain

My screaming soul

My tortured brain

How could she?

The sound

It sickens me

The way she laughs

It kills me

I am dead

And no one blinked

A the murder

No one sighed in grief

I am buried alive

Above ground

In the dirt of another

Chapter 1 - Amber Jealousy

Does she hear my visions?

Yes, she does.

Does she travel with me?

By my side.

She rests her head upon me

Even as I write

She calls to rooftop angels

Fearing flight

Padding, stroking through the night

She waits, as I arrive

Pen in hand

I see her pout

Comfort comes

Though not without a fight

No sense in struggle

She’s a pusher

Crack to crack

My book and she

If she could

I would

In darkness

Be.

Chapter 1 - Guilt

Guilt manifested by love

On impaired sheets of cotton

We wear

The same we care to tread upon

For reasons we cannot unravel –

We never wish to reveal

A view of two so funeral

So used by hapless angels

Angered at their fear.

Chapter 1 - Rendezvous

The mountain crest

With deepened precipice

Powered white

And saddened –

Wisened

Like grandmother’s face.

Oh! The tragedy!

The cue

For sympathy and

Graciousness and

Heroism!

Distraction,

Belated cursings

Destinations delayed

A mishap

A rendezvous

With disaster

Chapter 1 - The boy into the man

Once I stared relentlessly

Tracing his steps toward

Someone else’s door

For now I travel blindly

Racing with a a dangerous current

That has yet to pull me under

Together

We are grasping truth

Through spirit and mind

Our mouth’s trying desperately

To make up for lost time

Cleansing our conscience

One and seemingly forever

Without a companion

Chapter 1 - Ideals are not Realities

You never knew me

I fear this anonymity

Our desire, severe – lapsed

Into emotion only momentarily

We spoke words, dated – slurred

By time and seldom remembered.

I covet fairy tale evenings

You do not conceive of my dreams

Our selves deny us generously

A solitary man – you are, cringing

At the thought of loneliness. Until –

Yet another hapless hormonal hurdle

Leaves you huffing, hanging…

Tragedy and disgrace

Once more companions to the man

Searching aimlessly, relentlessly

For the perfect woman –

Ideals are not realities.

Chapter 1 - Stealth and Strong

He holds me

Hovering

Above heaven

Hips in hands

As heat screams

Jealousy rides in the back seat

Lips smack, smiles crack

He is a lover purring like cats

Stealth and strong

But not invincible

Chapter 1 - Knave of Spades

Ascetic

A fool in the guise of a wise man

Knave of spades

Neither name nor trade

Grace his thrown

Of greed

He speaks sweetly

Demanding riches

Swallowing power by

Sufficient handfuls

$een by all, known to many

Loved in/visible circles by

Mindful, thoughtless

Crowds

Idiots, raving at their

Individuality

Crazed, fiendish, provocative

Chapter 1 - Shoes Sleep

Shoes sleep in silent purple splendor

Pockets swell with nuggets for the vendor

Empty bottles await ash

Book sewn

Weaving words not easily vented

Bed warm – body strong

Will is no tangible power

Pride in excess

Left blind as dear king Oedipus

His rex, the vex of his kingdom

Invaluable measure of pleasure

Delve into luxurious injury

Perjury of delectable sin

Evil always begins

In the minds of the worthy

Reticent descendent

Idyllic matrimony in

Akin cadavers

Horrific, terrific harmony

Death to immortality

Children’s’ grim grin

A fairy take we do spin

Forever, constantly, happily

Chapter 1 - And We

What is this family of wild manimals?

A pride of carnivores, do we prey

Or are we sucked upon and eaten like

Tootsie pops

Counted

Swallowed and

Forgotten

Chapter 1 - Sugar bowls and flies

Little white lies

Faint replies

Desperate cries

Nine long lives

Fails and tries

Fall or rise

Break all ties

Farewells and goodbyes

Wise women who love spies

Lows and highs

Fatal surprise

Gypsy eyes

Bargain buys

Between her thighs

Chapter 1 - Furious Noise

You rang

But not before

She put the ring inside

My belly.

Piercing my ears with your

Radar love

Squealing tires

Wailing guitars

Hurried drumbeats

Furious noise.