Optometry

Glass water eyes, cow eyes, raccoon eyes. Blinking computer eyes. Hate eyes that shade over in the middle of the fight. Deceptive little batting bashful beating eyes, got you good, gimme more eyes. Those eyes! Pregnant eyes, bulging fantasy eyes, bloated bleating bleeding eyes in the mirror shapes of expensive reflections from the glass that protects the store from the street and its traffic. Thumb press eyes. Time-tick eyes, a mile wide.

On body press

Look where you're looking
to see me.
There are bodies pulling apart
behind you
because they made them.
A long ponytail hangs
on near your shoulder blades naked.
You press the camera closer to you
and look farther away.

Goddess Song

Oh Mother
Little bird lover
Creator of song
Curving hips
Your sensuous lips
Mother of all

One by one
with a rib and guns
they took your power
and gave it away
Letter by letter
turned scales into feathers
Misled by Yahweh

Oh Mother
Cherry blossom lover
Dreamer of spring

Why do they hate us
When they want to mate with us
Ever since the Fall?
Apples and curiosity
What a monstrosity
They took it all

Oh Mother
Purple plum lover
Generous summer
Flowing hair
and the strength to bear
Children and men

Please forgive us
We were misled
about what God said
from his lonely bed

Goddess it's sad but true
We didn't know that we missed you
We just knew something was wrong...

after scent

i can still smell you on my sheets
i should wash them after what we did
but then you'd be gone
and who knows when i'll see you again
so instead i'll press my nose against the cotton
close my eyes and inhale
and pretend you're still right here next to me.

THIRTY

A shoebox full of broken promises
a half inch of contaminated topsoil
a night sky, inky and orange
scraps of burned meat on the barbecue grate
a tunnel transporting groans and squeaks
a swallow's nest in the broken eaves
a hole in the chain link fence by the river.

I've been doing everything one-handed
stubborn and half-asleep
a thousand unopened messages
unshaven, stumbling through blacked-out streets
no car keys, no wallet
a pen and notebook in my pocket
I have no idea how I got here.

Third

"I had taught myself to dance, but then you came along.
Now all my steps go wrong."