Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Myth of Capital

the earth
twins itself
into him

he splits
into him
and her

brother and father
sister and mother

in an inscripted
garden
they spring two
then four
then sixteen

twinning ad infinitum

each marked
by tribal tattoos

multiplying
until the schizoid
is born
as alone
as a painted egg

a castaway
in its solitude

sterile and clone-able

it consumes virtually

Ego on the Cusp of Dark

with a compass
point
she perforates
a perfect plane

with pencil
she circumscribes
a circumference
and strikes
a spark

that illuminates
the circle

darkness without
brightness within

she builds
a fire
out of myth
and fable
fantasy and faith

until flames
consume
and ashes cool

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Drowning in Lethe 1535

purple and violet waves
swallow a single sailor

who silently sinks
to the shelter of the shell

far beneath the surging surf
sharks and rays
circle

the unconscious
the unnamed
the unremembered

until the flaccid
egg splits
and its albuminous
softness
whitens
and swirls
into the spread
of sea spray

that rains
upon the shadowed
shore
of New Spain

Haiku Drei

from frail fantasy
her rough rope of perfumed hair
moistens sunny skin

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Mask contra Mask

the body
without organs
wears its masks
like the egg
at Easter
displays
its paint

mask
to mask
the symbolic
converses

but who among us
can explain a symbol
or explicate
a text

so in the end
our calculating
calculus

is

mask contra mask
equals
misunderstandings

sizzling
over satin skies

and smelling
of ozone
and orange

Sea-Snails on a Black Chow's Tongue

My second collection of poetry, "Sea-Snails on a Black Chow's Tongue," just received editor's choice at iuniverse. It joins "Vogel and the White Bull" and "Petroglyphs" as an editor's choice recipient. The book should be available around Christmas time.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Fat Men Texting

busy fat men
texting
dollars
and sense

what would
happen
if your myths
melted
away like dew

no Hamlet
no Oedipus
Zeus or Wotan

no cross
no burning
bush

would your fat
fall
away
and leave
bones for lions
to gnaw
on the yellow veldt

and what
of the little boy
would he play
beneath the stairs
and dance
on hardwood floors

on a summer's day

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Easter Dying Eggs

the body with no organs

like an egg
at Easter

without dye

then mother
arrives
and boils
a full dozen

that we paint
with green
and yellow
pink and blue

we hide them
in tall grasses
with snails
and wild rabbits

until found
they live
untamed lives

without ideas

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Language Logistics

Like Luther
we learn
to speak

unmediated
to ourselves
and to gods

through logos

our producing
unconscious

invents feathered
tongues

like bright berries
on burning bushes

in the snail's

garden

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The Anxiety of Angst

To protect
ourselves
we cross
our fingers
and cross
our heart

we say
a hail Mary
we cover
our head
with the pillow

we turn
on a light
or knock
on wood

it is all a net
to break our fall
or a shield
to deflect the blow

magic feathers
chicken bones
goat's blood

prayers
savings account
medicare