Snap

Ready.

Snap. Eleven
Over.

Bright

My toys
long fallen.

Joy
so low to attain.

The wind
only needs shift.

Yes
I am,

that routine
and usual.

Ready to break
my soul dry,

but really
just
waking,

again and
again,

repeat,
replay,
serve,

yes
I am,

long fallen.

A Moment

Walls made only of shadows
a temporary room
over here, past the trees and lamp.

We unseen and far enough unheard
and thus all alone
amongst the open world.

And it was beautiful,
and done,
before day returned it to open air and many eyes.

Late Leaving the Store

The abandoned self checkout lane
calling in green

space slow and quiet
divided by the usual music,
high efficiency fluorescent hum
and the beep of bar code scanners.

Mr. too drunk to know where that dam twelve and change from the last round went
takes on title as customer.
Thinks human or self check out,
who will get him watched more.

Fumbling slowly and towards under the radar
he manages to pay.

I take my coffee filters and do the same,
with a little less worry
of what morning has scheduled.

Significant

My little puzzle
kills me
and barely makes the world blink

how's that for feeling significant

so much work to wake
and do the right thing
and then mean little

My puzzle
still baffling
so nearly complete
but sacrifice has drawn me away from the final conclusion

kept me alive perhaps
or do we not die with nothing left to do

Crumble

Small stones
rounded by floods
and countless changes in the currents

we crumble
from our first loss
to our last conquest

What sense
have I
of what it means
to have permanence
and of how little it matters
beyond each moment

When is the last time I was just watching the sky
just being and not trying to

killing creativity for a clean canvass
trying to find that inspiration
that only falls farther away
the more you know or try

Looking at stones in a river
and seeing time
wisdom and permanence
and not seeing that it just happened
through nothing more than a twist of earth
that made water run this way
rather than another

but also seeing that like the stones
I am worn
dulled
diluted
and consolidated
by a deluge all its own

Somewhere between the overstated
and unspoken
are the moments that allow me to live

Forever searching
hoping to turn over a new
sharp edge

What We Have Left

Give me the world
within.

Where the puppeteers
can't send strings.

Where paychecks aren't needed for the rent,
or heat,
or sustenance.

Where for moments
I can live long and free.

The imagination
that keeps souls alive
through the worst torture
and slow death that is us all now.

Give me the world
within.

The world two thirds through a good movie,
or song,
where nothing else is.

Give me these grains
no one can take,
or decide how I need spend.

Give me the awe that is not for sale.
Give the life found in first kisses.

The joy unexpected
found sometimes in just a walk around the block.

Where the power of the world order
can never come and stand over
and direct my next impulse.

Finding Middle

Nineteen and sharp
I've seen all I need
and I never forget.
Anything else-- I already know better.

Now forty is just a sunset away
and the foundation that got me here is crumbling,
full of every crack in everything I thought was for sure.

So clear
all I don't know now.
So unclear
how to get beyond my past and present to some better mix of both.