Verse: until i was expressed

when i was
unexpressed
i was timeless

i had
no gift to give
but i listened

until my ears
were full
of rain

and my mouth
was as dry
as sand

and when
i was expressed
at last

i found myself
awake and attached
to everything

but no thing
quite captivated me
like you.

Verse: somehow if this

somehow
if this becomes
impossible to know
then grant me forgiveness
please

i was trying
to reach beyond
conventional expression
to tell you something ordinary
in an extraordinary way

too often i take
my counsel from
the stars, the moon
their tintinnabulation
is irresistible to me

i forget
to ground these things
in the calm
in the warmth
of lips, and hands

in those familiar
and immediate places
where the most pure
form of expression
resides

but if you like
my words then
let them be
a balm
a snow

and know this
that i love
love most
when it is
expressed by you.

Verse: you in love

you
in love
with a body
well and wonderful
will find once
upon a time
to come
that body
unfamiliar in ways
you cannot touch
or tell
yet you
in love
with a body
well and wonderful
will find you are
unafraid to love
what is not new
and was not old
when you were
a body born
in love.

Verse: Just so

if in
this expression
of love
there is
not enough
of love
know this
you were
well loved
even before
it was
expressed here
and you
will be
loved after
and ever
beyond expression
and even
surely beyond
these hands
and how
they reach
for yours
almost instinctively
like flowers
will stretch
their faces
up toward
the sun.

Verse: you are the weight

you are
the weight
of a smile
and spreading
ever like
a shadow
over me.

Verse: You

i am not
without you
wherever i go
there is you
with me
or i
remain impossibly here
even when i am not
wearing your smile
on mine

Verse: kneel

whatever becomes
a confession
confides in me
before it can
express or expel
the hunger for grace
or forgetting
but it does not
forgive

Verse: nap

i take
the day
where there are
no colors
to wander by
your sleeping hands
which do not
even hold a sigh
or inscribe
the air extraordinary
with expectations
that you
are waiting only
for me to say
wake up

Verse: untitled

no eyes
in my heart
but yours
to see me

no mouth
in my heart
but yours
to kiss me

no love
in my heart
but yours
to feed me

no one
in my heart
but you
sustain me

Verse: Familiar

(Running over some familiar ground, thus the title...)

Tonight

the sky

will be

a harvest

of stars

the moon

will swell

with pride

and I

will bid them all

goodnight

grazing

in fields

of untended dreams

until morning comes

to collect us all.

Verse: I have two enemies

(inspired by a tumblr post by @Xytrex)

i have
two enemies

but they
are not mine

their enmity
is not mutual

but i have earned
their hate

the things
that i have done

i did when i
was unsupervised

and i cannot undo
nor repair

however much time
elapses

i have
two enemies

but they
are not mine

to me
they are

no more
than strangers

i bear their hatred
like a scar

and i
know this

if i have
any enemy

in this world
it is me

Verse: Shock

(For @angelahelga)

the shock

of your mouth

on mine

is like

a zipper

catching skin

and i shiver

in anticipation

that our lips

will meet

again.

Verse: clarity

this is
transitional

it will
take time

to unfold
you must open

and let things
fall away

or embrace
something new

too often
i close

when things
seem impossible

and i
nurture winter

in my soul.

Verse: Question

one breath
of fear

the undoing
of all i hope

how does
my heart negotiate

such pressing
moments

as a skylark
that adjusts

to a shift
in the wind

or as a leaf
that falls away?

Verse: Lucyspet's Reverie.

(Happy early birthday present @lucyspet. I hope this is okay...)

it is

so warm

the sand

seeks shade

between my toes

funny how

the sun

bleaches everything

but my skin

turns brown

i find

a space

for me

and unfurl

my shadow

the waves

foaming and frenzied

like lovers

they reach for

the shore

and retreat

just as quickly

as if

they touched

too soon

i am looking

at the sky

the calmest sea

i know

not a ripple

but for

a distant band

of cloud

crouched and curious

on the horizon

yet not approaching

it looks

like Culebra

la isla chiquita

the last virgin

and Flamenco

where the sand

is as soft and white

as new-fallen snow

even the relics

seem natural

acclimated and quiet

like they forgot

what they were

much like anyone

sometimes,

i forget myself

here is home

but it's not home

i live there

and in summer

and on a strand

of sand for

as long as i can

i make a space

for me

and my shadow

and though

this bottle

of beer

is sweating

the air

has the scent

of autumn

i sigh

summer is

in retreat

like the cloud

and Culebra

and the waves

i leave

a space

for someone

and go

where i make

a home

at night

in bed

the sheets

fall over my skin

like waves

i feel

tides inside me

rocking me to sleep

and i encounter

summer anew

my true home

is never

so far away

my Culebra

my isla chiquita

my summer

my ocean.

Verse: Duet

with our warm appetites
we did seize silence
like a hapless child
and draw from it
an unconditional surrender
to the sacred hymn
of our insatiable love
and in the morning
that followed
we taught it
how to pray.

Verse: Garlands

For Garland Jeffreys. He'll never know how much Escape Artist, Ghost Writer and Don't Call Me Buckwheat have captured my soul.

One day
when we meet

if we are destined
to do so

i will take
your hand

and say
to you

take me
to the matador

and if
you nod

and smile
then i will
call you friend.

Verse: quotidian

Every morning
i seek
to embrace
the sky
that the earth
denies me.

Verse: atlas

i carry

the world

with me

wherever

i go

it keeps growing

and i wonder

how much more

i can take

hope

is too much

to hold on to

and expectations

weigh me down

and memories

accumulate

like a heavy snow

and still

i bear it all

wondering what happens

when i let it go.

Verse: no thing

sometimes

i wonder

what is there

that i can offer

this world

and the only thing

i can think of

is silence.

Verse: Song

there are

many songs

i sing

but yours

is the only one

I know by heart

and i sing it

always

every day

softly

when you

are here

and loudly

when you

are gone

to fill

the space

without you

everything i love

in this world

is contained in

that song.

Verse: Wordplay

(a poem for @bekkimeehan's birthday, which is tomorrow. I give it to her now in case she doesn't like it, giving her plenty of time to exchange it for better...)

one down
and then

where did
the year go

focus
one down

this should
be easy

but thoughts
are like spiders

busy spinning webs
in my head

i look
across the table

and see
you smile

one down
often purple

five letters
possibly prose

one down
words puzzle me

they are
like butterflies

you cannot pin
one down

another letter
another block

this one
is Y

i like the way
it converges

O
so pretty

one down
and i

look up
again

and fill the space
that remains
with U

Verse: invention

once
we made shadows
of our fears
and pinned them
to the wall

now
those same
shadows
they bear
our names

and hope,
which doesn't
recognize us
anymore,
fears us most.

Verse: untitled

we make names
invocations

we fill them
with our memories

until
we are empty

and that
is when

we make
a silence

and hang it
in the air

nothing stops
but us

not the birds
or their songs

nor the clouds
that assemble

curious crowds
uncomprehending

if they cry
it isn't for us

or anyone
at all

and that
is what hurts

more than
anything

that nature
doesn't remember

that day
like we do

Verse: prisoner

naked
as nothing
and lies

i confront
myself daily
in the mirror

and deny
defy
what i see

it
is not
me

it is
just
a frame

and one day
i will
be free.

Verse: how to tweet

This is for @kattcalls. She suggested I write this. I don't know if it is poetic. But it is based on how I tweet.

say
what amuses
you

the less thought
the better
sometimes

it can
become
labored

and don't
worry
so much

about what
others
will think

you tend
to second guess
yourself

in fact
you should keep
your head down

that way
you avoid
the drama

even
when empty
try

it helps
to keep you
primed

your voice
is as valid
as anyone's

and
on equal
footing

but
always
leave room

in your
idea and
for others

to fill
expand
and share

that
is where
the magic lies.

Verse: When to speak to the sky

here
is what i
have found

overall
clear conditions
are best

clouds
only cause
distractions

also
never speak
during the day

there is
too much
traffic

or at night
too many people
making wishes

your voice
is likely
to be lost

no
mornings
are optimal

when it
is fresh
and new

before
it has decided
on a mood

you never know
you might
make it smile.

Verse: how to start a poem about love

here is what
i recommend

start with the eyes
but be careful

they cannot
be green

they are jade
or emerald

something precious
but better

particularly
if inspired

like
a spring morning

glistening
with dew

that kind
of detail

you will discover
is very important

to let her know
they sparkle or smile

that is when
she knows

that you
notice things about her

and that
is when

you have
her full attention

the rest
is up to you.

Verse: how to disappear

first
is the physical

a gradual
retreat

until
you are alone

even
in close proximity

and then
come silences

that become
prolonged

until
permanent

after which
there is

a forgetting
of details

and certain
days

until you
are unburdened

by remembering
and memories

yours
theirs

that is how
you disappear.

Verse: after the hurricane

we did not
go to night

it came
to us

curled up
on the couch

in the living room
so we went outside

in search of
available light

sitting on
the back veranda

the leaves
all a-bustle

a warning that night
was near by

we decided
to retreat

back inside
in our living room

we lit candles
to keep it at bay

and it sat
silently

watching the wax
drip

like a second hand
winding down

knowing it would not
be denied much longer

until at last
we evaded night

the only way
we know how

in dreams.

Yesterday's verse: Earl

the wind
was a cauldron
of autumn

stirring
the leaves
into a frenzy

until
a yellow one
broke free

pirouetted
for a moment
then fell away

sailing
down sheets
of rain down

to perish
wordlessly
in a rising sea

as my window
wells up
with tears.

Verse: Atlas

in the land
of idle chatter
i remain
silent

because
i swore that
i would keep
your secrets

and i will
carry them
with me
where i go

all the while
wondering if anyone
will keep
mine

Verse: you walk your ghost

you walk
your ghost

where i cannot
be seen

new york
or paris

but never close
to home

that would be
awkward

you walk
your ghost

and everything
is rearranged

waves
become clouds

rivers shiver
and willows sigh

and autumn
reveals herself to you

throwing her tunic
at your feet

you walk
your ghost

and haunt
everything

the starless night
familiar songs

rooms where
you dim the light

so they
can't pry

this verse
and me.

Verse: Untitled

sometimes i wonder
what was it like
when the moon
first encountered
its reflection
in a still lake

it must have been
something like
the very first time
i looked into
your calm green eyes.