Nothing to Defend

Trees ready to shed crimson leaves, like so many days before the Northern Wind comes, peppering the streets in a coat of crunch; a moment to stop,  pause, and breathe in.   I know now, because I’ve let these moments pass me by in the past, when I was dumb, deaf, and blind. I stood …

diskoseismology

I want to self immolate                           be consumed                           in a conflagration              for a cause People have no “cause”                           there is no “cause”                           for us,              for the antithesis of causes                           we are the cause I don’t allow myself               to handle a gun in                           these moments-              but I imagine                           the sound of grooved metal                           (surface area to release …

Throwing Crumpled Love Notes

I had never cried during a movie                          until I saw The Notebook,             now shows where animals struggle                          just to survive,                                       make my throat grow tight,             my arms reaching out to push a chick into a nest,                          breath silently screaming at whales to turn around. I’ve never been a patriot,             but the sight of wounded soldiers returning home                          fills me with pride for the …

View from a Tree

He closes the door to his gray sedan. I watch him, walking with his keys dangling. I think of him as a friend most times. When he looks at me, standing by the post, he smiles. On warm summer days, a bit of food we will share. I often imagine him, running his hands through …

Un known

I seek the unknown and chase what I cannot name into the darkness, I chase it into drunkenness and beyond despair No matter how hard I search it eludes me it escapes me No matter how many legs spread wide or the number of smiles I see Kind, loving words or sharp tongued barbs I …

Tour of Duty

I lost my innocence one night in September of 1987. The television screen was blank, through the speakers came the sound of a lone guitar and static, drums began to beat and I saw the jungle. “Paint it, Black” began and I knew war, a concept I could never have thought of on my own …