Gone

I knew him by heart

like you know a favorite old

song … you just sing along

he loved to lay in the

basket of dirty clothes

sometimes when I kissed him

he’d bite my nose

not for spite, just get too close

we didn’t even know

there was anything wrong

and there she was sayin’

“he’s gone”

lay him down on the table

his body limp, in my pajamas

I drove him there

 all just a jumble of fear of

tears of

years all gone in a single

word …

She was springtime

all happy all funny

my bunny cat

she was crocuses & charms

she used to knead on my arm

while I’d read,

she was so alive

right up to the

second she died

“she’s gone” I said to the

vet and she said

“yes”

I watched the life leave her

eyes that night-

mare nightmare

word …

the one I will never

forget that I heard.

 (So Much For) Cupid

“What’s all the fuss about” she says

“it’s just another day.”

The florists, the jewelers, the restaurateurs

they make out like bandits …

at least it’s good for commerce.

Pink paper-wrapped boxes

where you put the hankerings of your heart,

rosy expressions of romance,

purpled professions of passion … ardor … amour. Love!

All because of a little naked guy with wings

who goes around shooting arrows of infatuation

into anyone susceptible to that sort of thing.

So, while the rest of the population

is experiencing the joy of … dinner for two …

I think I’ll sit this one out in my pajamas, eating chocolate and intercepting arrows.

Ghost Lover

He comes to me at night in my bed

I can see in the dark

He sends out his own little spark

He takes me

where I long to be led.

He tells me that I’m like a dream come true

He’s my paradise found    So good to be around

He shows me what to believe in, too.

And I’m haunted by the images

of his flesh over mine

Undaunted by the dim nudges

familiar to his kind

He’s flying home to me tonight

he reads my mind

He’s dying for what he needs tonight

one hundred thousand times

I can’t wait to conjure him into view

He’s a soul without a home

I’ll save him from eternity alone …

He’s just another apparition of you.

 Various Smaller Poems (each stanza is a separate work)

Lured to magic faces

Cages of chaos

And a restless captive paces

Prisoner …

My fancy comes to mate.

Gold bangles

My floorboards creak out

Steamy

Sweaty imaginings in vain –

Not my time to be

Kissed.

Strawberries whispering sweet desires

Eyes and stars

Defenseless against moonlight

Spread your love down

Night ground

Innocence died happy.

Married in black   Hysterical embrace

This bitter nuptial tears me in two

And I have no desire to be

Anesthetized.

Smiling, you behold me

Wine-stained

And high time

While I /wipe my lips

And you/ lick the devil in bed.

Night suckles its urges

Restless roses

Dizzy streams of petals

Mad winds are catching

A honey pulse …

I am captured.

Conversations, intoxications

Just a hint of imagination

The lovely dream of my existence

Disguised as me.

He slinks out the door

To wake up the street

And eighty-six morning limbs behind him

Invisible man

All gone.

Winter chilled whiteness

Creeps into my head

Snow shimmering

Once stark, now dazzling …

November is forgiven.

Brushing snow from my hair

Wrenched

From winter’s shoulders

 …Tears away the heart …

A lovely birthing.

February is leaving me a snow junkie

Yearning in coffee-scented entrances to breathe

More than shivers on my sleeve.

Everything bright less silhouette thoughts

Snow blaze

Comes down in silver circles

Gleaming pearls

I am watching

Drunk on snow.

Frosted faces laugh

I saw her

Shall I stop the siege of green?

Now who forgets

No    sang the breeze.

Sun soft, you left me

A smile across my heart

That, and petals glistening …

Even the roses are weeping.