Discounted Poetry

She laughs Although my joke Is terrible. The years That scraped against me Till I bled, The years Eternally Against me, Leaving me here. She is grinning, Sketching me Inside her journal, Promising to show me One day. The kernel Goes into The soil. Patience, Even of a farmer's toil, Still I know so well. - 3/31/26

Our toes, They weave Like Per- Sian rugs Or coast- ers made In school. You cough And I Am sure I un- Derstand. And I am thinking You could be my final, Maybe be my home. Our hands, They search For sil- Ver un- Derneath The sur- Face or The brok- En glass Inside The prai- Rie soft. And I am certain There is not a final, Never be a home. - 3/20/26

We sprinted for the cover of trees. The languid clouds are rolling fingers Over the greenest canopy of leaves. I share my body's warmth. You're shivering more frantic Than the branches. I am pulling you into me. I always have your stripped attention, Sturdy affection Never love. The stomach of the sky Is gently rumbling hungry As the rain continues Falling for you. - 3/19/25

The sirens cease across the city Where still I cannot find the grocery store. The kids are kicking piled bricks, Excited school is canceled for the week. An hour later, I investigate a rhythm faint, The quiet crunch A crispy leaf, A spinning pendulum on slender thread Of spiderweb Inside the grating Dumbly driven by the air Against the shaft Again, again. The cushioned beat is not a dream. It's just a trance. My pulse continues, Never slows to normal any longer. You maintain a mute superiority For staking claim on top your roots. I never knew this neighborhood Before we married. Pulling from the station, You're collapsing tiny. London bridge is falling. Once you let it loose, It's gone, A silver ring released to currents Carried down the ambling water, Down the leaving stream. - 3/18/26

She was a fragile architecture. I had never touched a plaster surface Till she fell. I tried to catch her. I wasn't sure we should be lovers I still am not convinced, I meant to save her, But she's broken. All of my horses And all of my men... - 3/17/26

I saw you at the party Sitting on the bottom stair, The many all about your throne. I forgot the way your hooded eyes Could hold a holy fountain  Glistening to burst, The way your smile charged entire cities. I have tried for years To learn unhating you. The world's a vicious biting dog Inside a cat disguise. You never tried apologizing. You are always unaware of guilt, Mistaking sin for fear and doubt. My skin Was thirsty Desert sand Unwatered too long, I didn't let you know my presence As I left. You go with God When realizing You can go without. - 3/13/26

The constant shrieking call, The weight of mud above your body, You imagined peace  To be a place along the road, A prince or princess waiting If you only picked the proper door? You want the demons Underneath the ground? You must embrace The broken mess Your life exploded to And loneliness, Especially the loneliness. You've got to love it all. - 3/12/26

I loved the fish, But like my loves, It flirted, But proved most unsure. Believing itself too mature, It couldn't quite return My wishes for our delightful future Together. Bananas, toast, and yogurt. - 3/11/26

You spied her with the other guys, She has no secret smile Just for you, Her lips Red  So Red, Nature Cruel, Chaotic, Tooth and claw For all the boys. Is this exotic treat an ice cream Spilling sugary delights From cone onto concrete, Across bed sheets? Does everybody get a lick? Your pride is caught, Her dress, a wiry twist of calico, A mess of cotton, Mouth your cosmos entire, Tongue along the underside. - 3/6/26

You can squeeze Until your veins Arise upon your brow. The water never flows Or drips A bit. She lands her hand On top your shoulder. She will always lay her hand. She looks into your eyes. The grating on the furnace Slides aside, The heat is unbelievable, Unbearable, Invigorating. She lands her hand On top your knee, On top your thigh. It always finds its way So close. The spark will light the fuse. It never reaches dynamite. A stone is ever stone, No matter  If you swear You see it sweat. You can squeeze Until your veins Explode from out your brow. - 3/5/26

I strain to lift you near me From the tides. I fear you're slipping down Despite my grip. You don't see All the evenings Wasted wondering How many of your daily smiles I have earned, How many were angelic gifts of grace. Before you sink to bed, Do fragments of headlights glide Across your midnight overhead, Shifting to a phantom cast of faces, Swells of cheeks Or blurs of waiting lips? Does 4 o'clock entice your mouth Imagining my taste? I see nocturnal paradises Burn away beneath the orange hues Sent by the brutal sun. How late were you awake? Inside the shade and shadows, In the shimmer on the surface of your ceiling, Did your drowsy eyes Chance spy me in your room, An undulating image on the water, Or have currents wrapped around your fleshy thigh And pulled you gently too far down, Away? - 3/4/26

Your lips are resting wetly open So just slowly say my name. It's simple, One small syllable, And lifts from off your tender tongue Like the young red-breasted robin Finally arising From the lowest limb. - 3/3/26

I swear I felt your fire Through the airborne icy particles between And saw your brilliant circle About pathetic fools Who loathed to leave the darkness. I felt, Yet I did not believe Although I carried you. Your god of love did smite, My doubt my guilt. No chain or rock or hungry raven, Just an aimless warmth without a lover, Imprecise endeavor, Hunger without clarity or object. Undeniable rock always rolling over. - 3/2/26