ya had to ask

indescribable
breaches
of contract

rudimentary
gallows
display,
hallow
be thy
name

tangled up
tangibles
crosses
paths with
wavering
storylines

ejected
from headspace

found
in the same
ol place

my patience

Not Bothered

Potent hopes are smothered
by dulled blades. Some sullen

lifeguards follow the ripples
outward, chewing batteries,

savoring sunlight. Sewermen
bathe divinely, scrubbing dents

from their exoskeletons. Then
an irrefutable gang catches wind

of gears whirling, takes turns
perplexing gateway dregs, dares

each other to plunder sternums
with their plentiful tongues,

what fun. Hail from the underpass!

They know the value in unknowing.

Hail from spring's subtle invitation!
We've arrived not expecting another

arrival in the works, the midst missing
its moxie, most of us locked into our

movies, scrambling unpolished credits,
rolling, rolling, our life at last.

ya da ya

when all ya make
are mistakes

are ya gonna let
that best ya

or make
em proudly?

flowerpicker

snagged
sprigs
out of spring

with silly
wish to
shine on

your day
in the same
way you

shine
on what
was

previously
un
plucked

Questing

Inexorably ripe and sweet,
my sentient flock of fateful
fleeting marks, locks of soapy
hair and stale smoke makes
purpose bristle and disquiets
my anxieties. I am faithful
that I will find you. Curled up
beneath a skylight, sleeping
soundly through the night,
chivalrous dreams chasing
you through imperiled forests,
a mat in a blazing hut, a ritual
hazing, your bible smile
fills the dips in my oily body
with longing, with precocious
vistas and hope-rattling.
You earnest audacity. Relinquish
your earnings in favor of a more
cherished prize. Rise up, son
of the sun. Get going, lonesome.
These passages were written
in the name of endless persistence.
Returning to me all at once,
I pick my way through the letters
to revive these songs that'll waken
the slumber your doubt.

Erickson

Erickson spent his fortune

                 on a bigger grave

got that killer view

           and settled

                   for granite throne

           farewell

            oh well

this morning

  the snow

                 fell in melted

        clumps

                       like infant

        cymbals

                                    and the cemetery

                                    was so bright

                             I had to look

                                            the other way

OUR NAME HERE

What signage!
Hung starkly
above some
no doubt
necessary
warehouse,
though whose
wares they are,
I am unaware.

Our name—
what a get,
what suggestion
in sage lettering
that graces facade,
a finger-cuff fantasy
splayed in bold black,
a projection
ripe for drifting.

No seer
saw such visions
as this, no pastor
imparted fervor,
no foreman nor shipwright
developed a finer blueprint.
I feel you near,
as warehouse recedes
into vacant eastward plains,
pulled through a madhouse
of my own making, constellating
every moment my tooth pulsed
to make you mine,
and now I have seen the sign:
OUR NAME HERE.

often i speak softer

because
straining
to

hear
me

speak
you
often

move
closer
which
is
where
i'd
prefer
you
to
be

Unfazed

Warily
I miss you
verily,

projecting
blank
perfections

within.
By chance
if you are

thinking
of me,
will keep

this
empty,
the effect

being
a duplicate
sunrise,

should this
sky ever
be touched

by
your
lips.

Run Some

Held you
not for long,
here is my
unwaivable
promissory
note,
here are
qualifications,
quail eggs,
quasi-plausible
frustrations.
Here is patience.
Permafrost
melts to
my darling
obscene.
Held you
in the crux
of crumbling
narrative,
posing for
radical gifts
like a modern
nativity
scene.