laughter is expired air /
a spittle phlegm bit /
wasting breath on points /
that should rather be stabbed /
left to distract oneself /
the petals curdle /
fold up into the ribcage /
humour is bone grinding bone /
only a flash of teeth /
releasing distant space /
such blackhole /
born as an infinite chuckle
come tree /
move move motion /
add bruises to leaf litter /
if you can /
make the way /
can it be final? /
across the street /
dent my arms /
with upper limb chip /
should I remove others for you? /
bend their names /
to mine
poetry never fails /
often it may not accomplish /
but it never fails /
the skeleton of saying /
laid bare not barren /
what is the curse /
is the alignment /
from tip to foot /
how far can /
the rest spread out/
into traffic
how do they do what they do? /
nary a curious glimpse of the grinding of spheres /
simply pushing blood against gravity /
that throb is one-two, one-two /
until three is introduced as the deflating integer /
pressing lived details back into wormless ground /
may a mite invade your dry stomach /
and push a few particles out into the earthen flow /
to sway the head of a daisy /
but once against the dominant breeze
no specifics today /
though lungs will have a fit /
without each oxygen molecule /
miles removed /
always arriving /
taste notes of that rolling deferral /
in the coffee, stripped /
ongoing unscheduled appointments /
with the other things /
in how was it?, deleted /
the rain’s blemish is gone, see? /
no drops, no reflection in the ground /
the one awful holiday /
to be everywhere /
as measurements unravel /
within the glossy frame
awkward sun /
tripping over the earth’s edge /
too slow today /
to light the gravel for 16 ton trucks /
where were you /
when children fell down the chimney /
on christmas eve? /
when ice crawled forward /
on the new year shores of the superior? /
when the bedroom had no walls /
just starless space unwound /
today is ready /
flattening on the dewed grass
too much assumed in the bone /
pouts the parade banners higher /
or twists the tap on a common gleam /
point the teeth towards the door /
banged with fist and sprayed with seem /
the flag is light as soaked paper /
and dry as spoiled ink /
stuff it in the pores /
to hide the air
all that is is and is /
bedeviled division /
but now but now but now /
there argument will be /
fore aft port starboard /
direction to divide thyself /
case made from sides /
to craft the world /
from unit then future
wax coated matches for the somersault into niagara /
able to start a fire no matter how soaked in window condensation /
licked in the morning, scraping away long sleep parchment /
to be the daily practice astronaut /
tumbling in a replacement environment under the falls /
lifting three times body weight, trying to ignore the cameras /
constructing a distant habitat for those living without air /
drown or suffocate here unless the door remains closed
job on the side, digging a hole daily /
chilled with dew in the morning /
dusted with heat in the afternoon /
a warm, moistening bed at night /
despite all the effort, the hole does not become larger /
the digging is to shovel it a little further /
towards the scene that plays at living today /
lie in it most of the time /
sucking the dirt from under fingernails /
muddy smudges left on light switches /
the hole fills in the space between cradle and grave /
no matter where, no matter what, the hole is dug /
all the effort for absence /
if musing, we’re born to this deficit trade