Take Four and Let Me Sleep in the Morning
i found these short pieces on a sheet of paper, still in the the typewriter from last night. It is sitting in front of me now, curled at the top and bottom like some parchment or proclamation. i suppose i wrote them.
The Display
shooting stars and suicide signs
dharma mornings with the sun at our backs
little perfect kisses in the kitchen and her smile
lingering into the afternoon, her laughter into
the next day, that little bastard singing twice
in the dishpit and it is much like a flood
i see again
little deities and displays, dakinis dancing
all around us
there is everything, there is everything, then
there is everything screaming at you, right
in your face and you are trying to listen but
it is hard to discern one voice
from all of the others.
For JM
i missed your birthday this year and for all
i owe you that is inexcusable but
i’m having these rumbleseat days
where the leaves are painted the wrong colors
at the wrong times, where the sun lingers
at an awkward angle and the darkness rises
too soon, where the evening sky is filled
with so many shooting stars that most
nights seem like the end of days.
it is enough to make me wonder why
we flee the lands of our births
like war criminals or hunted men
why we swim across the flat and rolling sea
of green and then autumn until we reach
the ocean or the mountains, whichever comes first
then trying the other the second time
around, always seeking new and small places
to hide like war criminals or hunted men who
forget to say happy birthday or even hello to their
neighbors.
By Definition
The writer stops into the cafe for a quick cup of coffee to go before a long shift at his job, after a long night of work at his desk. He says hello to the author, sipping and nibbling while noodling away at a laptop, a picture perfect window display.
A Brief Statement of Intent
there is a place right between
what you call genre and what you call
literature, a place right between
poetry and prose, metaphor and
reality, language and meaning, between
you and me, and i
am trying to find it.
Smoke Signals 