Sunday, November 2, 2008

Practicing Perth

Ever green grass
blanketing the fields
soft for lying, recovery

I dream,
not so much of resting
in the meadow
in the coolness
of the damp and dew

But, beside the cool water
gently holding
(along with the amoeba)
the Infinite.

Looked Like Valentine's Day

Cardialgia

for Luigi

Were your lips not pierced by breath
Or mark and madness tattooed upon your face
I might have thought you a Ken doll

The way your hands are cupped and caught
The way you gather goods pinched in lobster claws
And scoop like salad tongs the chattels of your life.

Emerging in three dimensions
As mimicked model, half your age
Intellectually fecund, dashingly dapper

Steadfastly determined to face another day
Ceasing yet to smile upon the world
To save one less heart from breaking.

Crocodile Hunter

for Lane

When Steve Irwin died
People were really sad
“What a shame,” they said.

But I did not see it that way.

How many of us have ever
Wrestled a crocodile?

Or thought not to tame
But observe in awe
Our wild being.

Thirst

If friendship were a litmus test
Sam’s would have a pH of 7

Like water, he is neutral:
Clear
Cohesive
Vital

Eulogy for Intimacy

For Rebecca

You were about to toss the carcasses of lifeless feline,
when you hesitated momentarily, before the pre-approved disposal
To deliberate the black bagged bodies, navigating their aerial trajectory

Just as a thousand found objects, used and abused,
for pleasure or pain or unsightly, over-achieving hair follicles
What is the meaning of one life observed?

And the life of lab cats? Born to mother’s with dreams and destinies
Destines maybe only Darwin judges defensible; but motives, nonetheless.

If you paused to reflect upon cats whose service was more in death than in life, would you also contemplate one moment of my existence? Could you not see the soul’s light of your friends and family, in all its fallible ways and tendencies?

Could you grant us one passing thought before our misrepresenting bodies—impersonators of our souls—serve to nourish the earthworm or the lilac.

Dream of Red Lentils




Snuggling in glass jar

Carbon copied
Versions
Anticipating the same fate

brothers and sisters
kindred spirits
soul mates

Wait