Lurch for dispersing clouds
Clutching insufferably at comfort
Or was it fear?
Trickling to archives of unconscious
Never to be seen until…
Palpitation.
Palpitation.
Palpitation.
Don’t go. Come back.
I’m tethered.
It’s warm here.
Don’t be afraid.
The shadow is shaking
Or a vapor still hanging
Onto to something that was there
I’d write every word down
A masterpiece. An opus.
But it’s all gone.

Pretty soon
Something is going to happen
(It may have already)
And when it does
The damage will be irreparable.
A call not for the dim of mind or faint of heart.
Yes, this is how the cookie crumbles,
And for unknown reasons
The perception has existed
That when it finally does happen
There will be a way (some way)
To place all the pieces back together,
Returning to the way it has always been.
But that theory has never been more wrong
And in realizing this, I’ll stake my life to say
It will be the greatest thing you ever do.

The truth is, I’ve nothing left to atone.
But it has very little to do with me,
And everything to do with a man named Jesus.
So I admit, I’m guilty on all counts,
And the penalty is death.
But don’t be so quick to condemn.
He’s absolved me of all crimes,
Taking the punishment for himself.
And I confess, I’ve never known such love.

For how is one
(After already taking an extra-long stride
To reach the door ahead of her)
To then, after opening and holding the first door
Allowing her to enter
Where she is only barred by yet another door
To which one is incapable of arriving before her
(To open the second of course)
Leaving two options:
The first of which
Would be to accept that she’ll have to open
The second door herself
Or instead push past her
Practically knocking her over
(I can vouch)
To then awkwardly grasp the second door
And eliminate all possibility
Of potential “smoothness”
And at which point usher her
Inside and covertly grimace
Wondering how to avoid, at all costs,
A similar situation on the way out

Where are you going?
Revolutions per second propel
You past in a blue blur.
Where have you gone?
This world without speed limits
Has spun you beyond recognition.

with each stride
your heart’s pounding ten times in between
your feet are numb
and the only way you know there’s
ground beneath them is cause
you don’t fall over
the air squeezes your chest like a vice
nostrils constrict
and you wonder how with a subzero chill
your lungs could still burn like napalm
curse, heave, spit
with insides about to burst
and the dull thuds of worn out sneakers
keeping strained
but steady rhythm to the pavement
to the swish of dead grass
on the frozen ground

last lap
ice stings your eyes like sand
wind searing frostbitten ears
one more block to go
one last thrust to drive out the damage
collapse, catch breath,
renew

Do you remember?
You know, that time?
Deny it if you have to, but we know
That when our visions snag across the room
We’re both thinking the same thing

Moist soil tears up with one stab of the shovel.
Grass and roots and everything beneath.
All the while whistling reassurance to myself
That in time, everything will be understood.
I’m digging myself deeper
But I swear I have the best intentions.
And right now, about waist high,
I can climb out if I need to.
Want to?
Have to?
It’s just that one of these days
With no way to escape,
She’s going to peer over the precipice I’ve created,
Saying that “it’s time.”
And I won’t be able to stop her.
With walls too steep to climb,
The weight of the earth will come tumbling in,
Suffocating us both under my negligence.

Of many things I have thought while thinking of nothing
Of peoples and places seen many times, few, or never
And never to be seen in a world not my own
To exist only in the confines of my limitless mind’s eye
To traverse country, and across continent, visiting kings and caliphs
Of these I know and find a location for them among the many others
That know not where to begin or where to end, or if either have ever
But more likely will never have conclusions to begin with
These circles of notions and plays on reflections
Outnumbering galaxies of stars and beaches of bleached sand
At moments, to vanish but only for an empirical time
And once their disappearing act has concluded
There is no mourning as I am capable of waiting until they recur
But should they tarry or abscond, here burst generations anew
With expectancy to outmaneuver and surpass in every way
Though not from a distant ship flung as a helpless babe
Nor extend myself past the boundary of abilities
For risk in exceeding the limitations of my undertakings
I have but to do as I see well and without any constraint
From none but that which binds me and bears my name
If when I should reach sought shores may there be no restraints
Opening my mouth in jubilant rejoicing as I please
Opening my arms to embrace, opening my eyes to behold
Yet should I clench my jaw in grimace let it be so
For without this there could be no conquest to direct
Without this there would be no loyal armies to lead
Without this there would be no triumphant homecoming
But it exists and lives on with blessing and adoration
Blazing pathways to sights unimaginable and equally realized
For now it is with resounding voice I assemble to say
Confidently among myself only this: drive on
Through shadows and solemn streetlights, drive on.
When after all has come to pass, the end will be known
More than in any other moment known it will be apprehended
All these, together on the precipice of everything attained
Will still straddle the white dashes, too many to count
Beholding that somewhere, someone is hurt or dead or dying
But with purpose they pioneer, weaving to roads unseen
While destinations and unfulfilled visions wait to be grasped
Where they will flourish at long last by everlasting fanfare
Before their return voyage, back to lands once remembered

He could sense her body shrugging through the dark—
Before she hid her clandestine sigh
By easing backwards, to lay on the September field

It’s not that simple,
She offered with reluctant entreaty

Their bodies formed a ‘V’ shape,
Shoeless feet, teased by the uncut grass
And faces close enough to perceive the other’s breath
Emanating invisible tickling tendrils onto their cheeks—
Her mouth remained interminably open
While she longed for the right words
To emerge in thoughtful and precise utterance
As the scent of cigarettes wafted from her hair

You know, she said, when at last
The silence had become terminal,
I thought it would be colder by now.
Her voice conceded to silence again
And portent understanding hummed
Lucid between their bodies

Broad-leafed branches haphazardly crisscrossed
A universe lit by the trifecta of Orion’s Belt—

He felt the disconnected movements of his tongue
And the surreal vibrations in his larynx,
It’ll get there.