Eclipse

the word penumbra surrounds this poem
of ink on paper during the hunter’s moon
as it is being eclipsed
all over the world stories are told
so the frog can bring it back
to health or we sing
of lunatics and birthdays
or hang the ends of thoughts
out like the brick joke
where we make toasts
to the company
and the next morning is irrelevant
now is the right time
to make a wish

Strange Fruit

This is the explanation he gave
in one evening a series of events
from far off in the shadows
a disquieting melody over years
of victimless accusation
in folklore which is poison
in breakdown of plot
i am discussing fear
in the dark lobby
i am the voice of the dead
with quotable chains
there are more of us
i am waiting to hear
my hand will always be seen

Spilt Milk

well, lucky at cards
in last minute meetings
next to stacks of unwelcome news
it’s so good to be informed
in a collage about plan accidents
i like the blue pills best
for the sinkable episodes
you can always use a text message
which leaves a single beep
that never stops me from talking
undoing in the end the conversation
everyone had without me
the trick is to change everything
while staying the same

Terms of Endearment

a Russian novel of goodbyes
its pleases and thankyous
both were just as awkward as they felt
at the rear table in the bistro
each pose a hypertext
in this ménage-a-trois with the past
buddy/pal-o-mine/crony
back to the salad days
before polite voicemail messaging
enters lunch dates in the palm pilot
returns call sheets at the office
we’ll always have paris
and exit 15 on the interstate
we’ll always have the past tense

My 21st Century

what is this faith i am keeping
late nights in aisles of pharmacies
flu and cold season muscles tighten
to chapter four in a joke book
drawn from sleepless compulsion
there is a section on family structure
and a bunch of nonsense about Columbus
in time for the morning commute
shot in the back of the head at Ford’s Theatre
an actor cried in latin
the rights we had start all over again
or elect for Canadian migration
convert to some diasporic
where to go from here

Another Shameless Plug

Hedgerow Theatre will be producing Tales From Turtle Island, by Tim Martin, as part of their children's theatre program. Using masks and music, Tales From Turtle Island brings to life Native American stories. The show runs Saturdays from Oct 9 to Nov13 at 11 am. Children's shows are $8 for everyone.

Third Act Synopsis

i am having thoughts
where i keep livestock and think of Dante
and whatever her name is
she was always known as “the woman”
and has to be portrayed in serial movies
loosely based on short fiction
she screens phone calls
and never lets the mobsters in
this is a familiar geometric pattern
in old fashioned tragic opera
where i am the one who gets killed to prove
to the audience just how serious this is
and the last twenty minutes is spent
declaring mistaken identities

High Tide

somehow this became about egrets
in the South Carolina surf
i will never understand
how folks live in this heat
i wont even bother to get
to the dragonflies and the pace they keep
in time for the weddings
with strange confessions from
whomever I saw at the reception
where a higher power can restore us to sanity
practiced in the art of misdirection
and then who knows
who may come to my own defense
in the morning after