Ok, we’ve rendered
the rendition

how often?

What were we trying
to get rid of?

We exposed the homeless
character of desire
to the weather.

Shall we talk
about the weather

worsening four times
faster than expected,

eight times,

until the joy
of pattern recognition
kicks in?

            Until the crest
 ...

Where there’s smoke
there are mirrors

and a dry ice machine,
industrial quality fans.

If I’ve learned anything
about the present moment
 •

But who doesn’t
love a flame,

the way one leaps
into being

full-fledged,
then leans over

to chat
 •

Already the light
is retrospective,
sourceless,

is losing itself
though the trees
are clearly limned.

there are ways to hold pain like night follows day
not knowing how tomorrow went down.

it hurts like never when the always is now,
the now that time won't allow.

there is no manner of tomorrow, nor shape of today
only like always having...

My brother still bites his nails to the quick,
but lately he’s been allowing them to grow.
So much hurt is forgotten with the horizon
as backdrop. It comes down to simple math.

The beach belongs to none of us, regardless
of color, or money....

You remember the mermaid makes a deal,
her tongue evicted from her throat,
and moving is a knife-cut with every step.
This is what escape from water means.
Dear Colleagues, you write, for weeks
I’ve been typing this letter in the bright
kingdom of my imagination....

We gathered in a field southwest of town,
several hundred hauling coolers
and folding chairs along a gravel road
dry in August, two ruts of soft dust
that soaked into our clothes
and rose in plumes behind us.

By noon we could discern their massive coils
emerging...