your fecund and fertile mind

all the little mushrooms that grow
in your fecund and fertile mind
cause me fiery visions of the world
when I am brave and partake

I hold my hand out and up

I hold my hand out and up
to feel my way along
to take what you'll give
a hand out, a hand up
and we each get along

inconstant shape-shifting and feral

That shark-filled sky may be our roof
but shelter with me now from this rain
I will speak to you with my body
But I no longer remember the words
they give hard edges and meanings
to everything beautiful and true
that should remain free and expanding
inconstant shape-shifting and feral
and prowling the dangerous skies

slow coffee stare in the morning

rain
for two nights
one outside my window
in a bed by myself
one hitting a tent
in the woods by myself
water to drink
giving me time to think
and a slow coffee stare in the morning

bring the chaos back home

If I ever lose the feeling
that something is missing
that something isn't quite right
and much is left to be done
I'll commit some illogical act
to bring the chaos back home

all those damn artists

She left her regional-sales leader husband
feeling the need for more poetry and art
and maybe a poet or artist or musician
but all those damn artists are messy and flighty
and never seemed to notice her charms
meantime her husband the salesman
closed a great big new contract
and his new wife was just half her age.

feel for just a moment: grace

I can breathe on those pretty words
they mean something to someone somewhere
each one a trashy overgrown city alley
a transcendent mountain path all alone
birds circling ideas of beauty in your mind
letting you touch what hasn't been said
and feel for just a moment: grace

light the fuses and run

I try not to let the sound of the distant highway
the big trucks downshifting on the descent
get into my bone marrow and thrum demands
I already know the details of my loneliness
You are just a reminder
hard and angular
wispy and dry
of how I need to light the fuses and run.

the sun inexorably illuminates

Without your approval the sun inexorably illuminates another day
more hours to fill alone with chatter of defeat and depression
watching the poets and dreamers drowning in the cesspools
where they will happily piss on you unless you are on fire
where what doesn't have a price must dodge destruction
you have to be a visionary here to see the beauty and worth
in all the not-quite-dead ghosts of the truly valuable
and in the eyes of all the suicide eyes you meet.

shut up that mournful wailing

This must be the way we like it
with beauty becoming only visionary
and visionaries dead or being killed
laying face down and drowning
in rippling slime and filth.

This must be the way we want it
now shut up that mournful wailing
tell the man how much it will take
take the money you neutral fuck
and go home and close your eyes.

Wet under the sky

I miss you most when it rains
when my mind calms indoors
the paper-thin people around me
disintegrate under the rainfall
into little shreds of shapeless pulp
but you are even more of you
wet hair and dress under the sky

Guys like skinny girls

Semi-literate and only nineteen
with pretty eyes and a nice rack
a growing interest in the dangers
of men and alcohol
and drugs and sex
and rock'n'roll about it all

No plans for the future near or far
the weight she slowly is gaining
keeps her awake and worried enough
she needs another strong drink
so she doesn't have to think
about the men not looking anymore

She turns on the television
and lights up a joint
thinks about finding a job
thinks about going to school
thinks of being poor and alone
and goes out to get more beer.

The women who broke my heart

I need to get out of this
almost anything else will do
I'm not as sure about anything
except that I don't understand
and I need to be home, somewhere
and reclaim my garden with
the women who broke my heart

Get your head around this

Get your head around this
and things will work out fine
The things you can't have
are the things you don't need
and no one can ever take them

ghosts and travel

I saw my Father in the twilight
walking outside of his time
so I sent my blues down the river
got a clean shirt from the line
when the ghosts are showing up
it's time to move me and mine

I don't know where you are
but I can tell you this
I'm on my way to find you
hold you tight and give you a kiss
and it doesn't matter where I find you
If you're there it's better than this

I don't do the math

I can see all my failures
every time I move one
Two more are visible
I don't do the math often
the numbers get too big

winter

So what do I need to cause a break
in this heavy winter-gripped lethargy
these slow-trickling short days alone
waiting for some flashing thaw?