right on tack

how can you thread the lines across, the seas that toss, those angry waves to slap the cord, to freeze or burn the fraying cotton, tethered now, not forgotten

sharp bits in an overcoat

wet steel barrel is a fine choker

i have the syllables, could neatly say

amateur, wants to make pins of phrases

i tuck my barbs neatly away

the other side

there ain’t no up there’s only out
no running left if you’ve got gout
can’t find the hole to crawl and die
just kick the body to the side

you’ve got to choose there isn’t time
to ponder on what’s yours and mine
i have the truth somewhere outside
but i’m too tired to run

you’re far too sure, you must be wrong
you don’t struggle all along
it’s just shell if it is strong
and i won’t knock to see inside

your sweet little songs won’t wet my appetite
your sweet little voice is too pure to be right
your soft little hands are just too clean
your big green eyes ain’t seen what i’ve seen
if you understood then you’d agree
there simply isn’t hope for me

just turn me upside down to smile
or do one of your pretty handstands
you can be the one to make the plans
you can be the one to make the plans

gluttony

look at me, isn’t it great
i’ve got failure on a plate
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down
life is clear when you’re not here
the perfect garnish of a tear
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down
i’m a drummer beat is true
but no strings left to snare on through
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down
sky is wet, heart is bleak
darling will you shut your beak
gonna weigh my body down
it’s not serious, it’s not real
when you’re drowning you don’t feel
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down
you talk the sun, sometimes the moon
talk all you want baby i won’t swoon
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down
money’s the win, only the game
don’t you dare smile girl it’s not the same
gonna weigh my body down
gonna weigh my body down

i need more
i need more
walk out to the alley and shut the door

knowing nothing

it does not exist
wet behind the ears
sulky fingers
you’ve got the nerve
you’re grumbling, dragging
and i’ll come flailing along
whatever you want

so large and naive
floating kind of me
big dreams, average feet
making you angry
to fly your achy soles
must leave the ground
gravel hurts my toes and i’d rather float
but what do you know
you’re the oceanless boat
tying me at the line
whatever you want
every time

let’s find you the tide
please, let’s find you the tide
i don’t have enough strength to pull you
left inside
gravel hurts my toes and i’d rather float
but what do you know
you’re buried in sand
praying for snow

Ellis

thin fingers, paper hands tensely
clutching a worn leather handle
cold toes tucked into solid boots
have seen some wear, walk to the coast
their lives in flight, diamonds
adeptly sewn into the hems of pants and skirts
pupils focused at the
dim point of horizon, knowing
ships come, to take them to elsewhere

they land in the city of old and new
they lay down the rhythm of jazz
they bicker and carve their place in spite of eachother
they welcome the misfits for schadenfreude, praise tension, angst

their weary children
know their place behind
the birth of new york, the better child
deferring to the cage, not whistling
nor even taking flight in steel
they think the point of argument is something real
the glass window, the missing sky
to gaze up and see no cloud
angry voices, reminds them
of the jaundiced home these vagabonds had found themselves
how unadventerous they are!
waiting for new york to seek them out
hoping
it cares as much as it shames
believing
the serendipity of collision

when the journey was carried in boats
and the waves turned the stomach
those paper hands held fast
to even colder railings
where were you? a dream in the eye
and you think the world is small
but your home is a fixed location
the only dot on the map

the city changes
the city won’t remember
your ancestors
their frugal labored fruit
their 5 block world with its own district
it swallows them whole

and if you fall, miss the rhythm?
and if you want to breathe without the soot?
and if you taste the pavement when you hunger for the earth?
good luck to you then, the smug would say
you’ve earned it
the only world you need to know
won’t need you now

Worthy Marker (2008)

don’t think you are too golden to bleed
you have nothing, nothing to fear from me
my body shows you how to breathe

come and bless my sweat!

rough me up
come out to play, a fantasy
i’m a worthy platform

when you’re done i’ll show you where
the air that you neglected
calls to me
i can fill the space
to get you back on your feet
where the throat and sun meet

possibly a character!
but you’re human to me
whatever makes it easy

when you sleep
the sores that you neglected
call to me
they want to hear me speak
manifest in me
i’ll soothe them
so cling to me
i’m a worthy platform!

Rain and Sand Bar (2008)

losing my center
the best sacrifice
to bring me closer

into another space and time
lightening grip
where have i been
where do i want to be

grabbing at my ankles
an unspecific feeling
can i swim against the current

drowning again
bless me with a raft, love
teach me to swim
this ain’t a sand bar
you hold me within

Send a Message (2004)

send a message to the unborn child
keep your eyes open for awhile
your hatred blinds me like
a flash of lightning light

you blinded me. and the clouds
set in the lenses
please kill me before i bring you
into this life

3 seconds to drag a blade
across this windpipe, gagging
your motions falsely empathetic
my baby lays in ignorance
of your hatred for me

you hated me. and the storm of your emotions
precipitates this death
in me. i wish i could give you
a resolution to your pain
and fall upon you gracefully
as sweetly as the rain
billowing in vast centers

3 seconds to slide yourself
into my body, crying
your emotions falsely empathetic
my suffering, your heart to wear
triumphantly like a boy scout badge
you conquered me, our suffering
that which you truly loved

Seed (2004)

you can break open her
brittle heart with a
steel mallet and you’ll find
a soft core, a gushy center
a wet inside into which, you may
dive your body and your eagerness
to spill some life into and
watch it grow

just don’t turn away
call it misfortune