Posts for June 10, 2023 (page 9)

She wasn’t there the night
the mother died
instead the brother
called at 1 am.
She’s gone, he said.

The sister had been there all day
watching her chest heave,
each breath a rage
against some hope 
a dying body doesn’t want

She described her as
complicated
a word the other brother
refused to accept
Can’t you just say 
you loved her?
Can’t you just say that?

She held the hand of the mother
yellow and sallow
who held hers, once
red and strong enough 
to knock the sass 
out of a mouth

She walked out into her backyard,
the restless sky crammed with stars
waiting for something to break, knowing
the mother would always be 
somewhere listening for her name.

Misplaced
Septemeber stallion
Free, wild, blazing
In a herd of cows. 

Summoned in the night
no burlap hood needed
Percival’s armor assembled
between red sigils on the ceiling
calciphospho
oxycarbo
hydronitro
dontaskanymore
vasodilation for predation
to conquer earth, sky, and sea
combat over creation
to destroy what once was me
Gareth spars to excess
no exceptions to testing mettle
and if Daed can be tamed
after annihilating a priori
In the field of battle
best practice necessitates speed
and without the war of mind
a tactless dance supercedes

if I was a phone battery 
I’d be at 75% 
I never thought I’d compare myself to an electrictronic 
but a lot has changed since ’98 
You see my charge is forever dwindling 
and like most phones, I truly could just go 
at anytime my body could shut off 
I could get shattered 
dropped 
thrown against a wall
thr only difference is 
when I die you won’t be able to go to your local dealership 
a newer model is never coming 

The long long goodbye
right before my eyes
we cross paths
she leans into the passenger side window
her face sad raw red rough why     
     why can’t I get there?
physically or mentally?     
     why can’t I make the decision?
is there anyone you can talk to?     
     God
     it’s so hard
 it’s so hard. 

Saturday Morning
The sun is up, but the moon still shines
And we’re already fighting in the streets
Over who owes who
Ten dollars.

“I need that money NOW.”

Judges wearing people suits pile in.
Glazy wrinkled  donuts, lukewarm coffee.
No outlets for the laptops everyone brings.  

Dewey-eyed faces impressed with law,
more impressed with how it feels behind the bench.
Old whores strolling from rig to rig
at the truck stop of government agencies.  

A good lot, all in all,
more likely to do good than some politicians,
a lot more likely to look for truth and apply it.  

The agenda aches, the power points lack power,
the password for the Internet is ESCAPE.
I don’t mind. I have another donut.  

They may not learn me how to strike the gavel
square, or see the heart inside the matter,
or would Solomon really cut the baby in half  

but I’ll be humbled by what’s truly important:
there’s no such thing as “small claims” court.  

stirs dying embers
twilight dancers    
twirl invisible
 

The heat of summer has mellowed
The spider moves lithely along her web
The edges of leaves have yellowed
Bushes have birthed berries, round and red

The sun, an open mouth of cider-warm glow
Spreads out to hold off the chill of night
In the valley we hear the buck’s bellow
And a flock of geese takes flight

It is twilight, September
A time to quietly prepare 
A leaf, tinged red, gently falls
A tiny twig hangs bare