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YOU’LL NOT BE ALONE
someone
has to calm you down
or all your rolling
all your tumbling might
could lift the whole
trembling earth
so the sea meets, enfolds
throne and gutter
and hundreds
hundreds of curtains
the draw and the close
open too many
feel every bellow
of heat and burning light
and wind yet to unfold
you will stand across
the water on your own
but you’ll not be alone
you’ll not be alone
you’ll not be alone
you’ll not be alone
you’ll not be alone
you’ll not be alone
WATCHING FOR SHIPS
i knew cause
i was there
and i know cause
i’m still there
watching for ships
looking for food
dangling
two rotten shoes
given a chance
washed on the beach
a little life
then back to the sea
to be lost in the waves
a well of your ink
where i crane my neck
to kiss your face and
sink, sink, sink, sink
sink, sink, sink, sink
WHERE?
why
are you crying
i am crying
cause i’m cooking with you
in your house
with your paintings around
under the bows
with the snow melting down
on the kitchen floor
with my hands in my lap
and my head in my hat
the one with the flaps
where are you hiding
i am hiding
behind a crumbling rock
breathing slow
air hot and dry
reimagining the ride
so you come into sight
and i hear you cry:
where are you
where are you
for the first time
and how will it happen
it will happen
beside running water
with my hands in my lap
and my head in my hat
it will happen
when you ask
where are you
where are you
in all of this
INTO THE YARD
who chose
this anchor hold
a living room
for an altar stone
i stumble out
into the yard
the water up
on a sandbar
as all my lengths of holy imperfection unspool
bobbing in the waves of nighttime
drool and knowing you
and i make my camp as quick as i can
i make my camp, i make my camp
every house
looking down
up on the hill
in a ring around
off with the lights,
he’s coming out
watch carefully now
watch carefully now
as all my lengths of holy imperfection unspool
bobbing in the waves of nighttime
drool and knowing you
and i make my camp as quick as i can
i make my camp, i make my camp
one thing still
unseen
ON ONE FOOT
a huge explosion in the middle of the city
and glazing eyes
and me inside
looking out from my blue whale’s mouth
of a house
through baleen blinds
a lost freighter has its own
terrible moan
oh-oh-oh
a shipwreck has its howl
of no way home
oh-oh-oh
on one foot
unready
for a death nearby
unready
someone unheard
turning now to speak
on one foot
unready
BIG BOOK
kneeling on the library floor
totally taken apart
over a big old picture book
a shell midden and some ancient art
and now on the courthouse lawn
sobbing into my hands
pulling up fist on fist of grass
so i disappear the land
so i, so i, so i
dis-a-pear the land
split open standing naked
with that book i could never find
and you (whose face is shining)
right beside
so i, so i, so i
dis-a-pear the land
DIMMING
i was dimming in the grass
caught in an old young hand
picked up, carried, shown around
so of course i lose my grip
and down
a moth that’s got to raise a wing
still wet from being born
this is it, we end up here
kneeling by the woodstove, me, you, and mom
in tears
being led
into a trap
on a little table full of sand
handed each a
raincoat
and told
walk right through
PRE-DAWN.
up a barely melting
mountain…. with
you and some bread you
made… wondering
who else is awake
predawn collapse
predawn collapsing at the top
i could smell a cold wind
behind me
following me down, across
the river into town
hiding in coat pockets
escaping in the house
and living there for a while
winter’s first exile
so i lie down with this, so i hear it on the roof
so i close my eyes, like i always do (and with me…)
a great idea on
horseback … but
not horseback like that (no galloping)… i mean
asleep riding through cold
blowing desert dunes
i remember the long night’s ride ending
or believing that it had
face down in the mane
still holding the reigns
and when i finally got to town, without understanding how
i climbed carefully down
predawn collapse
predawn collapsing
KEEP YOUR SOLITUDE
i’m not listening
i’m not listening
cause when i need it i will have
a little weight to hold
carry tired old me
down to the river floor
where i will meet a hand
and it will look something like yours
but older
and more sure
keep your solitude
keep your solitude
rollin out my window
and right into the brook
hello cold moving water
i am feeling just my size
and i can hear my brother
crying
somewhere behind
keep your solitude
keep your solitude
LIFE AS A MARBLE
in my short life as a marble
i become very aware
of the edges of things
and the top of the stairs
i get to know your hand
like i’ve always wanted to
the blood and the palm
and the line running through
and now i’m passed along
and left to hold my feet
i wait and i wait
patiently
and i’m brought to the bridge
where a person lost her life
a whole new kind of edge
and another right behind
and down into the water
soon sharing the gleam
you say it’s like reunion
washed right off the beach
and now i’m passed along
and left to hold my feet
i wait and i wait
patiently
HUMAN RAINSTICK
i was born
in an orange
nowhere near heartbroken
outer atmosphere
and i have always known
that i am little more
than a human rain stick
i tip and i tip
full up to my eyes
with ancient cherry pits
i tip
and i tip
and what are we to do
when the porcupine
quits playing along
we want one more song!
and how can you hold your head
with the screaming weight of lead
following faithfully
i was born
in an orange
nowhere near
heartbroken outer atmosphere
face to face
quiet and still
and noise and heat
pressin down like they will
one to hold
one to hold the bulb
and two to turn
the ladder
right until you fall
far into
FACE TO FACE
quiet and still
noise and heat
pressin down like they will
one to hold
one to hold the bulb
and two to turn
the ladder
right until you fall
far into
face to face
once again
the great blue fish
finds me in my bed
WARMING MY WING
they’re out in the yard
holding him down
they opened his chest
took something out
bright white bowl of snow
washing clean what you won’t
i watch you fill up with sky
and i fill up with glue
a cloud has come
and mopped up the flood
and everything you lost
it’s held in a milky glove
carried far from home
over wreckage and rubble
but look at that, the day is whole
and i see brattleboro
i am warming my wing
LAST LIVING TASTEBUD
tomorrow morning
firing squad
and i need my sleep
if i’m to dodge
water carried
so far up
spilling over
from the cup
and spit right out
up over town
this is standing in the wreckage
this is standing in the wreckage
and now we’ve burned
burned the tongue
the very last living
tastebud
and spit right out
up over town
this is standing in the wreckage
this is standing in the wreckage
STRAW POKING THROUGH
i know
the walk is not so hard
the really tough part
is starting out
and yeah
after all this rain
after all the water
filling up my drain
i can still feel the straw
poking through
i can still feel something in my shoe.
and i could use your help right now
and i could use your help right now
and so
so you know the difference
i will teach you the sound
and you will let me down
and hey
did you know
you share a name
you share a name
and i can still feel the straw
poking through
i can still feel the heat
coming from you