Discounted Poetry

She seldom noticed time, It just a jumble of numbers, Names that left, returned. She studied skies And reckoned by the sun's intensity Or absence, Her lover made a floating fire. She felt a hunger, Yet she felt a fear That never left at five Or took vacation, An anxiety that knew no calendar And tolerated no desire. She watched another way Slip down beside the sun, Afraid to wander far, To leave an eroded nest With the September winds. - 1/31/25

The decades gather ghosts. I sweep my stairs. They hover in the dust And drift again to settle. Like a scattered multitude, They all disperse But never leave. I know you blamed the fire fighters After setting matches To your drapes. You linger After your collapse. Nobody touches you. You moved inside my house To lapse to powder, To cover. 1/30/25

The taste of grassy shavings, Bluest drinks with streaks of coconut. Although you yet can't see The growing finish tape You feel it white as ready claws And closing quickly. Slip another sip. You struggle to remember Qualities which caught your eye Or stirred your fantasies. The yellow fires always die. The bright red embers glowing Fall to ash And grey reality. You missed the plane That punches houses Over and over again, And yet you crave The reckless plunge, The mash fatality. - 1/29/25

I catch the playful taste Of curry powder Scattered cross your teeth, An earthy heat the tint Of highland clay on fire, Turmeric that stains our mouth, Narcotic Chennai chili peppers Puckering our tongue Within our frantic breathing Like the ocean winds On bare wet skin. Stunned I plummet, Losing my world. - 1/28/25

  I am your fingers crossed. The shaft of kitchen light Develops brown brick eyes, The scattered freckles Lightly over ivory cheeks, You desert hands Erotically dry, Your lips at play, Spilt. I tug the banded lacing intricate, But only toward, never down, Seconds and seasons filtered funnels Straining pure, Intense, This time we are deliriously Killing. - 1/27/24

The mornings and the evenings Contract to metal thickest blue. My window glacially drips, A flattened icicle too foggy For viewing the snow without. The water's nearly frozen Sitting on the nearest table. Across the room The world is pulled apart Away, My cheeks aglow, Maple oatmeal in my mouth. - 1/24/25

  Her scarlet breath, Diluted cinnamon and cherry pie. They're closing up the offices And moving off to Texas, Florida. They chucked my friends to Mexico And fired all the gays. The groceries still cost too much. We sold it all for cheaper eggs. The military Carry guns and zip ties Down the streets at sunset. My girl and I are dazed. We tried at making love But only managed fucking. She rolled away to sleep, The weakest red now faded pink. - 1/23/25

The line of oxygen is taut. The tether's spent. Though space is everlasting And the ocean sinks eternal, Nothing tangible Stretches out forever. I crushed the rope Until my palms were grated, Smeared the cable red. Confused I watch you drift. You never reached or grasped Although I thought I saw you blush again. I still cannot believe You were already dead. - 1/21/25

  She won't confess But she is still afraid Of thunderstorms. The beach is warm. Her toes slide through The baking sands, The pressing waves, And polished pebbles. She's collecting shells And watching crawling water whispering, "Nothing will ever change." The world is strange, Unsettling. She swallows pills To mash the panic down And gazes over browns and yellows, Praying grey surrounding the horizon Foretells no rainfall. - 1/17/25

The candy has no sugar, Just corn syrup. Surfaces displayed about your body, Plastic neon colors Cool and breakable In pieces, never splinters. Even picnic tables Snap apart in jagged flakes. You saw her turn And pack for suburbs, Leaving, Broken. Strike the dirt And shovel. Grind the bonesaw Deep. You feel The throbbing pulse that burns alive Is underneath, Although perhaps you've only faith. - 1/16/25

Lipstick with vanilla, Lowered bridges, Tumbled walls Beneath the oiled black. She whispered hot My name as lyric, Dangerous prick Of a red blade. The darkness rolled  Like frigid waves  Of cotton chilled To swallow me. Feet then head then toes. The cherry trees below the window Rustle to remind the world The thrills of gravity. I lapse, A gaping awe, A devastation. - 1/15/25

Her love Pours mingled with the sand That flows from fingers In the burnt sirocco winds. I'm opening my lips As if to kiss, Awaiting water from the fountain, Her oasis eyes Another mirage that mists As I crawl close. - 1/14/25

We met within the glaring heat. The tracks ran out at last. She swayed deflated, A hollowing skydancer by the empty auto lot. I braced myself, Remembering she wanted this. I breathed an acid hunger, Yet also lightness realizing All the bullets hit the wall Where seconds past I stood. I once believed her strong and brave. She had the fullest kiss. The sun could never care, And skies are ever clueless. It should always rain at funerals. Collapsed, She hasn’t even strength to occupy her space, To crave. - 1/13/25

The weighted metal cover Holding high the heavens Settles over And on us Uneasy. We are waiting on a birth. We're unaware and unsure If the tranquillized sky Is actually expecting. Cars in awe will smash And slide off highways. Venerating pipes will swell And bulge And burst. The guilty trees will be bowed down Confessing reverent And snap. And yet, we open arms and stare  Beside ourselves And float up prayers for softest flakes And cloud carpets to drop upon  The filthy earth. - 1/10/25

Blinding vulgar light Betrayed the silver Full across his face. Another day has bent and cracked, Surprising only him. Pathetic Once you doubt the daily, Still the freight train  Rumbles like a hungry stomach, Whining without fail Every evening, Yet he didn't hear it  Leave the station Last night. Daybreak Mercilessly pouring gold Into his squinted muddy eyes. He noticed empty closet hangers As he threw his coat onto his shoulders, Unfolded his sunglasses of salvation, And made it to the driveway, Praying it would start Or finally die completely. - 1/9/25