St. Peter’s Reward

...and there is 

Peter manning 

the gate,

never permitted to

join in.

Within my head

I’d like to be a bird

singing 

but only 

when it has 
something to say.

Holding Hands 2

His pants cuffed up grazed rippled glass

her skirt teased the waters edge.

Their calves cooled in the shallows, 

while bees were lured 

up the tulip poplar’s blouse.

Holding hands

The desert marigold

holds nothing back!

I was there

Kiss, kiss.

I was there with each 
inquisition.

I was the witch, monarch, 
priest.

I was the guy under the hood 

with 

a freshly ground gleaming axe

aiming 

to lift myself & the infidels 

closer 

to that bastard St. Peter 

at 
his pearly gated hell.

How?

How can youth comprehend

an old man’s writings? Where

bone no longer stacks on bone

and eyes water day and night

and grief is his nagging wife.

Universal Knowledge

There is only so much

juice in an orange, yet

I insist that the same

orange give me ketchup 

too.

Pick an Emotion

It’s raining; like a 

factory raised turkey 

I looked up to taste 

the holy gift, only 

to drown myself.

Relationship

There are these small

yellow pomp-pomp 

flower clusters that hum,

and there are the bees

quick as caffeine

that covet them.

(2011)

Asking

What does

the dragonfly

spell against

a blue sky?