2013

200 vertical
feet of sand

I climbed
a mulberry tree

and shook
the berries

into the small
pond below.

The birds
went wild.

Dogs came
from the east

and brought
news friends,

but what
are friends for?

I got my
heart ejected

with a snake
and started

running
I surfed once

and buried
a mermaid

swimmin
with women

I ended up
in southern

Indiana at
Turkey run

my eyes
where like

tennis balls
I took a bite

out of acceptance
with a silver spoon

and my
teeth cracked out

I shoveled mountains
of mulch

in preparation
for the new year

my work was hard,
but what

will this capital bring?

Abominable

Examine
the plaster

cast of
an ordinary man

who lurks
barefoot

in the deep
forbidden

the frightening
snow

Little Owl

I can hear
your bone-chimes

drudging
in the marrow,

the shadows

banging

against your 

little glass body.

*

Rip the bars

off the windows

and shatter

this silent ether!

Exorcism

I was only
establishing

myself
and,

so falling in love,

I punched

the ghost 

out of the living 

room.

*

Better gone 

   than haunting.

Trippel Drive

I met two of my old best friends
with a pair of binoculars.

I saw one kid throw a dirt clod
at another kid. I put the binoculars

away and eventually I was standing
below them at the base of a dirt mound.

The classic stand off
of boyhood:

Two new kids
in the neighborhood;

the other,
staking claim to his territory.

The day was shadowless
with a light dust in the breeze.

I saw the one kids eye twitch
so I quickly grabbed a 2X4

and began to run full-speed at him.

Then, I planted the end of the 2X4 into
the ground and pole-vaulted

over a huge hole in the earth
from which the dirt mound

had been displaced.

They stood with terror and excitement
as I flailed over the abyss

screaming like a blood thirsty eagle.

Everything went by in slow-motion,
the sounds of an old Bruce Lee film filled the air

and the moment my feet hit the ground,
we were friends for life.

Or World Without

dog eye

on your back

heart in 

your party

open up

to the river

dove

the cryptic body

Jab

I apologize
for our fishing game,

for the way
the birds

were all behind us
and in the trees.

I was preparing
for a monologue

when I should
have been

preparing
for departure.