I want to cry (out loud and everything).
There’s a howl in my heart (and I want to be free).
And I want to be.
And I want to be.
And I want to be. 

I want to run (wild arms and everything).
There’s a leap in my soul (and I want to be free).
And… Read full post »

I have no cannon,

No charge to fire.

I hold a sparkler

And whisper rebellion.

But I whisper-speak

My heresy with

Laughing abandon.

Even though

I have no cannon,

No charge to fire.

I hold a sparkler

And dream my liberties.

And I plan my fate

I plan… Read full post »

For the past six months, I have scrubbed my soul clean with the salt and sugar grains of improv. I've been raw. I've been restored. I've been transformed. I've been static. I've had to question everything I thought I knew. I've rejoiced in impossible things. I've laughed to find out that… Read full post »

It was
just like that.
I was standing.
I turned.
I swear I saw you there.
It passed
just like that!
I was standing.
I turned.
I swear...

...are what I have...
you ...
...gladius gloriosus...
I look...
and wait with roses...

I want to throw out a depth charge
explode into fire
I want to hurl like a comet
spitting crystals and ice
I don't want to sit pat
Be calm
Be nice
I want to burn

I want to slide on a stage floor
explode into rhyme
I want to dance like a dervish
spinning gold coins and knives
I don't want to… Read full post »

I was going to run late, 
I was lucky:
I changed my mind.
I needed to get gas,
I was lucky:
I got to work on time.
I went to get a soda,
I was lucky:
I missed seeing the gun.
And then I took cover
And then I offered water to the sudden company
And then I juggled

We were lucky:
He… Read full post »

You stop time with your fingertips... reverse...fade...play again.
You spin us right 'round...
right 'round...
right 'round...

I
leave a
trail
behind me
See the
litter
burning sparks
and
high-heeled
shoes
booze and
the
trailing
smoke
of
an
unrepentant
DAME.

I’ll give you red roses
Crush the petals in my hand
Until I get perfume

I’ll paint your face, hero
Dot your eyelids with the oil
Until we fall asleep

And I’ll write

Black ink upon stained paper
Spilling poems on the skin
Of the bed-sheet warrior Read full post »

One
word,
sighed,
sealed,
in
kiss
and
skin.

Fire flies upon the river
up and over the swollen stream.
She said: don't you believe in anything? Or me?
She set fire to a thousand paper ships;
She's worse than Helen.

She said: don't cry a river when I'm gone.
Can't you just picture it?
A thousand burning ships set fire to the… Read full post »

I scratch my nails on the skin of the universe
Sparks and stars
Sparks and stars are what I make, my love.

This old wound --
like the sword that pierced Tristram's side
and Siegfried's shoulder
Achilles' heel --
It is still there
an echo of the
impaling grief.

I forgot the snapping of the banner,
that I was still lying on the field
suddenly remembered --
there it is… Read full post »

Eyes so young
shouldn't look
so ravaged
There are Christmas
lights and ornaments
and sadness
tinsel sadness hanging
from their eyes...
They shouldn't have
such sad eyes at
seven and
eight
and nine

Fingers so tiny
shouldn't have
to grasp so much
There are manger sets
and whole villages
… Read full post »

She keeps a can of buttons beneath her bed --
She never knew when she might need them
The can was a treasure to me
I would sneak into her bedroom early in the morning
sometimes late at night and I would smuggle
the can into my bedroom
(I am descended… Read full post »

Where is your wisdom?
It is locked in the temple.
The altar is my memory,
but what will be my rituals?
Light a candle to it and
guard it like a Vestal,
with the chastity of love
and the abstinence of grief.

There are scribbles of addresses
interspersed with poetry
It's all a part of a single epic --
the soul trying to find a place to be
and the body trying to find a place to land.
They support one another with
complimentary metaphor --
Trying to find a new place to… Read full post »

I gathered the waters of the Gesthamene to wash your feet
I was your Magdelene
And there's nothing I wouldn't do
There's nothing I wouldn't do for you

I followed you to the desert
I brushed away the pebbles with my hair
to move the stones away from your… Read full post »

Sipping coffee
pondering the Ottoman Empire
Empire dresses
and marveling at fallen columns...

It's easier to look at rain
and know which way the wind blows.
Who knows when all this disarray
will get sorted out. Well then...

Sipping soda...
Instead I'll think of Rome in summer
summer sandals
and Vandals takin… Read full post »

Good morning.

Isn’t it strange that such a simple greeting, such a common, everyday off-the-rack wear English phrase, or a similar phrase in any other language for that matter, could be so life affirming. Good morning. Well it is good; you’re hearing it. That has to mean something.… Read full post »