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
how to retire from ecstatic /
strangle the person who suggests so /
it’s lonely twisting in the middle of the street /
always a pack of matches in the back pocket /
at the ready to toss on the perfect hedge /
or societal forecast for a precise plot of land /
embarrassed eagerly for the evaporating absurdity of it all /
swallowing tongues daily /
knowing the arguments are a mudslide burying the original inhabitants /
watching the cars dissipate along the line drawn /
beyond annual association meetings /
seeing the collapse and fragmentation of our home /
as all things knowing this earth are reclaimed /
in the street, at night, invoke /
what cannot become atoms /
but always arrives alone /
that eternity created daily
seems simple enough /
raise the sun by going to sleep /
it’s a limited guarantee depending on intended use /
that brightness begs for a shadow as invisible ballast /
to find breath, shift a shape slightly or alter colour /
a place of quieted sight allowing the turn /
perhaps daydreaming of murder for a second allowed /
shade separates, pulling away from the day sun /
a brief refusal to be /
where the light is loudest inside
here’s to hoping my stomach is lined with teeth /
very capable of churning up the twisted flaff downed every day /
tiny bursts of long dead material spun out from the repeated wheel /
rolling down the main view of municipality where atoms are divided /
and sampled at the grocery store as a new source of personal energy /
driving families to the perfect parking lot to watch fireworks /
spout from the belly of the holy ghost, whose only passion is to entertain