Proscenium Moon

in memory where sleep is perfect
and more terrible than air
the heart has its own weather
I find odd hours
glowing treasures to nest
sit on the levee with Paul & Beth
listen to the river swim by in ships
working gears
consider the possibility
of heaven mixed with wine
from down here
how no sun shapes a dazzling bright
how Beth says the stars are making triangles
we tilt our heads back
like at the movies
and watch spacejunk falling
out of the sky
I think of womb
and my dream of giving
birth to a child
smeared with excrement
and barely breathing
and how everything beneath my skin
only lives and barely lives
a box of no roses
stammering alphabets
eyes poured out like stones



The Story Pillow

spit in the shape of an ocean
the pink walls were all the same
they were wedding presents
they had always hung there
you could cure any kind
of sickness with them
red slits of eyes
a cheerful freckled face
it was that kind of warm noon
behind a scatter of green
an orchard of cherry & apricot
grew from the hollow out of my mind



The Tao Sequence

      one

The Tao is a low whisper coming from a shiny
button over a child's heart
The whisper has many names and no name
beginning with the first letter
and ending with the same letter
The name is the sleep of every breath and
the moon, and all light that flashes
from its surface to its center
Seeking no place, you find a path where
the grooves are still clean
Wandering with all eyes, moist floors of music
swallow you whole
It's the old law & new law, where waters
flow from ancient glistering night
and your own



Any Blue Movie
for Paul Jamey

dear friends: the snowflakes
of armageddon are us
it's a blue movie
dripping baffled
& disconnected like the tomb
of christ
and as with any twilight
blasted with milk
we held it just enough
to hold it
until the clockwork jewels
broke off
then it was anyone's
trial with judas



Vita Nuova

dave brinks is not
a poet. he is the ghost
of confused present. he suffers
from incurable thought
dyslexia. he attributes
this to listening to black
sabbath vol.4 lyrics played
backwards over and
over as a teenager. aurora
borealis-like horned
creatures have appeared
in the linings of his inner ears
ever since. his most favorite
color is smoked planta. he also
shares the opinion with bill
lavender that spanish music
sounds like clean hair. dave
is a very famous person.
he has a zillion minds
like the heart has vowels.

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