listening

without hearing

sound

mouthed words

in kangaroo courts

of public opinion

license to steal

metal of meaning

music of numbed

gleanings

in worlds

deaf sightings

fingers dancing

misunderstandings

careening across walls

shadows of sense

vultures picking

the carcass

of the not yet

dead

too deep

for understanding

fathoms below

the surface

of air and fire

and ordinary life

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (LUKE 9:58)

Two mallards

one in bright

bishop display,

the other

in safety brown,

quacking in

their small puddle,

while a ragged

man sleeps

in the morning sun,

his head supported

by a rock.

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (1 THE 5:6)

They can’t go forth

without you

in the picture

of dreams,

the smallest

that come

without want,

but weather well

in other times

and places,

passions rising

without sound

in green.

Waiting

a left turn

into a traffic of

unending obligations,

I see the future

past

many times

before I met you,

before we meet again,

down that white path

passing through

the unnatural

crevasse

to await your inspection,

you doctor of skin,

in the papered room

with the pink antiseptic push jar

and the pink plastic-lined silver basket—

cold.

I want to break that safety glass

into thousands of pieces

of nothing.

No large s(hard*

to penetrate the heart

of this matter).

sol·ip·sism  

1. The theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified.
2. The theory or view that the self is the only reality.

shard n.

1. A piece of broken pottery, especially one found in an archaeological dig; a potsherd.
2.  

1. A fragment of a brittle substance, as of glass or metal.
2. A small piece or part: “shards of intense emotional relationships that once existed” (Maggie Scarf).

Drafts* of

orange sunrise,

yet no north-

eastern orb

to light long shadows

through bare trees.

Apple blossoms still,

no chorus of songbirds

or Johnnie one-notes

morse-coding messages,

as early risers,

draftees of the new day,

march to different

deep-keeled thoughts,

on the creek path,

draughts of drunken dream$,

while I lie

languidly

sketching these thoughts

from the sundeck of hell(o)

*

draft

n 1: a document ordering the payment of money; drawn by one person or bank on another [syn: bill of exchange, order of payment] 2: a current of air (usually coming into a room or vehicle) [syn: draught, air current] 3: a preliminary sketch of a design or picture [syn: rough drawing] 4: a serving of drink (usually alcoholic) [syn: draught, potation, tipple] 5: preliminary version of a written work [syn: draft copy] 6: the depth of a vessel’s keel below the surface (especially when loaded) 7: a device for regulating the flow of air in a fireplace 8: a dose of liquid medicine; “he took a sleeping draft” [syn: draught] 9: compulsory military service [syn: conscription, muster, selective service] 10: a large and hurried swallow; “he finished it at a single gulp” [syn: gulp, draught, swig] 11: the act of moving a load by drawing or pulling [syn: draught, drawing] v 1: draw up an outline or sketch for something; “draft a speech” [syn: rough, outline] 2: engage somebody to enter the army [syn: enlist, muster in] [ant: discharge] 3: make a blueprint of [syn: blueprint, draught]