“Have you reckon’d the earth much?” – Walt Whitman I used to lay in the grasswaiting for bugs to traverse my bodymy limbsto feel their tiny rapid treadon my skincount the stripes on their backsthe dots on their underbelliesto catch their gaze for a moment—perhaps it was to feelto venture I belonged in their worldhere…
Category: Poems
Weight
let the water consumelet my body sink beneath its weightuntil it dissolves behindthe tile, the faucet, the flickering lightlet the room, the world I inhabitbe everythingand all else dissipate with the ripples I madedipping my limbsinto the invisible filmlet the surface be still above meand let me be as the surfaceas the space that holds…
A Simple Text
careful am I with words but quicker they seem to be with thoughtsthat come to themreadypacked with a punchlaced with somethingboldwhile I sip waterin the minutesthat lengthen with each keystrokeand backspacethey send insight instantlyto the skywhere I’ve beenlingeringbusy for hourspiecing wordstogether block by blockwhen I ought to havefinished at least somethingnothing remainsthe bottomlineuntil I emerge…
Whispers from Elsewhere
In my mind I’m stillcrouching among the tiger lilies,peering through verdant bladesat the flower-studded landscapebeyond the borders of home—I carry whispers from Elsewhere in the pockets of my lungs,hear them when I exhale, whenin the quiet, Responsibility rememberswho I was before she met meand releases the leash on my temples and tongue. Then my braid…
A Letter To My Friend, Time
Time, you know how much I cherish our friendship,how thankful I am for what you doto keep my life running,and all life on track.But there are some things we must discuss,and I beg you,as a friend,to consider my thoughts:It’s wonderful that you’re always present,but sometimes I need a little space,space to stretch and linger withoutthe…
Itself
“Everything in Nature grows and defends itself any way it can and is spontaneously itself, tries to be itself at all costs and against all opposition.” – Rainer Maria RilkeCan you convince the burgeoning OakTo grow into a Pine?Can you tell the aged cactusTo rid itself of spines;Or the stone instead of solidity To make…
Vile Silence
Experience rises in her throat, Gurgling behind firm-pressed lips. It builds between bone and flesh Stretching flushed derma Into round cisterns, tight and fraught, Creaking, anticipating release, Brooding on the physics of freedom. She tightens brow and jaw, Pinches oval skin into Infinite ripples, holding Until fatigue burns beneath The failing facade. Weary. Collapsing. How…
Truth
Is not a Waterfall, Poised along The path, But A trickle, Flowing Where the Mosses Bend and Nearly meet, Spilling life Through Cracked and Muddied Outlets. It does not Appear By furrowed Ground. It bleeds in The deep …
Your Delight
For my mother remember when life was longwhen the world was roundand iridescent, and smelled of honeysucklehow it floated, soft as a cloudthrough the universeremember how the sun would catch the tree linefilter luminous green rays onto to the forest floor where you and I would walkthe crunch of last year’s leavesa suitable carpet for…
Chains
I was in chains and wholly unaware—Did you know?I thought tyranny was divine,thought creation yearned for orderand order enabled peace— Hierarchy. It’s the will of God.I thought submission was freedom,thought relinquishing gave lifeand I, ever willing, gave all—Liberating. We don’t have to decide.I thought recitation was voice,thought opinion came from doctrineand doctrine humanity’s light—Listen, and…