Air

when the structure of the music changes
the structure of ice changes too
and the structure of the stars
and the temperature of the sky

and the mood of the listener changes
that of the king in the same room as the string quartet
and of the street bum just outside the sight of the palace guards
but still within hearing range

    o hear me o loki
    o hermes    coyote    o god
    whose name is so old that everyone has forgotten it
    i have left apples for you on the kitchen table
    and a small radio playing softly

    i have not forgotten you

from Amateur Mythology (2017)

After

so yesterday i envisioned headhunters
their tattooed hands and feet
my head is overflowing with art

three of them dressed in bear suits
maybe up near fortieth street
reading books about fences and borders

a feeling that they must seek out the wall
and the ocean of the sky
and the birds     how to talk to them

where my hunger isn’t waiting
crouched like a demon in the cave of my stomach
waiting for the boats     the hints
that you can seek something that’s really needed

the empty hurricane of the sky
the restrained bite and chew
of the paddles in the water

from Yew Nork (2014)

Achilles' Car

as when the car
all cylinders hot in pursuit
of destiny or garage
o’erleaping the dividing strip
into opposing traffic
shouts through the teeth of its grille a honk
and all others skid to stillness
to other lanes or to the curb
in amazement at its rage and determination
     so the mouse     its eyes popping with desire
     scatters dust and leaves stillness on the upper shelf
     before its descent to the trap
     

from Amateur Mythology (2017)

Low Heat

men can survive without the slightest evidence
we live table     talk lazy     feeling new
constant temperature ambitious specks
of light we would have fulfilled

we down trenches     and in professional hope
by getting a little wounded
i could not picture shooting another drink at my expense
and rage when it stands trickier afterwards

	the insignificant angels
	the slightest change of plague-bound disgust
	the cauldrons of the stars unknown prospect of adventure
	a silly of all tears
	a tone of cold and perish
        you know it heats something     it cheated my fate

from Yew Nork (2014)

Glance (for Kane's friend Bernstein)

can’t see beyond the clouded
the walls like a career     remember
the couple i glanced toward on the subway today
walked the floors of an alternative universe
watched them like dust     the mud of an ulterior city
the same year     the same weather
the calm clarity of having been in love since college
bonded with the station i knew for that instant
	imagine them and their imaginary children
	envy them     even if you can’t mention it
	imagine how she spoke     what she’d say to you
	saw her on the dock     never met her
	saw the ship leave and she was gone
	envy their life every day     if only its mystery
    
    
    
    

A version of this one was published in Yew Nork (2014)