Tomorrow I'll Be Stranger

Late on Palm Sunday
in November?
                            IMPOSSIBLE
in the slop & mire 
of the larger narrative

                                              a muscle memory

like the bleached blonde with liquid eyes shim-
mering as she occupies the southwest corner of my
apprehension

                           & so across the wet
                                                concrete & iron
the hollow stone steps that
                                    lead to fog plumes & forgetfulness
dark overcast skies drill down
                                    a spit of drizzle
                                                  & the gulls fly backwards

Inside the Sound of Waves

for JEK

Sensitivity Training
The tide rolls in all
            neon-lit & trimmed with
                        chrome & abalone shell
glittering beneath a heavy
sky that
                  leans up against your mind
like a bulldozer leaning against a feather of mist

Airplane Glue
What's "real" is not seen

the magic flash of light & deviant behavior

you'll need to pick & choose...

Otherwise yes I have
among any one of our selves

C  a  l  i  f  o  r  n  i  a

Just as said the darker of the two

rippling in the sunlight

but from there to know
the hand sees what the eyes grasp

if you're listening

November 19, 2016
The little golden Buddha sits next to
            Our Lady of Guadalupe
                        on the shelf above my desk
along with a hula girl,
                        a sand dollar,
                                    a switchblade
& ALL THIS EVERY DAY
by Joanne Kyger

Exile on Beach Street

Everything is as easy as it sounds
although it may result in liver disease

            If I could remember the combination to
            the tidepools at Agate Beach would it
            even the score?

Always the minute
detail as perhaps these palm
            trees instinctively predict the apocalypse
            (do you think?)

                     & though my gods are crooked and maimed
I'm certain they must hold the clue
                                    deep red, black, silver & blue