We do not paint. We are the pigments,resins, solvents and additivesthe soft animal bristle andhand-assembled metal bands. We do not write. We are the molecules linked together in crystalline structures,soaked into paper, allowingour thoughts to bleed at the edges. We do not make music. We are strings vibrating,communicating rhythmic visions hanging in air, that feeling of wanting to bethrusted towards […]
humanity
I Searched Back
Becoming many-celledfrom whitish to pale tan,consuming the soft crystalof my confiscated skin,the alien searched me.Like a probe sent into the outerhemispheres of my consciousness. I searched back.I wondered intoits yucca-sized eyes,and the room became calm, a cream-colored scent of smokerising as the holy spirit does for Baptistson Sunday mornings when they really need it. George Cassidy Payne […]
Before Words
By the time it is written down it hasalready passed. Even the animals,the brute beasts of the fields, dumband blind to the ways of poetry in books, feel it in the soul of their hoovesand the simple sensations of their tonguestouching the grass, or a pig rolling in the mud, as birds sing for no reason but […]
Soul Cliche
The growling thunder of my soul. That’s a cliche, isn’t it? But even clichescan tell the truth. In wild isolation, my soul feels crowded by thespecial conditions of living. As if it’s under a crateof cinderblocks, eighty thousand metric tons. I know. Never to use the word ‘soul’-not if you want to be a good poet. But that’s like […]
It Exists In You
Is there anywhere elsein the universe thathas meaning? Meaning emerges from a configuration of atoms-An only island of meanings.I think it’s more wonderfulto say that we are it. Two trillion galaxies, such widespaces in between. What else can we think andwhat else can we want? We are that. It exists in you.
St. James Parish, Barbados
We are not divided byour politics. That’s a lie.We are divided by chainsof mountains formed bythe folding of the earth’s crust.A full Gospel assembly of geological ruckus.Under extreme pressure, when the butter melts and foams on the rubber spatula of a mountain boulder, racedoes not keep us from understanding,at least not the way erosion does.The […]
More Human
In the aftermath of the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas on 3 August and in Dayton, Ohio on the 4th, both President Trump and Texas Governor Abbott have named mental ill-health as one of the main culprits for these horrific actions. This has sparked a strong reaction from mental health advocates and organizations. […]
Towards a Biology of God
Such a familiar sound.Black bear digging for pine cones.The folding of the earth’s crust, no onewas there to show them how to tie a knot orsew a pelt. Under extreme pressure, the edgesof eons rubbed against each other, the touch ofan earthquake on the elbow and a volcano inbetween the toes. Deep trenches keeping us fromseeing each other. […]
Seen from the Surface of Mars
Beneath the scars hiddenin the crevasses, two solareclipses can be seen from the surface of Mars.A place where all creaturesknow how to suffer together. A place where forever wild meanssomething more than a bumper sticker.A place where the seas of our galaxycast doubt on the prospects of living.Where everything is an ancient memory,and Hubble’s children are illuminated […]
What the Mind Describes
Like a thrown out first draft in a book, the young do not need to belong. They just do or don’t.And the dreams of the young are keptin mildewed cardboard boxes full of meritbadges and plastic trophies from Little League. Egg shell colored. They screech like a leaking faucet.The young are young because they do not think about being young. It […]