As you pass into the next
Dont be afraid
Even though you will fade
And I will slowly forget your face
The way it lays while you sleep
Tells me secrets in the dark

Even though your features 
Will leave me
Like drops of water become vapor
Even when there are no stars 
Above you in the darkness

Is it ok to forget you 
And make room for something new


Elephant

I wish I could buy the house
On Hardeman Ave.
I would pay top dollar
For the dust that fell 
From sandy brick
Where fingers ran races
Down the mortar seams
Holding this house together

The orange echo 
Pinging in the carport
Kitty litter soaked and blackened
Split by a tire track

So many dark corners off limits
Tiptoeing deep into forbidden caverns
Shivering when I remember
I could get caught
But those treasures kept me coming back
If only to touch
The same things he touched

If one day I could share the joy
The same smile
Lips slowly crawling towards his ears
As he fixed all that had gone wrong in my world

Could I sleep in their room
Through the night
Or would i need to be 
In places I was allowed to dwell

We moved in once
The whole family
Laid to sleep in separate rooms
Sleeping in the same space
Where we sat,
Pine and train whistle,
Only months before
Wondering how long it would take
To eat a tin of popcorn
Alone in that room

The one room 
We never slept in
Or did someone get lucky?
One sleepless night
Ushered down the hallway
The rows of hanging faces
Saying this way
Their smiles shining light 
Onto the carpeted path to the garden of eden

The worries of night would fade
And give way to the crackle of grease
The tickling tingle in your nose
A quick breakfast
And straight to the top of the eagles nest
Rope burn be damned
There are popsicles on the patio
To cool our hands
Before we are set
To collecting pinecones in a red flyer

And fly we did
On bike, go karts, swings and boats
Rollercoasters, and lawnmowers
Across state lines
And home again to that house
The house where we learned
What we love


Hardeman Ave. Blues

Did I dream again last night
Of my father
His face among the scuppernongs
My own I thought
Deeply hidden
Always my father knew
Saw things he could not possibly have seen
Some secret inner eye
That never blinks
Watching as my truth betrays me

My father as he turned his words
Through my ears
Thinking I had not heard
Or his secret eye reminding him
All bears repeating

My father 
Is sat beside me in gray
Dour
I think longing for a happier time
I wish I could help him
Start his cocoon
To wrap him in silk
Provided,
Like all things he has given me,
From some place unknown
And deliver him to the slumber of his youth


When she spoke
Her breath 
Rustled the fur on my chin
Sent letter to the low country
Whipping the marshes into shape
The reeds stand tall 
Like guards at the gates of sundown

When she moved
I could not look away
Every turn
Loosening my eyes from their sockets
They are slaves to grace
They cry for mercy
But there is none

When she held me in her arms
And I could burrow
Into the warren of love
I was finally able
To quit
Thinking about everything gone wrong


Happy

When the ice has melted
Darling wait for no one
As the seasons pass
Never yielding
To street clothed demigods
Mumbling about how their parents
Are punishing them
Wait for no one
The world turns 
Nobody arrives
Do not wait with hope 
Only to experience the inevitable
When winter thaws
Do not wait 
To become the sun


Thaw

Ive been neglecting to take my dog on a walk
Because the other one is dying
She cant handle walks
Like when she was young

Its a slow pace now
Its sometimes feels
Like we are moving backwards
The leash taut
Her head slips the collar
But she stands there
Still and imploring

Please can we go home


I think to myself
Thats what Im waiting on


Walks

I am wearing
A crisp, clean
Red Pinstripe
Button down shirt

Folded in half 
Tucked into the breast pocket
Is a one hundred dollar bill
It is also 
Crisp
And clean

After one cycle 
Through the wash
In the breast pocket

Of my
Red Pinstripe
Button down shirt


Mistakes

This faucet hasnt stop dripping For thirteen years
Every plop 
A static whisper
On a decaying tape that is looping
Eternally

Hands cupped together and empty 
Facing the sky
Waiting for the rains to come


Guilty Housekeeping

I walked into town
Past the concrete landside
Plaster leaves
Peel from its trees
I tucked my hands into my pockets
The sky turned pink
I thought about the end of time
Which scared my primal brain
I tripped over a root
Breaking through the sidewalk
Unbothered by the progress of man
Mine or ours
I got where I was going
As we all will one day
For a brief moment 
I forgot about the end


Intown

I will not bend to the will of God
I will not stand in the treacherous waters
Laughing in the face of death
I will not stare at the skin
Peeking out from under your dress
I will not drink from cups unknown
No matter how overflown
I will speak into microphones
I will not let anger build its nest in my heart


A Proclamation

I wonder why I have returned here
There is the trailer
With the magnetic doors
My mother in the kitchen window
Puts love into whatever she does
She looks at me and calls my name
I cannot hear it
But i can see the shape made by her mouth
I can remember the sound 
Lilting through the air
I wake up
I call my mother
I tell her I love her


In My Dream I Walk Through the Woods of My Childhood

“Are You really reading That book,
Or just pretending?” She asked
I looked up 
I looked up and I looked at her
I mean really looked at her
And I wondered who she was


Reading

His head is stuck in the past
Our pastor on the corner
Spending all of the sunlight hours
His hands towards the heavens
Conversing with the angels

I am sure that I will quicken my pace
When I walk I by
We all do
His smell follows you
As far as his words will reach

He may share the voice of God
Speaking through his crooked teeth
But we dont listen to know


Corner Preacher

In riddles
After 9 and before 9
The time you claimed was ripe
For sleeping away your life

It was a spirit maybe
That delivered the words
That made you glow
Standing carefully on toes
Planted a kiss on your wrinkling nose

It was not I who urged the kiss
Fleeting, momentary bliss

Perhaps divine eyes shine on love
And willingly deliver us 
All that we ask 
And all that we crave
A midnight chance to misbehave

(So it was not me 
Who woke you up
In the middle of your dream
It was a spirit moving through
My body in my sleep)


That Was Not Me Who Spoke Last Night

It makes me feel uncertain
To see your face wilting
A see of dead flowers
Forcing smiles on me
My legs hang from the fence
Drifting and swaying 
In tandem with my eyes
Following the wind 
As it makes its way through your hair
Has it always felt 
Like walking too close
To the edge of a cliff
To sit on this railing and talk with you
If I leave this fence
It is a four foot drop
Into darkness
Will I land wrong 
And hobble the earth
With no staff to clutch
Will I forever see your face
Wilting in the sunshine
Papered on the walls of my dreams
Will i stay on this fence
And forget who I am?


Fence

Mountains have come and gone
Moving themselves where they please
Surely they have learned to tell stories
To pass the time
As they relocate rivers
And cities
Creating new turns in old paths


Right before that turn
There is a story
Surrounded by the fog of the Smokies

The sun floats past
Lingers on our cheeks
The sun wears lipstick
And leaves our faces red
When doling out small kisses

The wind breaks our bones
Chatters with the trees
We know they keep secrets
Not by intent
But because we have not taken the time
To learn their language

We stand on top of Earth
Pretend we are the first 
To see 
We open our arms to beauty
Return to our car
And take that turn
Towards a different land


July

I have tried to get to know him
Questioned on end
His existence
But when I speak
I hear in return
Only the echoes of my own words


Who is the Ghost Driving This Body?

The picture is grainy
But I can just make us out
I can tell by the clothes we are wearing
When we are
The where is the fountain
Standing in front 
Cheeky grins, suspenders and lace
The sound is roaring in our ears
Mixed with the crunch of the white rocks 
Under our feet
It is loud enough
That we almost have to shout
We spin in circles
The camera is annoyed
The red dot disappears 
An assassin having second thoughts
We are wrangled
And posed
The red light returns
And we are locked in place
For as long as this photo will last


Easter

The sarcastic chirping of these birds
Has been rubbing me the wrong way
Going backwards against my skin
I am not in the mood to wake up
I would like to lay in bed
A little longer


Ode To Whatever Consequences Come My Way

its quiet on this street 
Where nothing ever happens
Save for the crack
Of a gunshot
Whipping through Wednesday’s night
All the houses boarded up
Dressed in cartoon creatures
Animals made up by the desperate painter
Who hopes to turn away
The troubled youth
Or the upturned wanderer
Those stopping to imagine a life
In this house on the corner
The doorway protected
By the winged rabbit monkey 


Its quiet on this street
Save for the morse code 
Of honking horns
And thunder rumbling
From the trunks of passing cars
The squeal and delight 
As friends clamor and climb
Into the backseats
Of so many exciting friday nights

Dog hairs roll by in clumps
The tumbleweed native
To our little neighborhood

The bakery breathes at night
The streets smell like cake

Its quiet on this street
Except for the chattering 
Of abandoned delinquents
Traversing the streets
There is no purpose
For the forgotten
So they cross and cross again
Yelling and asking and telling
Their stories
And you put out a hand
And walk them to the next stop

In time
It gets quiet on this street again
And I think about myself


Poems