listed

waterlines followed the incline
stop signs over white stripes
cracked tar filled cracks
acceleration pushed back into vinyl
bright sight in tinted glass
radio ads chattered
pacified strip malls
pasteurized marquis titles
simple leaves decayed in the gutter side

child sized hips and chipped strollers
car dents and mint paint jobs
black stone roads prone to ripple
no sidewalks, only light curbs
curved with organic limitation
withholding dirt and leafy intrusions
tires rolled on undecided
holding to steering wheels
power lines crisscrossed against gray cotton

mold dust swirled by driveway push brooms
moved to booming sky explosions
cars clustered at the red line
zoomed by the rv monolith
a scuffed Arby's neon missing the 'y'
food wrappers, styrofoam bushes
title pawns flashing dollar signs
magnification revealed green faults
designed to crumple under impact

shoulder clicks and bobbing necks
near wrecks by flares and flashing blue
life-sized blow up dolls selling used cars
trips to the far hill on saddles and bar stools
cool breezes after numb winters
telling me why to think when to think it
set pieces, turning points
alarm clocks struck dumb
dioramas divided by ropes and slow drinks

personal vectors intersected fender benders
snapshots cut into inconsequential sequences
words typed in endless parallels
as patterns fell from the sky.

I have a nothing box

You cleared out your things
Anonymous cardboard
Permanent reminders
Labeled black letters
Your last will
Washed dishes stacked in the rack
Drying shiny flowers

Dust motes float by the lamp
Sub-freezing frost clouds outside
My arrival blows condensation
Carpets rolled aside
Tied with twine
Tidy dry tongues

Daylight stumbles
As dark hues stick and slide
Bare walls, hardwood footsteps
You sweep the last of your memory
Kitchen cleaning
Pine oil, plastic buckets

Silence is a cracked vase
Placed in the bin
With book titles
Perfume bottles
Down feathers
Holed socks
Q-tips
Dust

The rusted gate speaks one last time
And freezes shut
Perfect outlines
Preserved in the empty album

hungry

dry fried chicken devoured in foil
incisors tear, molars grind
sounds of crunching smacking
a ritual by hours salivating
oily fingers, old thirsts

our first kiss, the hallway watched,
your mom's berkeley bungalow
sniffed old joints and plaster
hollow signs of parenthood
on the three light projection tv

you punched i kicked
sibling struggles before breakfast
mothers, whores, sisters
all spectators
hoarse cheering

hardened edges of fingers, feet
now cut to the chase
chopping motions walk
the corner liquor store
destined to be numb

i chew
i swallow

time warp

brick monochrome make-outs
70s thighs, drumstick beats
fumbles in the back of Vauxhalls
fine times rolling fags, smoking crowns
stolen highs in the upper downs
highballs, pints, cheap wine
time to spend collared years waiting
to evolve beyond wife-beaters and clotheslines
pretzel sticks and savouries
smeared with sleepless nights
worn corridors blighted
smoldering days to their butt ends
red eyes hotwired
seaside salts and croaking gulls
sand and endless cold sea
horizons like dotted lines
perforated
torn by love
and spray
and the daydream of sky.

drive by

bang
the poem is shot
magazine ink spots
dykes with spoons
ragtime ice cream
carbon dust
barnacles
hairpins
lists
endless lists

the end of poetry

my head is a blue plastic bucket
stuck in space on a spinning rock
it catches what it can in a downpour
and in dry times it gapes
a patient exclamation
"O"