Poem-A-Day #325 : On the Evening Before the Inauguration of the 45th President of the United States

On the Evening Before the Inauguration of the 45th President of the United States

The cold has sat on my face - holed up
in the caves of my sinuses

I sleep - wake
sit with the cat
an endless stream of movies runs by

I feel as though I am waiting for someone to come home

I have strange sentimental thoughts about an ex-boyfriend
and almost text him
but do not - and this proves something

I fall asleep and miss the sunset - it is the night and it is cold outside
the snow from last week melts and turns into mud

I found a patch of rust on the hood of my car this morning
a pock or orange-red amid the green - it is rough to the touch
it is probably spreading - I think about ways to patch it

Are there patches

I noticed that the cat is walking stiffly - that
age is creeping in him

Age is creeping everywhere

I math - I will be 39 in 2020 - the cat will be 17
will possibly not be here - will have turned into glass

On the eve of my 40th birthday will I know where I am

There is a progression of things - I told my class today
write towards the future
because whatever you write will date the second it is done
and the future needs you in ways the present does not

A moment of folding occurs

Tonight the world will go to sleep and I will not set an alarm
at 9:30 in the morning things will occur that I will not see
paths before us will have quietly lessened - and multiplied

Poem-A-Day #106 : After Isn't What We Were Promised (An Apocalypse)

After Isn't What We Were Promised (An Apocalypse)

skin is sticky :

there is a tear-stained face and a lot of dirt under your nails

               it's hard to imagine them clean :

the breeze is oddly motionless

sky the color of dirty wash water : if there were rain :

IF there were rain :

it would feel like bathwater

this is not to imply that all is lost :

                                                      though :

this is summer : or a facsimile of it :
there are only facsimiles :

you watch the video of the end again : a pixel is blanking on your device :
it is a tiny white eye : it wants to blink into color :
it is blind :
it knows its limitations and dunces

how many metaphors for 'that was the end and we knew it' can we find in one youtube video :

in the video a man stares into an abyss of water :

                                           water :

                                           a lost thing :

and then there is a cough : simple :

a reflex of the esophagus :

and then there is blood :

you know those zombie movies have it all wrong :

there is so little running : so little ability to run :

and to where :

that building over there where some people are also starving and dehydrated

or the one over there that's burnt to cinders

and what to do once you're there : sit in the brokenness : cry :

you don't have tears

Poem-A-Day #91 : Cole-Prophet

Cole-Prophet

It will happen suddenly - you will be walking
the sky will be blue and so clear - and the path
will be so very easy -

Across your path - a mass of monarch butterflies
their orangeness - paper burning in a fireplace -
they will beat about you until your lines erase -

And your body will cease to be -

Poem-A-Day #34 : Quilt for April 2 2016

Quilt for April 2 2016

On the last day of March it begins to snow + it continues into April + that line about black boughs + cruelty echoes across the New Mexico landscape like a dirt devil full of tumbleweeds

I ask the woman behind the counter what I want there’s a silence between us that would be hilarious if it wasn’t insane

The pictures of the quilt across the National Mall the largest bed in the universe – rest your head on Lincoln’s lap + stare into the dome of the sky + what sort of dream is there in the circular night sky – is it a mirror of the day that happened or one of the future

Wrap the cloth around you and roll in the grass until everything is covered in green until your skin is stained with life

The week old baby is asleep + I can’t help but wish that the future is better his parents are there and we all kind of nod in agreement – it’s dark + sad + maybe inappropriate but it’s the truest thing that has ever happened