Poetry

  • Felt

    We feel we have felt felt. We have felt what felt we have. Havefelt. Feel. We feel what felt we felt is not what felt felt is. Whatwe have, we feel. What felt we have! Feel! Feel not what is, feelwhat felt is not. Not we, not felt. Is is is? We is what we…

  • Flash

    Picture civilizations like sparse swarms of fireflies, space/timelike the evening air in which they’re suspended. Each bug flashesindependently, never simultaneously, randomly announcing itselfwithout regard for its distance from another or for the duration of itslight. That one there! That one is us! Doesn’t it lately seem a foregoneconclusion that the psychotic combination of our science,…

  • Dialectic

    for Anna Maria Hong The master believes himself superior to his slaves. He desires comfort.He considers security and prosperity his birthrights. He prefers toignore the labor required to create his luxurious world. He often failsto acknowledge the extravagance of his environment by comparingit unfavorably to the surroundings of more prosperous people. Heignores anything that challenges…

  • Slavish Rhythm

    Ooga booga jigga bigga nigga ziggurati bati boom boom tutti fruittiDjibouti mama comma no drama Obama from a llama fonana fanaRosannadanna chapati do be doobie Debbie Rebbie covfefe lemmecrammalamadingdong ching chong Chobani Thulani Donnie honeyDamiani Romani in de windy Indy bindi— do the Lindy, Cindy. Damnyou fam, you slam a ham in a cham, you…

  • River

    Too easy, perhaps, to romanticize your behavior by comparing itto natural phenomena. Yes, the bird may land on the branch out ofinstinct, without thinking (though who can know for sure). The humanbeing chooses to love based on a hodgepodge of past experiences—asense of humor, shared values, similar tastes, compatibility, evencombativeness. The criteria change often, the…

  • Scientific Method

    I think, if I could,I’d be anything elsein this world. Mimosa pudica, my leavesclosing when touched.I’d go back to 1729, take for shelter the awfulcrypt Master kept me inwith only enough water to last between his visits,during which he spokenot to me but about me, as though I lackeda mind, an appeal forfellowship or feeling….

  • In the Fields

    with lines from D. A. Powell We unyoke owl pellets from marrowin desert meadow. His mouth pigeon eye, a torch, womb turned flower. He, still a boy,dug from cactus skull. Undress into bark beetles. He unlearns how to hold a fistwith my hand. Bursts into dandelion seeds. We are all beautiful at least once.Mud water…

  • Damp Room

    I. It’s entirely up to me to remember                                   what you said. But all I recall is water,               flour,          strained yolk adding          up to something beaten and inedible. I placed               my ear to your stomach,          whereexcess warmth gathers in the name                                                                       of the body’s clandestineritual of diminishment. I’d crouch at your feetin the shower, allowing                           what pale lather ran               in runnels from your hair,…