It is almost exactly ten yearssince we shared drunken kissesin an unheated barin Chattanooga, Tennessee.Later that night, drunker still,a kiss broke into laughterwhen we rolled off my bedand fell to the floor. Ten years later: youstill in Tennessee, in Nashville, mein Phoenix, Arizona. A catch-upconversation: You told me aboutyour kidney transplants, addictionto pain medication, recovery,getting […]
Dogo
In Praise of a Cat
— for Brother Ron Fender No tailor’s artistrycould equal the eleganceof my cat’s stripesas he walks into the bathroomwhere I’m taking a shit. Purring, he rubsagainst my legs.He accepts me on anyterms, comes closehowever I smell,loves me without illusion. He makes me ashamedof my own cowardice,of the times I have flinched,repulsed by the stenchof human […]
The Speed of Light
She is getting in bed when she realises she is outof the half-and-half she takes in her morning coffee.He is still dressed. He tells her he’ll walk to the marketand get some for her. The market is two blocks from their apartment.As he walks, he looks up and sees starsthat have not existed since before […]
Maybe a Strange Thing
Maybe a strange thing — a college townat the wrong time of year — the students are gonebut you’re still around,wandering through bookshops,empty art galleries — tired, sick of it,in a quiet cafe youlose your temper, get upand walk out,leaving yourself sitting over coffee.
Six Haiku
zazen on verandatower block hermitagesirens and birdsong moving walkway at supermarketteenage couplekissing through smiles supermarket cafewoman sits talkingto herself grey windchasing brown leaveson broken path chill autumn evening —the t-shirt I pull onis warm from the dryer city centreman jaywalkssucking on vape pen
Butterflies and Other People
For two years, I lived on the edge of woods, on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee, between a sewage plant, an American Indian burial ground, and the state mental hospital. Outside my house I saw a butterfly, the most radiant being I had ever seen — blue and black and ivory, incandescent. A friend later […]
