which is exactly what i would have done
if i were wearing your fuzzy hospital socks
and i would have seen God in the buzzy
fluorescents just as you did
the NICU grows legs and sprints right
off the edge of the known world as
something unbecomingly upbeat plays
in the waiting room where i’m dreaming
about having lost the whole country’s mail
can you turn the letters into numbers
before the poem turns to dust
the cipher sand is the color of
lost hairs just about to turn to lint
sunlight breaks things down to
their smallest parts
before it wears off we need
to figure out a way to wear it out
pluck ripe ones from the garden
and just stick them wherever
not like anyone’s watching
lately i can’t make contact
making faces out of silly putty
pinching noses from flat planes
i want to tell you but it slides
invisible shroud of hard air
your spirit’s got no footholds
mud and careful measurement
take everything from you
my eyes, i’m so ashamed
where did you go this time
doing difficult parabola math
is it really possible for two
blind blimp pilots to fall
in love without dereliction
of their dirigible duties? i am sad
and i want you bumping
into me in the dark, because
there’s nothing more honest
than an honest mistake
on nights when lids won’t shut we might be unlucky to see
the ceiling looks so still it must be swirling secretly
a picture show of all the eyes with tears we did make bleed
the curtains gape wide open scorning all our desperate pleas
next to us a lover sighs while sleeping peacefully
she knows not what was wrought and if she did might think to leave
you see, we’ve lost some ancient fight
and though stealth into sleep we might
no dream could be so gentle as to break our fall tonight
the bins of sins we drag around are why we’ll never fly
we thought we could skate by on the grace of our good design
fling our old suitcases out of windows miles high
the mirror shows us wings wrecked beyond any setting right
it hurts to be far from the place we thought we’d rightly die
and so we drip vain tears onto dull motel bathroom tile
you see, this time the bad guys won
this time the world has come undone
when she wakes will it surprise her that her lover’s cut and run?
we step on each other’s toes
we bump our heads on doors
we say such cruel cruel words
let’s be slimy undersea creatures
let’s never be angry again
we’ll trade our clothes for fins and scales
and know we won't regret a thing
we could be sharks or dogfish
you’d make a killer octopus
let’s get marine jobs
part-time kelp harvester
assistant coral cleaner
they’re hiring everywhere
sandbar tender and school teacher
daredevil trawler teaser
let’s be simple gilled friends
let’s never be angry again
shoulder shapes fit in complicated ways
lips and noses you can mash together however
if pillows talked i don’t think we’d spare a feather
even two nice people can’t make it two days
you see, a house fire’s a chance to start over
i saw you with your sunglasses and your rings
a horse hair away from tomorrow’s big strings
we can hold hands while the furniture smolders
let’s take a trip to the primordial chasm
we can bring our gadgets and gather the facts
the sons of safe science will dish out beatings
when we find magic animal tracks
a lot of people care about pet opinions
most calendars come with pre-loaded holidays
maybe we’re all just looking for excuses
to like each other more than we’re allowed
in many american households
the father never says a single word
the mother’s waiting to be rescued
hanging on to cliche for dear life
the fort worth news helicopter crashed
into the mayor’s shiny new coupe
