lies

why don't you
BE lie VE
to me

WHY DO YOU
be LIE ve my words
TO ME

to live
in the
space I
create

(why are
you lying
to me
?)

WHY AM I
(lying so well)
BELIEVING YOU

fill the spaces
between my words
with the things
I want to hear
I CAN'T SPREAD
the words apart
sort the lies from the TRUTH IS HARD
AND THEN YOU
lie

photo

you were right
someday I’ll walk away
and addresses will be for the past
or the future
but my breakfast will be
on a table of open sky and desert

who will I dream about?
snake gods and river kings?

I see a photo of me
standing by a long hot highway
staring at the clouds
and me in the picture, the one doing the staring
is wondering how I got this far
and how far I’ll go
before I want to go home

I hear things calling
dreams
oceans and deserts and moons
wind in the trees
grass along the river’s edge
things calling for my soul…

burial

I heard about Billy today
and felt an imploding fireball disintegrate my heart
generate sparks conflagration shriveled hair
muscle slide lives breathes
the earth pulses and claims new flesh every day
acid stone microscopic eyeless worms
blindfold your soul and ignore your pain
grass wind merge with soil and grow
when I press my temples my skull creaks
clocks gears oil burning grease smearing
still frames of memory click by one by one
tears skin hook flesh screaming dying
the hunt for food satisfies more than hunger
massive intake of breath, timeless pulse of heart
smile teeth fear veil hide florid cheeks
chain links rattle by dragging iron balls and dirt
penetrate dark touch sand grab mud with your toes
rocks bone shatter ice skin melt
crush the moments into the shape of a day
coins shower swallow bury spadefuls stems and leaves
turn the earth, expose the soil, flatten the land
bury the dead