Vega

I lay back in the grass...

Oh that summer 

70 degree scent...

Gazing up at the night sky...

slowly disconnecting 

from our planet 

Levitating

Rising

past the fleeting fireflies...

...the tired night flights

heading to Europe 

Constellations...

mysteries

of the night 

My eyes are

invariably drawn

to Vega...

I'm not really sure why....

maybe it's the fact

that at just 25 light years away

it's one of our closest neighbors..

maybe i love the fact that 

the light that I now see

departed during the heady 

summer nights...of '92...

when I was all of 18

a carefree boy....

sitting at a fire

The light

of my unburdened smile....

just reaching vega 

......tonight

.

Is this....where I end?

My fingers 

they trace my skin...

the contours of

my matter....

the borderlands 

of life and air...

or bed....or

...you

clearly defined

Six feet...

one inch

I reach outward...

as far as I can

as if to ask...

is this it?

is this where I end?

and begin

does my consciousness...

storm....the wall

of skin..

are my thoughts

piled up...thousands high

at the ramparts 

yearning to break free?

is this where I end?

does my love

not 

touch you?

do my words 

not send a chill

down your spine?

.

.

the last leaf…
never seems to fall
always a few
….shivering holdouts
hanging on
all blustery winter

ever since o henry…
and his dumb idea
of hitching
a human life..
to a dying leaf…
no leaf wants to
take that chance…
would you
…...want that
on your
….conscience?



.

hazard lights

.


theres a soft spot in my heart

for that little used button

in every car..with the red
triangle…

that button

takes me back

to when I was a boy

and I’d play in my fathers car

the old brown impala

where you could roll down the window

with the power off

and the only thing that worked

with the engine off

was that hazard button

gosh…both lights would blink

and my imagination would

take me places…lord knows where

but my smile was ear to ear

as I opened and closed em

and turned the wheel 

a few centimeters

if I pulled 

…...hard enough

.

anima

.

like a wild horizon

serengeti…wild windswept

grass….

our souls…our egos

hiding….stalking

alert

…hearts pounding

fear….the bongo beat

of this land(e)scape

…..fear

rules the jungle

ears perked

….ready to run

head down…

ready to pounce

…ready

to sink teeth into 

your neck

…until you submit

completely

..to soothe my hunger

I don’t want to

…..sta

rve

(ever notice..how

animal parents abandon their young

as soon as they can walk on their own…

….they cannot bear the shame..)

my antelope ego…

..so afraid

running

…running

endless running

I live..

because

I’m afraid

…to die

and they sit there

in their plush chairs

…watching me on giant

Imax screens

and James Earl Jones

is…telling my story

…and it hurts

because I’m right there

in the audience

..and theres no where

to run

…and no one

to tear apart

in the sterile silence

and suddenly

the giant screen..rips open

and the serengeti comes aLIVE

…and the animals are running

everyones running

….for their friggin lives

and I’m in my element

in ways…

no one can understand

fear rules the anima

once again

war..love….life

money…luxury…fame

Its all

FEAR

under all the suits..and smiles

the beauty….and the lipstick

..the ties..and ropes

the buildings and spires

cocky in the sky

….

lies….the serengeti

of anima

you and me

stalking

each other

in the

…tall grass

highway love/hate

.


a quick 75 mile per hour glance

…tells a tale of faceless camaraderie

our children

..both honor students

we both cheer for the Devils

and love our Apple products

…and we both would like to

restore the shore

But…right now

there’s no one on earth

that I HATE as intensely as you

…how DARE you

CUT ME OFF

…you BASTARD!

.

words

.



words

little words

little messengers

of thoughts, emotions and feelings

so unreliable…

I pack my deepest…

..emotions 

the ones that fill my universe

with light and dark

…with pain

and euphoria

I pack them onto your

syllables and consonants

..your rounded and pointy backs

(how do you pack thoughts...
as large as the universe and as intense
as love..onto such meager little things?)

and deliver them to you

not knowing 

...how they’ll arrive

not knowing how 

..theyll be unpacked 

in yours

oh words

pathetic little messengers

of thought

..emotion and feeling

…you’re all I have

.