found

We used to trip over the edges of sunsets
landing at the endless horizon of night,
but there is no faith in the tangible.
you took my hand to guide my tongue,
teaching me the words you wanted.
Touching on the silence of ruin.
the loose trail of days left behind
dog the present, fraying in the wind
as seasons cross imaginary lines.
the twisted roads of this river are filled with
deserted footsteps. Phantom limbs
that still find me



.

hallelujahs

1
Have you been close enough to see his vaselined
red streak fury of eyes, heard his voice breaking
over phlegm? cracked lips bleeding mad blessings,
fingers jumpy with nicotine hunger and cured with tar
and sun and too much shit. the glory of alcohol soaked BO,
loose change bottle pacts and found butts with something left.
Don't you know we are an idealized creation?


2
show me your heaven, the collected reliquaries
of crippled silver, not for an eternity but
more than a glance at an empty cup.


let me know your hands, the bones
of every finger, as you envelop the blind
gold shape of it, counting out the promises
of your ascension.


let me hear the prayers whispered, your tongue
an instrument for the gods you keep. The incessant
desolation of their need written upon you



. 

respite

no truer cathedral than the light's
soft radiance through the vaulted
reach of trees. the unexpected weight
of tranquility, a green nave to wander.
shadows shiver with the hymns
and industry of those more permanent.
I am allowed a temporary reconciliation
before being lost again among men



. 

the first morning of August

the first morning of August
was already dark; another
season slips out of hand.
the trees settle in to
shake off their leaves.
gold for the fire waiting
in the vestibule while
sparks of memory gather



.

lie still

lie still and allow the sun to shine.
give the wind its rest, all the directions will wait.
breathe now belly to belly with the swell
of the dirt and grass.
let me count
the hairs falling down the small of your back
with forgetful lips always starting over 



. 

path

an exit wound at ten thousand
frames a second. the playback of one
cell exploding, a flower of
mitochondria and DNA blooming
through the coarse of years.
a body persists in its habits


the shade of your words and the slippery
cool of your tongue easily ignited.
fluorine and ground glass, impossible
reagents to hold what is left. Cindered,
there is less of me than remembered.


I hollow my bones into a semblance of flight.
Cross my fingers, cross my path, bridge any
measure of the distance between desires.
the stars point in every direction at once
how can you pretend they guide anyone?



.

consumed

we lower ourselves into
our consumption. the blood
of time spills from drunk
mouths. the easy words
meaningless in their abundance
until tongues grow knives
and cull the weak. lead me
by the handles of desire
to know the death that is offered,
the blinding of self in an animal
of limitless color 



.