your body is a microcosm (2012)

your body is a microcosm -
the very world you sought,
all wrapped up in an atmosphere
of soul and conscious thought

and flowers bloom behind your ribs
from rivers in your veins
that flow up from a phantom limb
to clouds inside your brain

a fire blazes in your eyes
then catches on your tongue
and just in time to light the fuse
that leads down to your lungs

and lions pace inside your chest
all growling at the heat
and hummingbirds will beat their wings
around the lions' feet

your blood will boil in swirls of steam
like lava, spurt and splash
and set the very earth aflame
and coat your heart with ash

starcrossed (2012)

I wanted to pluck the stars from your eyes
and knead them in my hands 'til I could scatter ashes throughout the earth
or dust sparks across sleeping lovers' violet skies
with warm unrest and discontented hope
that maybe the light could shake their shoulders and open their weary hearts
to be stripped and cleansed and stitched haphazardly together again
but loosely -
all alike in their fragility and so suddenly vulnerable
and each now lost for losing
what they had tethered so meticulously to their vanities
and as I watched them stumble I would dip a hand into the fleeting life of my hourglass
and smear the blood on my doorframe
so that maybe I could sleep
and just as sleep finally found me I'd fish your diamonds from my pocket
and as two seeds I'd plant them in my own eyes to take root and grow
and blossom for the world to see
even if
I may not

melting starlight (2012)

a star drip-drips in glowing drops
and hits your lips and swiftly stops
and pools inside your eyes to wind
in rivers to baptize your mind
or flows right through your empty head
and soaks into your empty bed
so you wake up trapped in its heat
all sweaty wrapped in silken sheets
for rapture stretching 'cross your face
and moonbeams fetching outer space
and rivulets of slipping light
just drip-drip-dripping through the night

Goodnight (2012)

"Goodnight," she whispers to the town
as sleep begins to weigh her down
She shrugs out of her golden shroud
and trades it for a scarlet gown

She rubs her tired, heavy eyes
then yawns and stretches 'cross the skies
"Goodnight," she mutters once again
and paints the clouds with blushing sighs

Then she concedes, with no protest
to slowly sink into the west
 And with a nod to her pale twin
"Goodnight" she breathes, and lays to rest

Sleep (2012)

Ah, we meet again, my friend
As twilight cedes to night
Quick, conceal me in your cloak
From daybreak's garish light

I'm loathe to cast you off, my dear
When fin'ly we must part
For only you can ease my mind
And truly rule my heart

I long for you, so near my hand
Yet just out of my reach
It feels like it's been ages and
the minutes, hours each

And lo, at last! I find you there
Behind a starry veil
Across a dark and quiet sea
That I shall hap'ly sail

I'll leave behind the bitter days
The sun's abhorrent glare
And drift into your gentle arms
And all the comfort there

I'll miss the things I had before
The life I'll leave behind
But now, at least, I'll be at peace
In spirit, heart, and mind

As the Ship Sinks (2012)

lined in silver and draped in gold
sprinkled sunlight over twisted assembly lines
shale and ash and cold machines
indifferent and smiling
the light, slivered
by their blunt sharks' teeth

and a spark catches the blood-thick air
flares and festers and grows its own lungs
breathes in all the black, black passion
and coughs it all back up again

fire in the throne room, fire at the floodgates
smoke bubbles over,
trickles down
and one
stray
tendril
tempts the fates, sends the waves
pulsing blindly onward
screaming their hoarse throats raw
"Victory! Freedom! Anarchy!"
as they overcome the famished earth
swallowing every formless thought
seeping in through every careless crack
of the sleeping city's hull

and they'll all laugh together
as
the ship
sinks