To the Stray I Named August

you appeared one day
lurking near the abandoned house
a ghost of better times
when someone had extra scraps
or patience enough to tame you
still, there you are, as loyal as loss
if you ever saunter near
I'd like the story of your mangled ear
to hear your sneer-
should've seen the other guy
some days I think you're waiting
for someone to buy the place
fix it up, welcome you
the front door king
most days I see you watching
waiting for all of us
to move away.

सूर्योदय

on the day he was born
I recognized him

from his previous self 

I was not enough
life had desperately 
multiplied
    crawled into my lap
         bounced on my shoulders
               was been born to run from me:
into the arms of the universe.
life pulled, dug, ripped
for my growth
pointed me in all directions

we are transposed
I am the wide-eyed newborn,
startle response high,
rooting reflex rigid
he is the old man sage
one question tapping the pulse
another question
holding starlight together
just long enough
to ask for this dance

Dreamers Unmatched

it is not something that happens to us
we do not follow a well-worn path
we go from dark to day to dust
trying to make sense in the aftermath


there are no breadcrumbs to pursue
nor are there strings attached
we are the thinkers who do
and the dreamers unmatched

The Lost

a spun top
he does not fall
lives in the land of tilt
the brightest crayon in the box
but can't find his way out
they say he is like this
wild eyes can't connect
can't scream loud enough
for anyone to hear
a child who has never said
mommy
daddy
I want, I need, please
he is rocking now
they wring their hands
what shall we do
we've done everything
what will he become
is this all he will know
what is he thinking
does he think
he loves the smell of books
addicted to the turn of the page
he knows something is there
we know something is there
but how do we get to it-

Said Thank You

it was a mistake he made
said thank you
when he gave something away
his father stared down, frowned
nothing much has changed
as a man himself
he gives condolences on birthday cards
for all the days that can't be lived again
he sends congratulations to pall bearers
to celebrate the love that was found
he still says thank you when he gives
grateful to have something to share

poetry didn't save my life

poetry didn't save my life
didn't make me a better person
didn't get me a job
raise or promotion
poetry was just a language
The language of my emotion
it was just a way to communicate
with my edges
dance recklessly in the corner
with partners that weren't altogether
composed
poetry didn't save my life
it asked where I wanted to go
how far, how deep
then took me there

It's Been Too Long Since

it's been too long since
I've watered this
-remember the night I left promises on your Euclidean lips
the corner pockets where I englished my lip's kiss
you weren't threatened by the ferrule's hiss
here goes the detriment of centuries
our souls are the filament of memories
though I meant lasting pleasantries
we go vacant as haunting melodies
as wet
we met
with a stumble and crush
crush and stumble
yet
I don't regret
the hush and tumble
tumble and hush

Ferguson

Have you seen?
there is a crack in the liberty bell
from the first time it tried to ring
& all the king's horses
& all the king's men
couldn't make it whole again


the question has always been
100 killed in another country
10 in our home town
or 1 in our family
it will only change
when anyone is someone to everyone

Religion of the Atoms

there's a reason why we met

dawn declares to the faded starlight

there's a place where we overlap

find me there

;says the torah to the quran to the bible

there's a reason why we live and why we die

we don't need to know why
to know

it is so

find me there

I am not lost to you

even before we met,

the atoms in my body joined with yours

it was an ancient supernova

;I remember your dust

the way it taught me to breathe

to be thankful for each breath

we are not promised another

you know
as well as I

it is ours now. 

Monday

seven tongues
only one I taste
bitterroot to all else
tuck me in that sunrise
fall down my beautiful
here is the key
it is tracing patterns as you sleep
unlocking the person
you have always been
I have seen this,
in all the sweet places of the day
our moon
changing with our eyes added,
moving only when we look away
it was never something over there
we bring the heavens down to us
each time
we remember to look up

Dear EPA v2

I'm sorry about the sea otters
I didn't think a petition would do very much, really
I'm sorry I made all those copies of Nicolas Cage
and spread them around the office like ebola
it was funny
it wasn't worth the soul of a tree
but for a moment we all laughed
and forgot about the sea otters


it's probably hopeless anyway
everyone in my office has seen a Nick Cage movie
but no one could really tell a sea otter
from a walrus
we're already deciding how humanity will be remembered
in the humans
in the celebrity of kitsch and trite
in the refuse
I just keep wondering
if an otter would sign to save me
but that's silly, they can't hold a pen
if they could, we'd let them star in all of our movies and afterthoughts
but that's silly, they can't even type their name
they don't even have names
do they-
if they did they wouldn't need a petition
if only the trees & otters were a little more human
we might recognize them as ours

my love, you've undone me

my love, you've undone me
a waste of space for any other
now
and how
I was a dusty old tune,
always thinking I was only three chords
alongside a rusty poem
the trick of any good cover, you've made me
laid me open
blowing across my rim for the hum rumble
of the contents below
I am not content below
you've undone me for any other
the lines you've added,
like the sheet marks on my skin-
I woke up, ran out to get them tattooed in-
to stitch myself between sleep
and your arms leaving me for the day
I am not the same
song
always thinking I was little more
than a whistle stop for heart-ache
my boats road yours
now they're tapping happy
now I am done for
cannot be content with
less than our voices sighing each other's name
like it is the only tune we know
the only song we need