I need to soon slip on the proper shoes
For time of working is shortly at hand
And neither flats, sneakers, nor heels will do.

What other shoes are there I could accrue?
Perhaps some sandals, with a pretty band?
I need to soon slip on the proper shoes.

For work with toil beneath the sky, so blue,
I know that boots would be what’s in demand
And neither flats, sneakers, nor heels will do.

And baring feet is something to eschew
For dangers lurk in all walks of the land.
I need to soon slip on the proper shoes.

Even more so, if rumors heard are true
That walking miles in others’ is the plan
And neither flats, sneakers, nor heels will do.

For is one piece of footwear really “you”
When such complex a self you must command?
I need to soon slip on the proper shoes
And neither flats, sneakers, nor heels will do.

Mere months til the midline milestone
with a child poised to launch
the rapids of cancer
& divorce behind me now
I am looking around
waiting for an entrance by 
whoever is supposed to take over
when my shift ends
someone
older
wiser
much more organized

a grownup who can navigate 
trusts & annuities
sump pumps
garage remote pairing

an experienced cultivator who has
raised things from seed
staked vines
witnessed trees in all their seasons

then I remember with both great relief
& disappointment that I am the sole
department head
major purchaser
trainer 
coach
general manager
owner
skilled labor 
& personality hire

I loosen my necktie
slip off my heels 
barrel roll to the other side of the bed
click the secret latch on the side table
the top slides open & a hidden bar cart
rises up from within
filled with bottles of not liquor but
collagen supplements
& magnesium oil 
half used glass jars of 
hyaluronic acid wrinkle serum
& retinol hand cream

reading glasses & a c-pap mask 
drop suddenly from a hidden slot in the ceiling
there is a sudden change in pressure
I hug my ergonomic pillow
which may be used as a floatation device
in the event this whole thing 
plummets into the sea

The tip of my finger submits
ejaculating ink along
the electronic receipt
No resistance
The loops of my Hs and Ls last until the edge
of the screen
Every signature
a work of art
Effortless
as silk screens
from Warhol’s factory
I do this
again and again
with every coffee
I buy
Sound trivial?
Once upon a time
many
many
many
couldn’t read or write

Cowboy coughs up melted marbles of mispronounced grief, coining a song.

The summer rain falls 
Giving me my perfect day
Blue grey like your eyes

The sky seems bigger here 
not sure why
is it just me I wonder

I watch the billowy clouds go bouncing by
reminding me of cotton  candy swirls
I imagine I can reach up and grab a handful 

Sometimes you’ve gotta
write shit to get to the grit.
Avert excrement.

After so much rain

        the sun is relentless,
        like a lioness stalking its prey.
‘
        Sweat flows in small streams
        as real as a dream.
‘
        People are as discomfortable
        in ways they have forgotten.
“
  ‘       A large black cloud lies heavy
          in the southwest.
” ‘
    ‘      The heat burns it off
           after a few drops hit the windshield
‘ “
         as I drive.

dinosaurs in office 
dodge accountability 
like a comet