who knew
the 6th mass extinction
on the planet
would be set into motion
not by a furious comet
instead thrown into chaos
by an insidious cloud
of misinformation
(que piano music)
what we call eternity lasts
approximately 3 seconds
it is the state of a happy heart
at the moment of your death
as your brain powers down
the last thing it processes are images of
everything you ever loved
mercifully
that is our shared heaven
Trump is their Manson.
The traitors who desecrated the Capitol building are Tex Watkins and the Manson family.
Democracy is their Sharon Tate.
Categories
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ATM
They
will sell you
candy cigarettes,
insulin,
Camel Wides,
chemotherapy,
God,
nicotine patches,
life insurance,
and a bronze casket
all
in one lifetime.
in death
our ribs remain skyward
like hands
cast to heaven
in prayer
Categories
Are you free?
meet me in Tompkins Square
the Temperance Fountain
at noon
March 2, 2029
there’s a place I want to show you on the lower east side
of a dumpster
before we die
we’ll find a restaurant
on W 23rd Street
named for a playwright
ride the subway to Lincoln Center
feed the last of our excuses
to wanton pigeons
lose ourselves
underground
adding a single entry
for everything we never shared
to the archive
oh, did I mention
it’s a Friday
Categories
fog pressed to a window pane
i’ve spent my life
thinking about people
who were not there
those whose love
came measured
in teaspoons
hidden in poems
please know
i didn’t write this for you
&
i’m taking my coffee black
this morning
Categories
save everything you can
the house is a total loss
horses screaming caught
in my hair
choking ash
simmering iron
bits of
our children crying in the truck
the dogs are missing
barn roof’s fully engulfed
rafter pine pops
we run to claw open stall doors
as this year becomes a list
of things we lost in the fire
Categories
perfunctory
we go through the motions
nods, hellos, & how are yous
eyes casting down not to impose
swallowed back into a mask that is saving humanity
but depriving us of dimples
a curl at the corner of a wink and a smile
warm creases telling jokes
knowing microexpressions
laugh lines
that dopamine rush of connectivity
that reminds us why
we fight to stay alive
what it is to be human
remember to look up
into my eyes
Categories
left it standing
my fears are hidden at home in my onion knife
as I drink coffee that tastes like David Mamet
left it standing
downtown on a Tuesday morning
during a plague
somehow that proves
there are things I don’t regret
while we pretend to have enough choices left
the way a crumbling sidewalk shows us
dandelions will continue to grow
on the strength of their convictions
