one step

no paradigm to be shifted
no rent to collect
no dreams in your pocket
you can reroute the circuits
telepathic connections
you point your gun to the clouds
thinking heaven is against you
thinking that time will only tell
the fool from the man

you dug into the dirt
searching for the foundation
the rock you were broken on
you had scratched your initials into the lifeblood
repeating the words over and over
"pray for us sinners"

in the darkness there is light
a redemptive light
a story told deep down in your soul
about the blood and the cross
it washes over me
fills me

we do not stand alone
we are united together
by our common bonds
a thread that is so strong
a blood red thread
a small measure of hope

I have stolen your burden
placed it upon my back
to help you along your journey
we only need take, one step at a time

part of the human experience

keeping the hurt
speaking about the human
sneaking onto the field
text by the hidden ghost
she didn't mean you any harm
she covers you with her eyes
offering you a promise

 little girl
cicada shells
under the fire
toes and sand
still not dead
it is wide

stepping on pitchforks
in your vision
cigarettes and fur coats
christmas lights

keep them in the back
treat the few
trumpet sock window puppet
the curve of the road
cello all alone
on the roadside
haunting

wind
time progresses
and the spokes of romance

ignorantindifferent
blind to it all

chill out
take a break
more deals down the road
something bad happens
shout out
intimacy with the scar tissue
revel in your agony

a little shine
different lives
sharing the dope
tragedy keeps coming
this whole life
is such a big lie

feel my power
my spirit
up and down the walls
my place
the love of plastic idols
it is all so heavy

this poem has no title

i hit it on the way out, gravity pulling it down
it might break - no chance
your spinning cross, you hit it with your tennis shoe
absolute, you look green today, common people
pumping gas at the gas station on the corner, a notch in your bolt

think, getting you to think, destroy the device

I don't know it is set to go and you add so much
moving beyond simple a smiling face
cross your fingers

in the beginning - much slower - the time of our fathers
an insecure  something- waiting - not gotten their due
have you paid your dues?

great ghosts - participation - sophisticated
spoken words - Hollywood
standing in line at the car rental
bleeding into my shoes

the retinal - involved cerebral
the tide - god save - immediacy
gestalt - 15 seconds - confront
moving away - forcing yourself
Santa Monica fish

burning down the house
putting glass on it
for the light - text bill and socks
text silver eye - gone
China
the kitchen - wonderful
more text
the representatives of my bedroom
schedule a tour
take down a number

fish boxes
I have seen the piece
I know it
yes, a great piece
not seen for hours
or yours
lick the common life
lick the sweat off
vile and again absorbed
direct chat with the fire
knowing that life gets out
whiskey business
vile sheen
sunshine


sing with a solo wit
a tribute
hidden too long
for you
much larger
leaping
reaching
political and social effect
tie your shoes and wipe your nose

Look up, look down, look and reflect. reflection, illumination, the absence of light. Chalk out the outline. Draw the blood. Feel the body for a pulse. Falling trees, falling stars, we circle the wagons and shoot our guns into the darkness. There is a fear of the unknown that is solid and heartfelt. We cannot escape it.critic, white loading zone, the beeper goes off. Through the thicket of information.

old school shocker
today's headlights
staring down a deadend road
reflexive freedoms washed with your dirty socks
this is what you call America. a charge card and a plastic /jesus.
all souls are bought and sold
turn over the money tables
lets dance the blues
like romeo and juliet
across the street to see that one who can never remember your name. standing outside the scope. outside, upside-down and hanging from our toenails.
this is unofficial
this is outside the scope
lemons,
kiwi
one armed bandits only have buttons now
teach me how to gamble
how to cross the street without looking
where did you put the old hat
the one that is so good in the rain?
???
amen
the body of Christ
driven by the uncreative process
driven by the grave
driven by a hole in my shoe
downpayment
watching the late show
eight hundred miles away
the year of forgiveness
followed by the year of new crimes
dimes
a pocket full of dimes
where to buy a good cup of coffee?
the transformation of the mundane

dimes
a pocket full of dimes
where to buy a good cup of coffee?
the transformation of the mundane

dimes
a pocket full of dimes
where to buy a good cup of coffee?
the transformation of the mundane

dimes
a pocket full of dimes
where to buy a good cup of coffee?
the transformation of the mundane

dimes
a pocket full of dimes
where to buy a good cup of coffee?
the transformation of the mundane



one armed bandits only have buttons now
teach me how to gamble
how to cross the street without looking
where did you put the old hat
the one that is so good in the rain?
???
amen

buttons now
and forever more
if you be willing
scratch the itch
bang a gong
hop on one leg
baboon
bafoon
ballroom dancer
tiny dancer
microscopic dancer
a virus
a dancing virus
membrane entrance to the theater
did you vote with your head or your heart?

anonymous phone bidder, interrupted, but never broke, banners read

ok, need to walk, quiet little dance, pro-Mongolia

your drafted order, scramble, dinosaur black market

Mona Lisa akin,

offered us everything
cold spy with Detroit needle
hanging out with the final dolphin
the pages have all been turned
it is time to live those words
stop believing in silly putty slogans
it is ok to ask the hard questions
there should be answers in every world
no ufo museum sex scenes
no slaughter house confessions
take your finger off the trigger
look around you
see the light coming in through the window
this is hope whispering in your ear
there is more than your final solution
let the spirit move you
in a new direction
new feet, new fingers, new toes
put more fuel in the generator
turn up the lights so we can see in the kitchen
like a four legged evolution
supply and demand want more
attach that bullseye to the television screen
wipe the milk from your hands
curious about time
in your deathbed

fading like the wicker

I am rejecting everything
tossing handfuls out the windows
they have sewn me up
with old stitches
I am dissolving
fading like the wicker
into the other me

you have never met me before
although you think you know me well
I have stepped out of the supposed to be
into the empty and artificial
they remind me of your touch
your words that melt like wax
burning like a butler
stumbling down the street
twenty dollars at a time

you wake up in your mailbox
thinking the truth is a hoax
the way you worked me with your promises
down trusted avenues
with broken glass
broken dreams
counterfeit is my broken lip
my hands caked from hardship
to slice with a new betrayal

Willie is sawing the legs off the old dog
the bank forecloses on your love
you missed your payments
and now you are straining your god
through an old newspapar
close the door
turn out the lights
whimsical laugh
the night they drove old dixie

I sold your revolution
in the streets of Dubuque
telling the soldiers to take up arms
prepare the way
make wide the road
lay down the palms
sing sweet songs
tonight we sleep in a hollow tree

another process to be a part of
another way to see the world
to walk in the vision
combining the easy and the hard
as you spin the wheel
wondering where you left your hope

can you recognize
ugly brutes
writing off the margins
turn it down
going to hollywood
die on film
convicts
fucking cars
broken glass everywhere
there are no holes
a big fox
god damn
listen to the pieces of shit
pull over for the cop car
cat and mouse
signals
black and white memories
of the chinese theater
the crowds cheer
at the dirty sidewalk
they want to put your name there
black-hearted authority
very little room to walk on the wire
the ultimate underdog