Today we found a tooth
made of stone, impressed in rock.
It’s probably the earliest known
specimen of fang, long before
we were walking out of the soup
and learning how to devour
each other.
I imagine I could build a whole
animal around this one piece,
just start with the tooth
and go from there, slapping on skin,
hair, jewelry, neuroses, and therapy.
She’s my sunflower girl,
raspy voice, who takes my unwanted
hand and helps me find
the glow again.
She’s my sunflower girl,
knows some 80’s music, has
the power of infinity in her lips,
and kisses me away into the night.
When he first left the rotten
door of his youth
the sounds of his people becoming
more and more distant
the pilgrim was, among other
emotions, uncertain but proud
Through a forest of thought
and across the murky waters
of a doubt, he made his way
Until he came to the land
of his new people, faces unlike
his and swinging arms hanging
low, a tree to tree populace
Who offered him kindness
and were returned with regret.
More at http://tangerineheartlit.blogspot.com/.
he swam upstream
slapping his body against
fate
they called him Sammy
soon he wondered
what dry land felt like
and put on some sandals
flash forward
Sammy is married and has
two children (modest amount
for a fish)
he hides his gills in public
but they all know there’s
something about him –
you could say something fishy,
but that would be too obvious
Rita, his wife, especially
suspects his secret every time
they go the river
or to the ocean
or to the sink
she lives in fear that
what she suspects is true
and then also lives in fear
that Sammy will discover
her secret
she is a sharp-beaked
predator at war with herself.
More at http://tangerineheartlit.blogspot.com/.
I hit the pavement at
such a velocity that
it jarred me awake again,
this is the world I have
known and get to know
again,
welcome to this new
world where you are not
the star, I say to myself,
welcome to the cold slab.
I don’t want to be one
of those guys who runs
down a list of cocktails
and has to try each one,
one of those guys who
takes advantage of an
easy situation,
one of those guys like
all the rest of the jerks
who have hurt you.
the male voice
inside me
from my father
past
says you aren’t good
enough
but I forget
that voice