​a simple loaf


warm, fragrant from the oven
golden-crusted temptation meets the knife
first slice falls thickly to the side
 
a chorus of voices clamors
for the second slice, the third
praising the sponged center
pleading for more
always more
 
until the second-last is gone
and the bottom-most drops
beside the first, ignored
unwanted, unappealing to the crowd
 
so there we lie, you and i
discarded for lack of beauty
victims of an ageless, ugly tradition
that despises the top
and bottom of the loaf
without reason





sultry
 

distant dog barks
sound melts before arrival
mosquito whine dissolves
in the humid air
 
sweat forms clear pearls
multiplying in the stillness
cooling breeze no more than
seductive contemplation
 
ice cubes in sweet tea
surrender under shade trees
unable to resist
summer's sultry song





salvation/damnation

​
i am awake, i am asleep
i am neither, i am both
 
lying in the naked heat
of grinding, dripping nights
 
i am dreaming, i am waking
i am neither, i am both
 
lying in the naked light
of fractured memories
 
i am smiling, i am crying
i am neither, i am both
 
lying in my naked heart
to friends and lovers past
 
ephemeral faces
forgotten names
 
i am living, i am dying
i am neither, i am both
 
lying in the naked curl
of fetal birth, of frozen joints
 
the swelling gift, the aging curse
of bone and muscle mocking
 
i am man, i am god
i am neither, i am both
 
lying in the naked arms
of impotence, omnipotence
 
yin, yang mystery
pleading for salvation
 
fearing for damnation
in this naked heat