Rescuing the Deity

someone has to help me on this
one of my favorite gods is caught in a tree
i turned my back     just for a second
and he changed the direction of the wind when i wasn’t looking
or he had a fight with his wife     the goddess
and she changed the wind when     he     wasn’t looking
he’s not that big     he can get blown into a tree
she can get stuck in a tree too but this time it’s him
	i’m always amazed at how our deities act like adolescents
	and why it’s that part of ourselves
	that we put in charge of the cosmos
	is it because each of us     each of us
	feels guilty for something we wanted to do in middle school?
	someone needs to help me on this

from Amateur Mythology (2017)

Cowboy Movie Museum

in the 1870s we were the things and movies driving cattle
recently discovered meadows gathered
their herd held their noses up to summer
do you remember actor or action?
you seem impressionable about being scared to death
mynah bird brass bindings now my words were good
and dressed me in a certain number of style
the cattle outside
circling in their own idea of sky
cattle are remembered gathered back to their pastures
here’s a decorative piece of horse’s head
here boy clean my hooves
and make sure my songs will be featured in the next roundup
battle will be served if they’re not
i’m volved honestly now

from Amateur Mythology (2017)

Years Over Coffee

as i sat at your table the dead cat burst into flame
no more blood pudding    no more red spots on my shirt
over my heart where all my bleeding starts anyway
here in the world of dogs without earphones
where i wear my cup of coffee on my head like a hat

the jeweler had finally found his teeth under the counter
his coffee’s harvested    it’s got its feet on the table
clouds glide over microwaves in their very own graveyard
i could formulate tomorrow from what happened last week
but that guy just walked out the door with my blues in his ears

   eons have passed the horizon
   end over end the sunset of sleep
   sheep come into the restaurant speaking with different accents
   saying wolves cruise this street nightly
   their ears locking onto songs of lambhood

   i can see that    i was in my twenties here too
   your calypso’s music slew me i wanted to stay
   for the rest of my life but the look the sea threw back at me
   made me remember sunset
   and here  i am    sunset

   my coffee talks the dialect of years
   the buses pull by
   they’re like something on a computer screen
   the sheep are home    the wolves are home
   out in the kitchen they’re brewing a whole new generation

from Amateur Mythology (2017)