Almost dead
fewer grains
fewest grabs
learn your trade
you had to save her back
given the gift
to return the favor
After leaving a few socks
alongside your kids
forgotten in dresser drawers
Plays out on the desert stage
Peaches have gone out of season
think of your affair
you can’t dig sand, baby
you can’t touch a cactus
you won’t see water or roots
and water won’t see you
But the children knew
you idiots,
the children knew
You should
know better
than to make
another human essential
drag this damaged anchor
plowing the sea floor
the more
I honor you
the more you
ignore
write it
gain praise
she’ll hide it
your sparkle lips
can’t sink no ships
these dead ladies
won’t tell no tales
There is no heaven
I’m in her eyelashes
her halo hair is soft and sparse
we dress in prepackaged grass skirts and fraying fabric leis
her yellow bikini matches her skin
and the grace filled sun
Aloha
Cocoa lives forever
Cocoa’s last memories are tropical
laughing with a little redhead girl with oversized glasses
Skinny and slight she was still alive in Hawaii
polite
kind
at ease in her sick
On island’s watch
Cocoa swam
Cocoa danced under palm trees
Heated wind brought us home
we wrote letters
they soon stopped
My first friend who died was
7 to my 5
Here is a placeholder
for the thoughts in your heart
for late night talks
watching the stars time out
wish they were sloths
throwing innocent dragons in the air
pretending to be monsters
now monsters we know
are really there
my arms will always hold you like my baby
pray my words are always
with you
what you need to hear
love filled
love guided
help you climb your own mountains
descend the other side
your fears are human
your heart is the biggest
comedy
suicide
heated earth
feelings with muscle
flag your worries
negativity hurts your delighted soul
we search
and search
and search
to find our smiles
find your dreams
sweet child
find your dreams
His clown makeup is rock dust and blood
They fly
we die
The luck of a boy to have just one eye smashed in
not two
We could love you
imagine their eyes closed
bones crushed so flat there are no feelings
they float
Dream of favorite foods
petting soft cats
holding babies
eating sweets
dancing
Why think of the dead
crushed,
burning,
lost to time
When you have
a keyboard
opinions
and fear!
Listening
to every star
that you only view from America
The scent of holy water
fills the street where she lives
like church every day
like amber to a girl who studies
silver statue catches spiders in the late day sun
we’re green as pollen
wind doesn’t change her
I asked for paper
she asked for records
I asked for photos
she kindly took them
if you know what confession feels like
memories of
mass on Christmas Eve
always kneeling
holding your little fist to your heart
each time the bell rings
than I know that you know
the scent of holy water and incense;
these streets of spring
How did you die?
Working, bleeding,
starving, alone?
Did you die in your heart first?
Did you dream of gold?
Was there time to race the children
to believing
lies of happiness?
How did you die?
Was it in the fields under stars singing you home?
Were you loved?
Were there other’s eyes who saw your fear
decorated in uniform
among the religious
in the heat?
Did you fall into bloody mud
under blue skies
where birds flew by
and you’ve never been
so jealous of wings?
Was the fight gone from your soul?
How did you die?
Did you see regret in murderous faces?
Did you know you’d be mourned
by millions of strangers?
How many witnesses to the end?
How many
How many
I hear you rise when the rain comes
in forms of talking teeth
walking bones
weeping clothing
to roll our thoughts
to touch our foreheads
to plea for something more
How did you die?
