Lapse
Swelling of the past gnaw into the future snatch it as it goes
the first shall be last the tasting of a tuber
grab it when it slows
child in the waiting wide open for the taking
watch it how it grows
a house and some tools for sleeping or for waking?
good gods and good fools
pick up from the past pieces to a game
not yet played and already waiting
Night Practice
Running is the choice of the long-distance runner
clock is the shape of running
grace is a light ball caught
between head and back
the trick of cunning
for truth to tell and take flight
a night is a day that changes over
Eddie Proctor
Ping pong ping pong the days are long
ping pong ping pong brief is the song
ping pong ping ping a feather, a wing
ping pong ping ping the grip and the swing
Ping pong ping pong move it along
ping pong ping pong feet to the ground
ping pong ping ping ping ping. Out. Not in.
That peculiar thing. Whose song did I sing?
Electric Light Wonderland
The light in the box spot beams to the floor
the key to a shed when you lift, use your core
gel through the bangs wee armpit smell
collar neck shirt little snip of a nail
a secret too great how these cables in felt
can carry the light and the weight
Echo Park
Echo of a call no word but sound-
ing out what is coming round
is that me from far?
the body of an odd voice
left the door ajar
pelvis, ribcage, throat
muscle bands vibrating folds
tearing in what holds
Idalia
Air water land and me seated at the
desk digitally guarded and at sea
line and square: my coast straight a head:
beach ball and doom life and death remote
quilt and plywood seal gator aid and
peanut peel sugar soothes what’s real
Idalia my sudden sister friend from far away
where do you press play
Will’s Hill
The grass and the hills shall break into singing
all the trees of this mud shall clap their hands
flowers shall flow and gather momentum
folding their bloom onto water and lands
the clouds in this river shall listen closely
to the sound of water taking licks from the sky
circles will grow from tongues in the making
passing gator and turtle and ducks as they fly
my word will be such that it goes out of my mouth
it shall speak to ears that will hear it
like a willing from far finding its way
until it can say I am near it
it shall burrow its way into the ground
up through a bush of flowers
riding the wind across heaths of grass
now with additional powers
gathering figure gathering ground
gathering earth and sky
gathering mortals gathering gods
and untying the tongues that tie
like a willing from far willing its way
willing a voice that says I
Marker
A line slung in a coil
rope watch it unfold
a snare when set
lasso when caught
a sound spirals a thought
circles of ghosts forces and flows
a loop inside my name
unbounded and incomplete
diverging inside the same
a line from nested repeat
animal eye not wild and not tame
a moment is stretched inside a name
stirrup bone ungula sole
horn for a toe I, let her go
Someone Else
At the edge of forest of Bere stray from the
truth if you dare just drop her off here
in pairs: make a machine for a prayer
get the ghost and the sooth sayer
bring a parasol and a stone
toss two chairs and two braids of hair
teeth – bite into a cloth
bird – sit on a human nose
at the edge of forest of Bere
stray further afield and take care
make a new lung from thin air
After I Arrive Before You Leave
No, I never asked you for your name
I did not bring the form or say what it was for
no, I did not understand what brings you here
what stop you’ll disappear
I could not ask for more or clarify the task for sure
journeys joined between here and there
Two Clothespins in an Envelope
Lightning hit the tree quiet in the hollow
watch it crash the house cut it down tomorrow
a cup of band-aids fishing rods and a bowling ball
a leopard lamp a patchwork plaid
from scraps during the telesales
a white elephant no thunder open seal
with butter knife from under
run a line across the root from oak
two clothespins in an envelope
Lizzy
I was another, stepsisters without a mother
a chipped figurine a flag old pralines
what is here 1,000 years from tomorrow
give mad to the comb life to foam
all them notes in an organ
what slithers the grass is it tail or an ass
does it kill does it steal does it borrow
can it muster the shout with a mouth or a snout
is it hope in the deep of sorrow