sample poems

all poems 
herein are

unpublished 
drafts.

____________________________________________________

Instructions Upon Exhaling

Push me against 

the wall again--

what does it matter

that there 

are open wounds, 

or that lives may burst

forth from vaginal canals? 

Everything born dies, 

and you already sold me

on the idea 

that I let you please 

me; legs and arms

akimbo, naked bodies

bent in half--desperate 

to come together.

Each breath a reminder 

to let go of everything

worth keeping.

Insectual Relationship

            [the perfect stage]

You know I want you

to heal my childhood

wounds. Instead, I am

shedding skin and

   asking for sex,

then happiness in that

order of indulgences.

   You slough it off 

and join in ecdysis.

Appearing huge this

   evening and still

 hazel without eyes

green enough to be

one completely. It is

late as we mature

with wings for flight;

   Dark wingpads

coming together,

moving as we did

   the first time

  outside water.

Things are different

 now. Not knowing

how, we molt again.

Sunday Highrises with God

My Sundays with God are predictable.  

He sits a table over at the café, brooding

over his Caramel Highrise and second

slice of chocolate cake. He leaves

no crumbs. Meticulous and drifting

into a crowd of mallwalkers, temporary

curlicue of froth stuck in a graying beard,

that rough and singular tuft of steel

wool. He does not tip or thank the baristas

refilling his cup (who know nothing

ever gets finished and so much is never

begun without coffee and God).

I am not sure which is more important.

The nuance and liveliness of Arabica

or the intensity and exclusivity of He

who inhabits the highest altitudes. God

with his Caramel Highrise mingling

among the marked-down mark-ups. A wad

of cash lines his pockets, the hot long

summer on its way--and everyone knows

He looks good in white and well, simplicity

is timeless and He might as well save it  
for the future. Or summer's end  
when all the whites are discounted.
________________________________