The shadow of space

I wanted

to discuss

When and why

With you

Coats became jackets

As a sign humans

Became modern

Since it circled

A time closer

To my birth

Than yours

Then I saw

A slow moving

Man

With coal colored

Skin

In worn denim

Overalls

His smirk told

Me about

When and why

Phones rang

Incessantly non-detachable

From walls

……his black skin; your blue eyes,

Blond hair on green grass

He simply quietly sat

Staring at his meal

Waiting

We sat on a prairie

Thinking best

To think

Rather than wait

For all the devices

Of our day

To communicate the ardent delirium

I feel and you

Avoid

And define

As friend



When did it all abruptly change?

What catalyst is to blame?

How come technology did not amend emotions?

Why are you my disease?

Where is my soul relocated?



And if I continue to ask

My remorse grows

With every return you invite

Me to resist but I acquiesce

Not to lose you as acquaintance

But in these decades

Nothing changes except

The height of the years



The artifacts powered by

The modulation of electrons

Particles

Make love a bigger madness

Than the comfort promised

By the Egyptians

And all others who defined

Civilization as the birth of

Hero and despot worship

Given hate is the power

Love creates when

All other monsters

Failed to ignite the songs

Of worship and dependence

No odes are designed for

Fallen; the lie of martyrdom.

My plight for pity through

Adoration…

I want to hold

And

Enter

(So I can have

The

Strength

To

Leave)

You.

All we did

During these times of thought

Analysis

Introspection

Was discuss

The mud on my new boots.

There is a drought

Of

Decorum

Affecting all humanity

But

Power

Still rules.

While waiting

For the death of paper

And

Hoping

Writing does not become obsolete

My pondering

Centers on the zipper

Being

The agent of change



Coats becoming jackets;

Cordless, wireless, digital,

Interconnections

Followed

Yet we, us, them

Make obsession

Human

endless

Clenched

I am drenched
but then again
Last year was so dry
everything had too much space
with crisp cold air
seen from the windproof
window
third floor
hospital bed
intensive care

my feet speak angrily
to the concrete
my eyes firmly focused
staring at the rising
steam from the
towering smoke stack
towers ahead and afar
this year my jaw
tightens not wanting
the dry or to go back


the yard divided into
fear one year
anger this one
seeing frost and sand
along the beach
too cold for snow
yet too wet today
tomorrow’s breeze
carrying off grains
to the waters aside me

full hand to my face
covering my weary
vision pinching my
nose grabbing my
jaw pulling forward
on my chin
thumb and forefinger
at home on cheekbone


the anguish buried
in the teeth
grinding at the purity
of my ferocity
my disappointment
has a taste of fervor
savored when those
words become phrases
of distance; disillusionment
I have only deceived me

any pain has my ownership
the accompanying ardor
flares into worship
boiling then wilting
whispers, wishes and
weeping without tears
except alone
my whimpers allow
my wallowing of pity
then self

hugs are
not enough
neither are
small pecks
of gratitude
to replace guilt
seen in
the window of when
or ever
given neither sadness
or madness
is loudest

at dawn
the dreams dwarfed
the sorrow
of longing
a year ago, but
now at nighttime
bedtime before sleep
the sorrow of
longing dwarfs
the nightmare
of shadows

loneliness is an
interminable
shame
no wonder it is
a choice
made on pride
then I see her!
strolling where he
once walked this
block that seemed
a mile in a desert

the same insanity
afflicts their countenance
he perished in his own
skin while we neighbors
frowned about not knowing
for some time but happy
we finally said hello
to each other
but her eyes scamper
wildly at this year’s
greenery; an early
spring

you act as if
your direction
is more important
than that of this
falling deluge of rain
our ode to redundancy
is when I say I love you
it is us surmised as martyrdom
and the weight of your
descendants descent casts
a much heavier burden

we all seek more than good night or bye
the man you seek within me
is gone; my person is but a shell
of what used to be
when sleeping I want someone
besides me
last year, in the fog
of dying
I declare to you
my devotion

rain drenching diluvia
makes the drought
of bravery from
last year’s freeze
and snow
seems so close
yet distant
this year much
nearer the insanity
of serenity
too much
now too little

the blind voyeur

the taste
in my mouth
now a stench
mother
sister
father
brothers all
for it was
just a brew
dark
not to escape
but to mis-communicate
the dissention
that binds

the odor
from my body
is that of
soap
showered on
this morning and
the oily, waxy
substance placed afterwards
under my arm for
the shell
that is me
ensconces
truth un-wearable

the sight
of waiter, owner, cashier
smiling
offering a Polish porter
to a Panamanian
a metaphor misplaced
for boredom
a strategy of
using the enemy’s
tactics for advancement
may just work today
denial is cowardice
despite its comfort
this morning
the spring storm
clattered its way into my
window so I arose
brushed
and cleaned
the dust
from the cherry wood
frame of the photo
of a flower
in the bathroom
the white specs
vanished
as did the tree
in the yard
where the children
once they learned
to climb it
hid
their anguish
found
their solace
much as
the blue
of dark
finds
the small opening
of light
from the bedroom
door
ajar;
the glass
over the photo
remains
smudged

hoping
whatever present or
past
would not enter
the future
the cherry tree
is now the fuel
flaming the food
the smoke watering
my eyes ;my countenance
cleansed
I fearful of my
own tears falling