to buddhists' widows

to buddhists' widows

"why am i awake today?"
, he thought. he caught
himself being so typical:
a finally born procrastinator
by birth - had a full head of hair,
& was making plans already for
events he was unlikely to attend.

"I'm depressed, let's face it."
which moments cursed him?
which questions inhibited him?
why was he tying his shoe
at a bus stop rather than
being trampled by the bus?
the crows laugh to themselves.

& in the end
he had to wait
his whole life
to write his
autobiography.

& ALL OF THIS WHILE THINKING OF YOU

& ALL OF THIS WHILE THINKING OF YOU

creaking out w/ the boards,
the floor keeps its promise.

I’m leaning all ways down steps til'
sneakers meet w/ cold autumn stone.

a flash

& then sight w/ adjusted eyes

light, so unnatural; orange gloom hanging
lazy, heavy down from tall bowing lamps,
a dim mist among its list of patrons.

it’s late & people are surely not
just now getting home from work,
but cars are out, on the prowl.

they're scuttling down side streets,
sucking up gravels bits
& spitting them out, looking for
a driveway to call home.

a slim grey cat scampers, eyes closed,
into shadow & stalls.

sometimes the Fall
is all types of fantastic,

a rush,

blush colors
on leaves & on leaving

tell winky i said "hi winky"

tell winky i said "hi winky"

my eyes for you,
there.

contract kept
upright, intact,
like a character map.

still vibration
is matching,
still upon one
we're painting.

but there's
a blank portrait.

and there's
a stone rose.

and there's a low profile; a sunken silhouette.

if phone booths hadn't become extinct,
I imagine we'd be in ours' right now,
from spots across towns, shouting loud
w/ our pauses, charged 85¢ per minute.

love of labor

love of labor

after she asked
when he spoke

his answer was
questioned

a single, low
reverberation
from a recoiling crowd
of one was enough, it
paralyzed him, he,
her, it, them.

a misplaced kazoo in the atmospheric mix.
a skeletal leaf's crunch under frozen shoe.
a comfort groan in those early wordless hours
from a christ on the cross kind of stretch.

any other sound
preferable to that:
a sound answer to
his own question.