#at lit

Before the Fall 6.9.23 “Hope? Love? I Don't Know What You Mean”

Let me be a flicker in the dark When lost and cold and lonely Come hither in search of warmth I burn myself for you Each lick of flame isn't fury No gaseous hate is here I am consumed with light Let it guide you on your way

Licking your pussy

in the afternoon light,

as the rain falls outside,

and the bills pile up 

on the kitchen counter.

i disappear inside the pleasure of 

your voice, your body, your bones,

your breath.

you squirm and moan,

as i lick away the twilight,

and the stars,

and all of the wars,

and taxes,

and loneliness in the world.

And when you finally come,

you body trembles

like a leaf

shaken from the tree,

Before the Fall 6.12.23 “Gently"

I couldn’t protect you No, I didn’t protect you Eyes open I was not looking Disavowing what passed my view You’re here now You’re as near as I’ll allow I saw the unseen, and more wished unfelt Stay by me, of you I ask this vow “Should have,” should have been would “Would have”, would then have been done If anyone, I need to be the one Let me be iconic, ionic, a pillar for Be my shade, my mantelpiece If here you wish to be, then by all means stay But at my side is not a place for idleness or play What’s done is done, so shall it pass Like an arrow through an axe Or a kidney stone Passing through the cracks But cracked marble here I’ll stand Here you’ll stay Please, oh, please I like it that way We can be, for one another

Umber Embers 9.18.21 “Where Did the Day Go?”

Weeks are filled with sidewalk days Pacing steps in a fugue-state haze Where the time bleeds like a marker Through each page, the colors getting darker

Shorten and lengthen each and every stride Avoid the cracks, ever since mother died Watch her rock back and forth in the den Was that yesterday, tomorrow, today, or when?

Where is the ending, Mr. Silverstein spoke of? Passed Shell stations on every corner, littered with doves This street is familiar, never having been driven Enough left turns, and the route might be forgiven

If you too bore of bleeding clocks Follow the path, out to the boardwalks Wave at the ocean, it will return in kind Shifting and sifting, unfettered by grind

When the night sky bares her sweetness In the water she’ll melt like sugar, disappear like Loch Ness Step upon the surface reflection Headed toward the horizon, of tomorrows hopeful direction

Journey With Me 7.9.21 “My Library Recently Merged the Fiction and Current Events Sections”

How many world ending stories, And heroic triumphs Do I need To see

When Despite all The pomp, circumstances Afford every excuse of dismissal

As though the great irony Of watching how So much Harm

Is done Without anyone Daring to stand up To act in any sense of goodness

The stories say the heroes win They triumph and return But I have seen A hero

Buried After standing Up for what is right By those who should be doing

Right by us