Where the Lights in Glass and Cages Shake

There may or may not be an animal nearby.

2011-06-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

god damn these traps
in the woods, we were spider hunting.
i wore sandals with flashing red lights
on that day
near the tree line by the interstate.
in case you ever wondered while driving
what exactly is there,
the leaves are untouched
covering the holes
three feet deep.
i fell in to be just out of reach.

my jar is empty while nursing scratches
and burning ticks.

those holes don't stay there.
and my jar remains open.
weaving through long grass,
don't go into the long grass.

I always cling to the hope of
seeing something greater
more dominant.
extinct megafauna proudly
snorting towards me.
so now the spiders take refuge
in the jar.

fuck it, i still think it's real.

2011-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

i'm there on the beach, cute as a button
frantically asking everyone
around me if they saw it.
and of course they didn't and i am alone again.

i wish i could talk to that boy
long enough for him to convince me
he saw the giant hermit crab legs upside down
reaching out from the sea
before sinking back below the surface.
it's legs revealing
it's magnificent size.
it's home easily bigger than mine.
did you see it?

We Remembered the Alamo

2011-04-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

Nothing incredibly specific.
A dilemma of sorts.
Ah! But that was many years ago.

I remember the way.
I want to travel 95 to 26 to 40.
And the curvy mountain roads
all the way home.
I remember Swannanoa
and Kathleen of course.
We should have used
those waterballoons to
put out the burning cross
in front of Tarbell's house.

Too late of course
while I ride this string of pelicans
til one day we will say
damn, it has been too long.

A Celebratory Collectable

2011-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

1. The Logo

a coffee cup in the sink
with dark running splotches
washed away by dawn.
rising upwards like the Mackinac Bridge
with sheets of water
traveling
in the opposite direction of the lifting steel,
clasping to the land to be walked all over.
"Jesus, wash my feet, my pedi is at noon.
St. Ignace will not be kept waiting."

2. The Bridge

a new project of estimable worth
without taking into account:
the location doubles as a place to lay our swords
if we can't make it to the other side.
did the divers know their tiny hand prints
would be marketed?
it seems so silly to me now.

Dumb robots.

2011-03-08T13:10:00.001-08:00

it is a sign of what's to come.
the end isn't nearly near enough.
By god! my car will drive me around
and suggest the sauce of my wings
mild
hot bbq
lemon pepper.
Too many to choose.
leave it to the rubber android
never sleeping with me.
he's up all night
honking at the neighbors and
distant sounds or even the low
hum lullaby the light post emits.

Woodstock & Hobbes

2011-01-12T19:41:00.001-08:00

i have an affection
of inscrutable origin.
it makes me feel
as if we are all connected.
no matter the appropriation
of souls.
although I still enjoy eating
what i enjoy
watching graze
or
just thinking about sometimes.

as long as I am less robotic
than dictated by whims
as long as fur is furry
and wings aren't clipped.

It was half the size of a blimp, it was

2011-01-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

a sad trumpet hovering over the coastal plains
spilling snow that doesn't stick where the trees
have been cut down.
cotton sticks.
it gave us a low forlorn key
long weak notes followed by short
as if it were vomiting on flora.
vomiting on fauna.
pensive vibrations that shake
the dirt below our feet.
it makes me think.
i wonder why i shiver in the warmth
and seek a woman in the cold.
we aren't eagle scouts but we have
our bics to light and everything to smoke.

in other news:
the defending champion,
Brown Thrasher
is putting his title
(Georgia State Bird)
on the line
against The
Cornish Chicken.
Let the cock thrashing begin!

I will one day figure me out.

2010-08-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

I saw the sunrise.
I saw the sun filled edge of clouds.
There was the shape of a noble dog
wearing the helmet that
deterred Nazi bullets.
Then to me this image
seemed more American
than I.

By then, accompanied by my
bleeding gums, I was alone.

Everyone had sobered up
and gone home.
Now left with no one to prove me wrong.

In The Marsh

2010-08-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

I sweat more than a glass full of ice in Southern Georgia.
Overweight and happy to swat the gnats away.
Stuck thinking about the Bible by my bedside.

But I stay nervous watching all the birds that stay afloat,
knowing that just like them uncertainty is below.
Well I've read quite a bit and I've made it out alive.
Left wondering which mask to don as my disguise.

a malady of the mind

2010-08-22T18:34:00.001-07:00

when birds share food
it looks like they are making out.
i want that.
my self viewed platitude
is an obstacle.
keeping me
from becoming
a cunning conversationalist.

they are rain drops
bricks
ants
toyotas and
hondas
fords and
mercurys.

i am they
inside sometimes.
but my spontaneity
will grow and
bring me
my immoral
wants.

we will all be okay

2010-08-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

i am pretty
standoffish.
its my
self doubt.
but that's depressing.

i do have things,
i know i do.
some things.
something.
my favorite color
isn't black
or grey
or purple either.

but when it rains i like it.
i like when my water proof skin
doesn't let it leak in.
my eyes can handle it.
my mouth can drink it.

why can't the cup be both.
that's the only way that makes sense.
if it's half empty, it's half full.
no matter how you look at it.

either way....
i can still get it up.

Openness On The Sunset Strip

2010-07-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

there is a sleeping cat beneath the shed

and just like me it lies.

from the clouds the rain softly drips

from the dragon's cock

making more ill-tempered baby dragons.

i came back here expecting to leave soon

but when i returned

the bed was already made for me

along with my favorite breakfast.

so i'll stay here now and buy new clothes

empty fingerprinted bottles

and use the windshield wipers that

leave a sharks fin shaped wet spot

that wants to travel across the bow.

Absolute Deciduousness

2010-07-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

the edge of the tree line was dead

or so it appeared.

although beyond the outline

straight into the heart.

the forest

was full of evergreens.

like an old worn but loved book.

I hope one day

I am at least close

to being that lovely.

em i ess ess i ess ess i pee pee i

2010-07-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

somehow i hadn't noticed

they were already on the way

ants in twos and stretching

farther than the mississippi

red ants upright and stoic

on the mission

it took years to discover

the sound of my own heart

muffled and creepy

my mother had said

i am allergic to ants

so i decided to drown them all

you are being mulled

2010-07-07T10:23:00.002-07:00

two sided daggers are waging war below my feet.

don't read in to that too much

they are just deck plates

in the engine room. this is where

the lights in glass and cages shake. here

is where there is so much coffee and reading left.

and the thoughts of women to mull over.

The Final Act

2010-07-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

it started with you orbiting me

i have tight step footed movements

our hands are embracing

finally

you kick your legs waist level

we are flying

you become my frisbee

my index finger/your belly button

spinning, your head supported

by your elbow supported

by the air.

moderate pressure i use my right palm

fingers lightly squeezing each interval

i push you around.

I am Pretty every morning.

2010-07-07T10:20:00.002-07:00

1. my shorts are shitstained

inner thighs rash.

I grow hair on purpose

comb over

come over

left over

rotting, I croon.

cumbersome courting

your daughter

I am a catch.

In the middle holding the hands of

vaginas attached to walking girls

on either side.

2. No pictures were taken

very little dancing

when I wish upon a star.

2010-07-07T10:20:00.001-07:00

I have to say this simply to be quick about it

so you get it

I want to defend myself against you as

a bottle-nose dolphin does a

hammerhead shark.

without using a word as strong as hate.

I'm OK isn't what I tell myself, I don't tell myself anything.

2010-07-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

doesn't get much better

defecating and looking through open doors.

i'm glad i didn't die

before doing that

perfume was sprayed on my man jacket.

wish i hadn't asked for that.

im happy with music and

different better grander ideas of myself

in the near future.

ive been told i am forty eight point nine percent gay.

sigh.

Found Your Thighs

2010-07-07T10:18:00.002-07:00

you are in need of a good stomping

or cans that smoke you out.

you wear tresses of danger

like cat woman's whip.

you should hide from this;

eat clothing.

in an igloo home with parking lot lights

where unlike my father

your hands

won't stop shaking.

you're in a rocket

no one can stop it...

sinking your teeth into across the room.

thanks for nothing

2010-07-07T10:17:00.002-07:00

all the girls i have loved

are gone

they

took their tits with them

now i have no place

to rest my head

Dirty

2010-07-07T10:17:00.001-07:00

footprints here know insects

a mousetrap

by the door.

angry lights.

consummate with peaches

and grapefruits

still show true

to half an erection.

can't get rid of.

bouts of.

fits of.

hissy,hussy.

French Fry Follies

2010-07-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hark back to times of great mirth and naked bewilderment and with shrieks of happiness. When clouds were more than clouds and with fortunes notwithstanding, hopes not yet diminished. Before scents were nostalgic and when chests were flat and bare. Then, there were choices to be made.

Gregory made a mistake
in deciding to meet with me.
It was his choice
I'm sure.
Just assuming.
No hesitation on his part
to notice my yellow teeth
unkempt smile
rigid red sweater.
Transformative Specialist
Gregory is now
a sea-cow.

White Shit Foofaraw

2010-07-07T10:13:00.002-07:00

I heard the gulls talking

bickering

bitching
squawking
rapping
coughing

picking at their feathers

So I watched.

He/she came in like a smoking helicopter

to steal the perch atop a piling.

What a douche-bag.

2010-07-07T10:13:00.001-07:00

neurotransmissions
aren't clearing the synapse
free fall gray matter canyon
before hot air balloons
catch and drop them
in the undesired locations
it was on a tuesday
that i met with the girl
at the end of a sentence
.

Hang Me Over

2010-07-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Panes of sun
Early mid morning
Lines in the carpet
I lie awake inside
I won't be walking
correctly
Shuffling by
Deposited cancer
And giant's middle finger
Full of jism
I go bump in the dust
Drooping
drip drop urine
Snake bitten
And slowly dying

Poem

2009-09-10T13:19:00.001-07:00

Boy i was really going at it that time

i am a stander

and a crumpler

or maybe not

do i like to mix it up sometimes

or am i one of those people

so fixated on one thing

routine

that i lose sight of what's really important

like remembering to flush.

tact?

2009-07-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

i ran into an old schoolmate the other day

he was working the register at a gas station

we both took a second with the recognition

he asked me where i worked

the casino boat

how is it treating you?

better than a gas station

he checked my license

knowing my age

it was good to see him

it reminded me of riding the bus in the morning

and how he used to punch me in the arm

my mouths' choice of words used to get me in trouble

still does

I wish I had taken his picture

2008-12-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

together Tim from upstate new york
and I watched the pelicans dive
sit for a moment.
fly up in the air
and dive again
we wondered together how often they caught a fish.
15 minutes before id call him a stranger
but now id call him Tim
we talked about snow
he told me about the tunnels
they dug in the snow
he had been at this lonely
dock the evening before
this time he came with binoculars
to watch the pelicans dive

colleen surfs

2008-12-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

colleen surfs and surfs and surfs

shows up wearing a pretty skirt

combs her hair brushes her teeth

hopefully lays in the bed with me

playing with pinecones

and bad breath

i know that she has got my back.

Drowned Out

2008-12-13T13:06:00.001-08:00

Maybe he thought of
himself as arty or
just plain bored.
Jerry sat in his bath
door closed
and music competing
with his chest.
Jerry wore
diving goggles

red shorts
braided nipple
hair three inches
long. shaved head
snorkel inhaling air
exhaling cold water.
He had nearly filled the tub.
In hand a paper
back book with every
individual page laminated.

Within the hour the
room was filled with
water. Angrily,
his landlord opened
the bathroom door
water convulsed
sweeping her down the
hall and from his
goggles it looked as

if she was being pulled
rather than pushed by his
tapping finger waves.
If he didn't enjoy
breathing more than paying
his bills he may
have heard his landlords
voice boom fade out.

"I WANT MY (GARGLE CHOKE SPIT)!"

Twenty yards away.

Hey Stacee

2008-12-13T13:05:00.001-08:00

Hey Stacee, do you remember
when we were in Utah
at the outlet mall near the wal-mart
on the hill and I told you that
you looked good in those jeans?
It was around that time when
you said you'd marry me if I were taller.
I know that was a joke and I
think its funny still but I was wondering
how do you feel about stilts?

My Kleenex Brings All the Boys to the Yard

2008-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

I usually have problems with my sinuses so I always try to have a box of kleenex somewhere close. Kleenex is my friend. The kind of friend I only keep around to use. Sure, it's a selfish relationship and even hurtful at times but I admit I am more important than my friend which gives me the right to act all snotty to it and then just throw it away when i am finished using it. If the Kleenex were ever to evolve and revolt I am sure I would be the first to go.

Poem

2008-12-13T13:01:00.001-08:00

[Photo]
I came home
tonight and paused
in front of the mirror.
I hope my hair
looked like that the
whole night. If it did then
I looked
pretty
damn
hot.
I should use conditioner more often.

I Lost My Appetite

2008-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

I used my microwave from college
In my bedroom
To make popcorn
I spilled hot butter on the carpet
My mom gave me Resolve
For pet stains
And told me to move out

Jane

2008-12-13T12:57:00.001-08:00

on my way to work today
I liked the name
Jane.
I don't think I've
ever known that name.
I'd like to meet a Jane.
one as smart and witty
as me.
with black or brown hair
and skinny legs
who tried to
hide her smile.
funny that I just read a
Bukowski poem
about a girl named Jane
while at work.
sometimes I'd like
to call her Janey
and she will hate it
and so will I.

all dressed up and nowhere to be seen

2008-12-13T12:55:00.001-08:00

i saw heather's website
she's a helluva lot better picture taker than i
but all i could think was
i don't want to see a picture of a cat
don't want to see a picture of snow
don't want to see a picture of that tree
i don't want to see a picture of icicles or old books
i certainly don't want to see a picture of another picture
don't want to see a picture of a shitty car and
i don't want to see a picture of a shower curtain.
i want to see a picture of you, heather
i want to see a picture of you.

ive decided that heather isn't pretty
but ive been wrong before.

2008-12-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

brian it is not too late to eat a taco
brian that is your name your name was something like that
i can't remember what my parents look like when i close my eyes
when i close my eyes i see a big rig
when i open them again i finish my drink
over there i see a big game deer
a big game deer 5 4 3 2 1

they slow down when i use my middle finger
they speed up when i turn on red/blue lights
brian it is not too late to give up on everyone
everyone should just give brian a handshake
a handshake and a taco would be awesome.

Written On the Inside Of A Birthday Card Along With A Gift

2008-12-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is for all the birth days i didn't wish happy and in the future yours won't be forgotten or brushed off my shoulder. can i call you?

2008-12-13T12:39:00.000-08:00

Listen to the blues you have and the groceries will spill. Make a fit of cough and blood finds the floor. Did you dream of a life like this as a child? I remember that I’m better off than most but my clean batteries can’t reach the darkness inside. I want to be wet and then I want to be dry. My voice will strain to find.

STOP. Stop right there, Brian. Quit writing this stupid shit. Write something better.

I looked into buying a wolf.
I decided it’s not worth it.
I’d hate for it to end up chained to a pole cemented to my patio.
It should be free to hunt and feed.
So instead I’ll find an alternative to battling my enemies.
Not a dog, not man’s best friend.
They’ll just let you down.
I need a warrior house cat.
Trained to go for the eyes and nimble to dance around bullets.
I’ll name her cupcake, after the one who left me.