Elements Promote a Fight


She threw a sodded pot!
She threw a plant pot;
I nodded and it missed.
I nodded and we kissed.

She threw a plant pot;
Its hyacinth tumbled;
The rain's own ruse rumbled.

I nodded and the mist
Cleared a path to my pate
For some bombardier of fate.

I nodded and we kissed,
Accusations juxtaposed;
At least our mouths were closed.





A heart to break for longing


The crumpled gap in your determination
Is full width of your quick-cemented smile.
That dead rictus purloined from the mourning,
Refuses truth to those whose loving hands
Press malaria from your heaving bosom;
We call you from abyss, calm! we insist.
Your pain can only fill the vessel you provide;
Those lips upon you rain tomorrow's beaus.
Time to lay these burning things aside.

Maelstrom boundary waters falsely still
Hint at deadly depth of opposing currents;
This is your caesure, as the ritual dancers
Pause halfway round the altar to lock eyes,
Comma of your sentence; Are you watered
Enough now the beat picks up again?
Have you rebound momentum for your pride?
Focus your eye fixed in the hurricane:
Time to lay these burning things aside.

Amoeba pseudopod extended grasp,
Your comprehension well out on a limb;
The victim at your kitty-paw remove,
While we, your friends gathered 'neath the tree
Conclude no fireman rescue imminent.
We know that coiled sinew of leopard creep--
The leap will hurl you well beyond our stride.
Healing has unbarred the wilderness.
Time to play, these burning things aside.

                (First appeared in Blind Oracle Press)