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How rude to crush that fragile bird’s nest!
How dumb!
Stupid sucks hard candy.
Sugar water tears up a heart.
That’s too rich now for this bird’s nest.
This sweet omen, now underwater.
Ugly water whispers wrap the tree.
Come inside, knock cold marble.
Knocking hollow? Knocking solid.
Miserable liars hide somewhere.
What yo-yos, white-knuckled,
bouncing down fresh-buffed floors?
Something muddy.
Something rubber, with stinging blisters.
Sneakers squeak down, rubbing again.
Whatever snarls like a dog
should snap the guard dog muzzle on.
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2. |
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Almost heaven, purgatory -
this Old Virginia tornado.
Notes of humid sludge
with a mattress-stain mouthfeel.
Bite what the feeding hand feeds:
scalding frog legs stew,
served with a ladle.
Fill your flabby body.
Fill the circle completely.
Close the feedback loop.
You’re a golden fuji apple, Fuji Apple Mama.
Mama, you complete me.
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3. |
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for the last time
bugs swarm
down the mountain
you can’t stop them
coarse moss
gathers pebbles
you might find a
throw pillow
in the fireproof room.
you ___
my blue look alike,
downbeat.
//
Alphabet handcuffs,
snug as a belt
or locking carabiner.
Digging in the stupid gutter.
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4. |
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what is the price on your head?
like alarm clock numbers glow.
what does it take to convince?
you better run quick, like rumors
spread like a tabloid, like butter.
low fat butter.
smear greasy thumb prints.
someone with a great sense of humor.
wipe that weight off your shoulders.
waterfalls fall into the valley.
crumpled wrapper catches the sun.
bend your knees, inhale.
exhale as you fold your torso over your thighs.
don't think malicious thoughts, even if you want to.
run your hands down your shins, touch your toes.
what do you regret the most?
what are you thinking about?
I close one eye when I look at you.
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5. |
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That was where they tucked their chins.
Those were the people who dyed their bobs.
Those were the ones what lined their eyes.
Pry their eyelids open. Dry
as a Desert Owl melon.
Like a lazy Susan spinning top,
where you covered your faces with ice.
You were the ones with talent,
tiptoed out of a flickering film.
And your number's growing still.
This is where we buy
whatever they sell.
This is a weakness.
Whisper sweet sweetnesses.
Laugh our heads off.
You were the one - who else?
Carried sorrow, black as pitch.
You were wiping dewdrops off
your only Mongolian spot,
where the strawberry moon rises.
I reside in humid mist.
I was the one was buried in fog.
Yes, netted in my web of lies.
No, I never heeded your advice.
This is my fond farewell.
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6. |
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suffer lonely leaving
doggy's sleeping fatso
lying wildly abandoned
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7. |
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Hey stranger, can I beg a ride?
Red Rover, roll over to the winning side.
This is Froggy courting.
Froggy settled for an undisclosed sum.
I saw him hop in through an open transom window
and pound his gavel on the vanity.
Stranger, release me. Stranger, let me go.
Red Rover, release my endorphins.
Order! Order in the court!
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8. |
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You can squeeze the sweetest drink
from a sour, citrus fruit.
You can be the scarecrow king,
with your broom-corn wig and your popcorn suit.
You wonder why I always blush?
I'm not embarrassed, it's a niacin rush.
Rosy rare steak, burgundy cabbage.
I'm crushing
crushed velvet.
Is there any pleasure sweet
as sweet red velvet cake?
No you cannot sink your teeth
in that sweet euphoric haze.
You wonder why I'm always lost?
So serene, so macabre.
Cut your losses, stifle sobs.
May those who say “Aha! Aha!”
turn back, turn back ashamed.
I know my steel-cut oatmeal
tastes just like confetti,
and I even stain my stainless steel appliances.
I know it's useless to apologize.
I made my bed of nails,
stung my tummy
sucking honey from the hive.
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9. |
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I only keep my own secrets.
I come from Susanna with down on my knees.
I lied on the application.
I come from a generation with different values.
I breed fancy pigeons with down on their feet.
I revere fine breeding.
I come from California with a banjo tattoo on my kneecap.
I carved my hit list on a swivel seat at Foster’s Freeze
with a razor-sharp five-hundred dollar bill.
Someone rifles through my glove compartment every night.
Once I found your letter in the gutter, drawing flies.
Jasmine rice and safety glass.
Who put the bomb in the bomb-detection dog?
Who pulled that rug out from under you?
Who put the bomb in the shoe-bomb decoy?
Who put the plume in your picture?
There’s a false face under your mask.
There’s another false face under your false face.
There’s another weapon under your weapon.
There’s another victim under your wingspan.
Who was that person shaking?
And was that shaking dancing?
Who smeared prints on your chrome doorknob?
Who put a hit on the patsy?
There’s a skeleton in the graveyard.
There’s a skeleton hiding somewhere.
There’s a shadow in the video.
There’s blood under the blood.
There’s blood under the blood.
There’s blood under the blood.
There’s blood under the blood.
There’s blood under the blood.
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10. |
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This is the nightmare again.
I could be anyone wearing a baseball cap.
With shaking hands
in my pockets.
My lips were open.
I recognized an omen,
a bitter aftertaste.
So I bent it out of shape!
I threw a tantrum.
Tornado sirens and thunder.
I ate an apple from the gutter.
Now my lips are numb.
I saw the number on a tear-off flyer.
Blinking eyelids.
My head is empty.
This is a warning.
Blow-up, burning roof.
Chances are, don’t understand...
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11. |
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Wrap long arms around the tree.
Merry Christmas, Eucalyptus.
Hard Luck Lucky sucks hard candy.
That's too rich now for brave Blood Heart.
Down at the pool hall, that bird's nest,
liars cower.
In Coward Harbor, heavy rainfall
falls in step.
All of the sudden, rubber downfall.
Liquid said it, said it best.
That was rubbing in it, rubbing
alcohol.
Touch cold marble, knocking solid.
Squeaky sneaker steps.
Echo diminishes whisper,
knocking hollow, echoes garbled.
Waft in peppery, oh with -
Oh what ardor! Oh
loner, wallow, bouncing ball.
Oh clasp knuckles, gnarled.
Elegant shake delicately.
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12. |
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Squirrels run
where we walk,
where midnight rabbits
jump.
Bugs swarm
over the bog.
Each time you roll
your tongue
off the roof of your mouth,
I'm stunned,
like a hawk
on the ground.
We both know
the grand old boar
is a high-flying hog.
When the sidewalk on
Columbia Ave.
is a ribbon
of ice.
I slide
back in my shoes.
I would slide all night,
even one million miles
to you.
We both know
Botanical St.
is an ocean of toads.
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released May 4, 2017
