Dog Eaters
My grandmother dies in the depths of summer when it’s too hot to eat a popsicle. On the day of her funeral I walk with my mother to the cemetery in our blackest clothes. As we follow the dirt path to the outskirts of our village, I witness a herd of monks dressed in bright […]
Gone Beautiful
Someone is at the door and asking for help. This is like when I walk down the street and see a sign in a store window that says, Help Wanted. I always want to go into the store and ask what kind of help they need, if it is urgent, if someone needs medical attention. […]
from “Comfort”
is lining the interior with unbleached muslin. is tacking a line of pockets inside. is freshening feather pillows : without wringing, they are exactly right. is treating chapped hands with a thick salve of lard & flour applied at night. is confusing brining with burning. was afraid the dog had been killed but toward morning […]
Red Armor
A man crafts the smallest sushi in the world from one grain of rice a tiny piece of nori wrapped around a shred of sea urchin He says a woman cried for over an hour when she saw the small sushi, it was just so cute The ratio indicating the relation of the duration […]
K’s Party, 68th Street
“Peter died two months ago, I woke up at four still drunk, lost my wallet and passport, knew all the people in Beverly Hills were full of shit, were selling the Monica Lewinsky stories to the press, I knew the boys who were doing it, the ones who said they taught her how to give […]
Five Poems
St Oyl! he is st oyl! of the well-machined of the well-lubed of those lankyass lads loosed on boulders with pinecones bested by small pineneedles the needles! they have been trampled over by his loosed limbs needles having their own needles succulents lining edges of other succulents from the paleozoic era he! st oyl, he! […]
Mt. Mitchell
I didn’t want to tell the story and still don’t Not thinking in elephant thrusts An action that rolls off the wrist The situation changes As does the house What middle colors Electioneering for my love What grounds for improvement can I claim Not one in reality But infinite toward a masquerade I can exploit […]
Sphinx of Black Quartz, Judge My Vow!
“You gave me more than I could ever need & even created more needs just so you could fulfill them” Is it true the closer you get to someone the more of a mystery they are? How can I render you free in words like one or three looking away looks like a way the […]
Entertainer of the Year
At age eight I receive the award Entertainer of the Year Runner-Up for a jazz-gymnastics routine I perform to the disco song, “Give Me the Night.” My hair is short and I’m barefoot and bare-legged in a pale blue leotard with a red and white zigzag down the side. On stage I do disco moves […]
Stanzas from “Cry Baby Mystic”
A squashed blackberry stuck to the sole of my shoe in Paradise you’ll starve up on the roof. Mobbing birds will often swerve away before they strike: Mannikins, Mousebirds, blue-gray Noddies. Even that little truth is too much though so is the fibbing. I’m still not sure how it works. ❉ I once have known […]
