it is painted with hope not dry rot

or molded stores

inside the mall

nope

these are new days

everything has been made of crystals stitched

in new quilted patches

smiling almost—not almost now—

just smiling—teeth out

in a riddle of us

inside this egg cracking slight

and with new meanings

these are new days

quick come see

No Mask

No Mask

no mask

quiet loud

arms fall

side by side

then

silence

then

into dream

i go

upwards

inside

and

perfectly bound

like

i was a chosen thing

to be a chosen thing

is

also love

but

activated

and

like a storm

i get to be

floating by and thru

and

maybe

that means a me

and

maybe

that means a you

maybe

but for now

just

this

a divided line

and

so much direction

from

silent guides

my heart

is still

i keep it

it is mine

and

we are now kites

built out of glides

and

i can’t wait to fall asleep again

and again

this time

wow

Fixtures Rot

Fixtures Rot

in time the fixtures began to rot

one by one

off the wall

the wallpaper sunbleached

from missiles and house holes

suddenly but not so suddenly

one by one they grew forgot

as forgetful things go

they go this way

when the light recedes into

eventual fade

like father nodding off

in his thanksgiving sofa chair

football stove-top stuffing snore

beer or a television tray

noise from his nose

no on or off clickless

underneath the stairs

a box of remote controls

one for every year they made

bad tv’s

upstairs in the dresser

in a shoe box tied with strawberry laces

a bundle a fistful

of imagined lockets

go rusted

with coins too

all that change unusable even now

even now

as the world changes

also

a list of names of our ghosts

first and last

i whisper them out

under my breath

like

endless beggings of our dogs

sweet names

and

chocolate paws

from a past

howl echoes

forgotten to a fog

and a wind

even now in fine steps

a silver string collects

new shatters

webbed patterns

underneath binders

of a long sigh

or

a collected regret

a color that remains

only of the name

a woman could ease into

and burn

into a single flame

mark

simple and in context

I between M and A

not in any order

held closely to the day

its low lights

a calendar of gauzy rays

swimming

so fast

in a near sea-blast

once perfectly safe

in a harbor of such calm

it is unknown

from any single day

any book or story

if it were a heart

so blue

from blackened lots

and wishing

so true

so

tortured and forgot

but in a time

in a time before the fixtures went rot

and the mirrors came down

let us back into that moment again

and we

we will never let it down

for its perfect lean

against two

all dreams