March 2023

A snake lies in the open, dormant
in its sleeve of heat. A gilded orphan
on the sun-warmed dirt, eye-slits ajar,
waiting for the infinite to arrive.
You want to strike it with a stick.
You want an answer to the prayer
that says, Make use of me.
One day the old life simply sheds
its dress and flows through the stones.
Then the future…

Phoenix Art Museum, 2018

Long ago I learned the trick,
             walk away       when you see
your own      reflection.
             Walk     into the hard swallow,
unflinching    as it is. Uncertainty
             unfolds     like a firefly’s flicker.     I know
my body       must be swarmed.
             What overwhelms me?—
Accumulation,
             panoramic & breathing.   Clutter
in my heart       with many exits.
             I am
amazed…

We stay in a room the ocean accepts
as its accompaniment. Picture-frame window, one
bright line across it. Crashing waves
heard through the insulation as a continuous loop
in a film about apocalypse. Last night
the party, the ungentleness of love
of loving your friends, of loving too much
what you think you are to your friends.
…