swimming over the red river / noun and descriptor have always been one / the dive is drawn in a sharp arc / landing where lead breaks / graphite crumbs on the bank / stretching out toes above the waterline / creeping for a drop off / where remains of light lend a lift to the brown / before it walls towards blueblack / even into an unbroken sheen, there is calculation
take, go, out to the glare / heighting above a shaking hand / build leaking vessels from the craft / of inwardly glue, mile-long staples, four-sided tape, unfinishing nails / leaving the image trailing into the street / designed for the rhythm of tripping / take, go, fire the sign / annealing phrase to a living line
dying in space would be ideal /
no earth to move /
no air for eulogies /
no sound for sympathies /
no surface for signing certificates /
room to relax for the finale /
calm beyond recourse /
reaching out for the gesture alone /
and all the light and dark a human can allow
just a jot to say I failed to write /
the space was across the street /
and I forgot my feet somehow /
distracted by the extra day in the hour /
a counterfeit note whistled before
lost my myth yesterday /
somewhere on 17th /
where curb height changes unexpectedly /
the earth rises up without warning again /
shouldering into bone, tripping the cultivated image /
of dominion holder forcing a grand rotation, day cleaving night /
rather tossed gravel for applause /
as this trumbling frame meets its dust /
and the only common, kind laughter
the sound said arrives early /
rarely prepared to receive guests before a written summary /
there is that sound again as early as birth /
bump of consonant, pour of vowel, spike of syllable /
why agree, why consent to these reverberations shared? /
what would be if the heard shape were always new? /
fiery feather and unending body /
scratching mountain, root and star
simply is a beast /
lock padded for convenient denial /
lest it tear into a chest of legalese /
its claws can be counted /
and make always a measurable hole /
fit for corks and sink stoppers /
there’s a rounded heat in its breath /
draping distracted shoulders dictating sub clauses /
let the tail sweep away the bronze bull /
polished afterhours /
simply should be at every door /
sizing the concierge’s head
don’t let that word in /
hear mice at night scribbling behind the walls /
etching the old hell on lightless wood /
knot notting eye /
punching it through with a hammer /
so to speak /
what the ear said barkeep /
need arrives first, torching the couch /
where to sleep so no headrest
on an off day, will a new planet / set aside at least 20 millennia to properly shape and foment / should gravity be an issue, posit notions of the uncertainty of matter / monitor its form as progress spreads across the original state / fold over should a second rise be needed / finally, finish with a bold sheen and trim any excess centuries / consume at will
flip off the top stopping thots from tripping up tied feet thrumping along sidewalk / too tired for language / that molded air bumping between us / punctuation is all that’s needed / stopping space with blunt strokes / flicking the tongue back into its hole / tighten my coffin with .