sweet temporary

look at what you have
instead of what keeps leaving you
look at what you have
instead of what keeps leaving, leaving, leaving

they published the look you have her
printed an infinite edition
she'll scrub the price tag off
to reveal a clear rendition

of the love you breathed into her
on the counter tops in the kitchen
the pots and pans all watched
for the recipe of your kisses

look at what you have. . .

picking through the pawn shop
of your dusty thoughts
the film reels of your mind
are fearing dry rot

sir, i give and breathe
only for the one eye on top
like me, like me, like me or not

i'm down on heavy knee
take my family
please take all i see
sweet temporary

land locked fishes

he rode his dark horse across the open face sea
to the dolomite cliffs and the olive branched trees
in a rayon button down, pants rolled at the knee
saddle bags full, blueprints between his teeth

with sea as their haven
a liquid barricade
they separately waded
on opposite sides of the waves

king trit on
tried in spite
of the distance
to pull the two together
to rally the one eyed witness
to dredge up the rotten bodies of
the long forgotten ships
to bring the inner winds to emptiness
to resubmerge
the land locked fishes

salt soaked cliffs

________________________________photo christina poindexter

africa retracted her landlocked kiss
from the top of spain's
salt soaked cliffs
she said this closeness will be missed
dividing the seas with our isthmus bliss

he rode his horse hazily
through her tuliped field
hair pulled long, tossing the shield
that had weeded out the warriors
from the peaceman's passive yield
that shelled his vulnerable skin
from the hitman's shady deal

purging the poison
time turns the wheel
nothing here is real
nothing here is real

so slip back dear
slip back dear
the inevitable procession
of a fading mirror

africa retracted her land locked kiss

drink me instead (for ryan)

i'm finally home to find your bones
like a dropped receiver hung from its phone
the devil used the valves of your heart
to play blindfolded darts

all the furniture is pie shaped
all the furniture has been rearranged
like a bull's eye wandering off
we throw all our coins to hopeless lost causes
like a bulls eyes wandering off
we throw all our coins to hopeless,
hopeless lost causes

i'm the mark of the maker
the maker's kindest mark
engraving your paper
probing into your dark

do me a favor
don't piss on my bark
keep your lucid eyes
keep your lucid

throw out my back
rip my best skirt
you were sober when i left
the hot face of your furnace

tracing your closed eyes
the tilt of your skull's lead
the sogginess of your holy bread
i climbed inside your bottle
hoping you'd drink me instead

you'd pass out just the same
from love's shot to your brain
you'd pass out just the same
from love's shot to your brain

i'm the mark of the maker
the maker's kindest mark
engraving your paper
probing into your dark

do me a favor
don't piss on my bark
keep your lucid eyes
keep your lucid

elbows and toast

going home with the sofa ghost
escorting me home like a crumbling coast
your path smells like the towns proud roast
locking elbows, they lift a toast

begging for mercy, bleeding out the nose
bar code forhead, sent like the king's post
no one's laughing at your jokes
no no one's laughing at your jokes

gold nugget in your hand, which do you value most?
the savvy satisfaction of sparkling shapes
or the sages see-through prose?

walking home with the sofa ghost
escorting me home like a crumbling coast
its The One i make love to most
love to most
elbows and toast

chaperone

light your cigarette to the east
and blow your lung in my direction
surfacing on your skin
like an unidentified infection

rusting your cheeks red like
an unplanned erection
i'm all over
and i hope

you've licked every bottle
and found the same taste
you're rolled and rebounded
and found it a waste
because you don't know what you've got here
no you don't know what you've got here

there are two warm bones strumming guitars
i climbed into your bed this morning
a few hours after you collapsed
in from the bar sober

and wearing the monks robes
i slipped my hand under your clothes
and reached in and took hold
and i hope you know
i hope you know
it's not everyday
that frames of flesh
burn open and glow

there's a kind force playing chaperone
binding our wrists
sucking out toes
you know It knows
you know we know
we know You know
we show it

catch this cloud

papa gonna make you proud
give the guys at the station
something to talk about

momma's gonna cry out loud
give the ladies at church
something to chirp about

brother gonna catch this cloud
the locker room boys'll
snap their towels around

and with the royalties
we'll live like royalty
buy an elephant and take it town
quiet our minds, stop roaming the streets
earn emerald eyes for our cardboard crowns

papa gonna make you proud
your little girl's gonna grow up
and find her place in the crowd
giving sound
we scrub the blood off the floors
when no one's around

the wind picks up
the sky breathes in
guard your feet
and plant your ground

hold up your wishes
to the blinding sun
a golden light
to match you gown

lord i'm gonna make you proud
give the stars in your heavens
something to blink about
lord, gonna catch this cloud