avid

my friend broke a string
during a furious set of music

and managed to change it
while the blood flowed thru his skull

in such dexterity and facility i were amazed
and still was.

and still, was.

world war sheep

we pull the wool over our eyes, W. W.

the wool pulls our eyes over our ayes, W. W.

W.W. spools the school over our sighs, aye aye.

W.W. schools the wool. i eye.

joinery

nothing in common. not brands of soap, nor church affiliation,
not genetics, nor heaven forbid, the roadmap used

to find the way home. they don't have homes; not Common
homes. their hearths are made of gold, ours: of crap.

their food is different, their speech on another plane, their
mice are docile and don't carry diseases: they sing.

nothing in common. born with eight hands for the taking,
six mouths to be fed while the others wield swords, of gold,

they shed not blood when vanguished, but a sap-like goo that's good on pancakes.
their children are all smiles their soups never burn

they are so unlike us, we have nothing in common.
they pimp us and we pimp ourselves: big difference.

nothing in common, nothing in common. i wonder why we only have
a couple thousand nothings on our side?

the less common, the more crowded nothing seems.

going dutch

the longbook of your body
has published a new windmill to

lash the tendons of country breezes
circulating across our skin

as we share a bed& sort of
ecosystem of dreampeaces

only broken by relevant longings
which top the spillways

to join us side by side in blustery winds
of harmony, sunlight

digressing in octaves
in our whirling soul scooping limbs



swale canyon, washington 1997

the great thaw

when'll she crest
take rest
flunk flood's test
quit being a pest to us critters

gotta hike to the shitter
rain or snow
when'll she cease to grow i dunno

but the pipes have thawed
i'm overawed
as the dishes cleanse
at the blush of a trickle



swale canyon, klickitat washington, 1996

heroic to ignore

mazda clan transportation unit
no make it up to haleakala crater, so back

down thru the cloudroof
past downhill biketour hang-gliders

perched to coast when stop
suddenly happens

amidst sunday droves lapping
at sun commodity it in turn taking a lap

around the parking area bejeweled
with beachglass, left from

years of guzzling apes, swirled
and pounded against tidepool's womb

they hit the shore much
as newborn turtles scuttling to avoid

gull swoop, or stagnant comforts of
hometown momentumlessness

insulated buzz cycles obviously
heroic to ignore



maui 1993

wobbly in the spin

with strength bent by watered sunlight
the heaviness lakes leave.

in their stead, remains persuade.
integral harmonies extrapolate upon immediate patterns

corresponding with spanish guitar.
ocean eats land to lose itself by winning over the opposition

bedrock. win over the cosmic bang while yer at it!
time molds and decays seasoned edges ripe

for return; slime begins soil of heaven's design.
plants emanate from the banks,

animals in their secret realms unharried by humans
create bluefoot prints, writing starry oaths

within each tread. a bath in heated stone
traced to the mantle of the magma opus

central to the spin




the dalles, 2006