Vigil in Threes
Shallow, uneven, breath of an infant. The eyes are rock pools at low tide. Bones in the face are the face. No life, no expression. Not sleep, not illness,…
Resurrection of Mother and Child
—after Johannes August Nahl’s “The Tomb of Madame Langhans” Bury a woman with her stillborn, the baby crawls out fingers first as the child of Maria Magdelena Langhans: Cherubic…
Contradictory Images in the Same Composition
Strung out on a bench, I’ve worn light from a streetlamp, golden as an art halo or any manufactured light. I’ve pissed that gold into a sink at work,…
The Last Time I Cried
Was when I was watching Misty Copeland dance “The Nutcracker” on mute, As I listened to “The Point of No Return” by Immortal Technique. It was simply beautiful. What…
It’s Important I Remember That There Are Several Ways to Kill Houseplants—
watering too much. Watering too little. Not providing enough sunlight or providing too much. Letting cold air overcome them. With concern pitched at the right octave, the green, gangly…
It’s Important I Remember That I Can Never Wash My Hands Enough—
our most tender overtures toward each other have turned against us, targeted us for shortness of breath and breadth of lifespan. When I tell you it’s dead outside, I…
We’ll Play to an Empty Room, Eli Tells Us
Ten till showtime this old friend of yours takes us backstage to meet the band and strum a few verses, hoping to stall till a crowd shows up, and…
Birds Again
in memory of my student, 2000-2019 After last spring’s surprise grackle attack and the autumn squirrels’ burgling acrobatics I almost didn’t fill the feeders this year. …
Smokestack
Sometimes I think the gods want something else. Enough with the libations, they might cry (if it weren’t for the prohibition on two-way speech). Don’t gore that ox on…