Demon Hate
You clamp my head and say, “Demon, be gone.” You shake me and scream, “Come back, princess.” You flap your arms and dance madly. Your face flames; your eyes steam. My demon is sticky. How you must hate me. When my demon finally leaves, I leave with him. (more…)
NO SUCH FOREVER
gold circuits
on or off–
a fourteen karat
ring
of no decibels
slim
to a finger.
the glass-
scratching
precious is pear-cut
light broke
to rainbow glint
–centred & sided
by twin
blood-fire flanks
square & flesh-mounted
yellow closure. (more…)
“you’re very Prussian in your sadness,
you live life dark,
brooding
very Soviet,
as if you’re being oppressed daily
by the communist regime…
a clinical masochist—
you’ve changed your mom’s mind about scars,
told her they’re combat wounds,
a tangible map of grit, (more…)
SIERRA
It started with a birthday party ––
balloons and confetti for the girl who wanted to kiss me.
Seated there at the table in her parents’ kitchen,
surrounded by 14 other kids, all I could do
was pretend that I wasn’t nervous ––
that the curse of my social phobia wasn’t burning
in my chest like those 10 candles on her cake.
I suppose I was too proud to run away ––
to say I had to take a piss and sneak out
through the bathroom window.
Maybe I should have raided the cabinets
for something flammable, doused my pride,
and tossed it into the fire behind my ribs.
Maybe I should have stolen her birthday wish
and wished for the ability to stop being a pussy. (more…)
Juno
you are possibly a flower
a flower who spends its time contemplating the nature
of failure it’s okay
the CDC keeps a catalog of many of the ways that you can die
but it’s only a partial list
you don’t have to choose now
you have time (more…)
Blind Date / Channel U / Suburban Amnesia
I was behind myself
no spooky action all summer
the dead becoming a friend almost a mother
Today I learned more about enemies
in the fall heaving bracelets and heavier breasts
in the dream kiss the little girl behind the satin-lined bureau
to work up an appetite
in the dream pointy hats and why it went sour
we grew up awry to be cheating wives
I never thought him an old man
huffing on my pink and white bike in the fire
the brass band counting down the great generation
skin tags and flags (more…)
Behind the Gateway Shopping Center
Portland Oregon 1971
Something in man’s form
hunted small boys
like me
Would melt away
when I would spot him
by the billboard
Unless he had already
seized prey
his words to them still venom to me
Take it, or you’re going to get hurt.
If it won’t fit, play with it.
Grab it fast. Grab it fast! (more…)
An Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits
First it looked like a pig’s bladder, then a cat’s paw
& afterward rabbits, one after another.
Eleven in all fell from her warren. Creatix of colony,
Mother of mothers. An inedible feast unto herself.
Taken before she could coddle the wet fur, before she
could lick her lips in anticipation, the doctor pickled
their slack bodies & lined the jars on his mantle.
Stillborn meat poisons the blood. So many believed
this to be true. A country woman births a brood of rabbits
So many said she was hungry. Starved. (more…)
Targeted Individuals
Each week we gather here in the basement of
the Unitarian Church of All Souls. There are rules
to be followed. We follow the rules. We all speak
in turn. We don’t interrupt. Don’t ever interrupt.
Withhold expressions of disbelief. Be supportive!
Please keep activist plans PEACEFUL & LEGAL,
so says the sign tacked to the corkboard. What
should be done in the case of infiltration? Truth is,
we might not ever know if infiltration has
occurred. Don’t reveal your actual name. Don’t
share your phone number. That’s common
sense. Be humble. Be thankful! What of lobbying (more…)
Wheels
A guy in a Miata is always middle aged. He wears a hat to hide his balding head, the back of his hair grows long so it curls out from under the cap, giving the appearance that there is more hair under there. A bitch in a Camaro lets her mane fly through the t-top. Sunglasses hide her insecurities. A dude in a Miata wants to be sexy and a bitch in a Camaro wants to be tough.
What about the mom in the Odyssey minivan? Her husband abandoned her and the kids, so of course she gets the transport. A dick in a BMW likes to drive fast through women and stoplights. A dick in a BMW fits quite nicely in the Odyssey as needed. (more…)
Occulum 