The Doctor

He doesn’t see a human with a soul,
someone who loves something.
He sees a specimen
a tiny cell
willfully
throwing itself against the wall of existence
for reasons unknown.
The human
The human being with the soul.
He, too is trying to break a wall.
Both specimen and human
share one thing
they either die
or they leave a dent.
They just leave a dent.

Dream on an Isolated Vessel 1

The water beneath me was a retched

Cold

Obsidian slate.

I could hear the waves,

They crunched parts of the vessel.

This was the end

And I let a tear go —

The tear was lost in the water 

of unending dimness.

It really seemed 

too dark.

A fragment of metal emerges.

I’ve lost my mind now.

I go to my safe spot.

I jump in the water.

Everything that touched me

Turned into fragments of lost somethings.

But they hurt.

I gladly floated on my back — 

pins and needles constantly stabbing me.

I then knew

what it was.

We were to be devoured

by all of these pieces thrown away — 

tucked inside of our bodies until they’re too big

And you explode.

I know what it is now.

And so do you.

A Letter from Gunner

A Letter from Gunner

When you recall a painful moment,

Where does it hurt?

I’m not talkin’ about the pain you remember

When you broke your leg

Thinking you were some sort of

Lady cowboy or something.

I’m talkin’ about the pain you remember

When that puppy you got for Christmas

In ‘97

Got run over by your brother

On his bicycle.

Where do you feel that?

If I hadn’t gone through that growth spurt

Earlier in the summer

Who knows

I’dve probably had to back over that poor thing.

-Bubba

something I made for someone who wanted a poem about the dreamworld

I Am Aware, No I’m Unaware

I extol not in the least of things, no

Nothing in life but the silent cannons

Rolling, flood tide in my mind.

Or sometimes the circus

Enchanting, always — immense

Wrapped in drapery

But the floods

The floods and fountains

They always ruin the circus

And with the flood

Comes a ship

Carrying my hesitations

A sliding door

Abruptly wakes me 

I know now why I hesitate

Darling, I’ve missed you.

So much.

A sliding door

Inherently shut.

they left a spot (draft)

The apartment wasn’t clean, no

No, not at all

Was clean enough, they said

That’s what they said

For a reduced price

It was supposed to be clean enough.

But I found the spot

The crimson crust hiding beneath the light switch

In my bathroom

I could feel her there

It wasn’t clean enough, no

Not at all

I left the spot there

I don’t know why

It wasn’t my job

It wasn’t my wife

It wasn’t my fault

It wasn’t.

Beyond Oblivion

I am alive 
Within all of you. If someone asked me if I wanted to 
live forever, see the future, no matter what it 
might bring, comfort or destruction, democracy or 
despotism 
Even if heaven is as grand as they say it is, I would 
say yes. Better to side with the devil you know Than the devil 
you don’t.

A quote by E.S. Wynn from Beyond Oblivion

The Motorcyclist

A man's face is splattered on I-35,

teeth ground into a paste

of flour and mashed cranberries.

He's left a trail of Château Pétrus

500 feet long

leading up to his cracked bucket of hair

pink grub worms, exposed, crawling and falling,

looking for a place to hide.

But instead they are spill on the pavement,

forced from  dark bowl of bone

into  light, scattering, blind, drying.

I stop and stare.

It is my turn now

I waited almost a full half hour in the queue

along the cement backbone.

Perhaps I should have taken the train.

But I like his stain,

which will always be in this lane.

Anyway,

the sun is shining on my face

and it’s a good day.