people food

mystery flavor is usually just all the scraps ground and mixed together

taking the parts people didn’t want and trying to make something edible

personally, i don’t mind mystery flavored, most pet food comes that way

but not my person

they keep chasing after mysterious people (round and round)

somehow thinking things will stay mysterious

hoping this new one will cover the hole the others tore out

but mystery flavored people don’t have a mystery flavored shape capable of filling a mystery flavored hole: it’s all just ground people mixing themselves together trying to make something edible

crying sand

even when the water had gone

and the cactus began to wilt 

you, with your peeling lips, shed tears because of me

blue water

i was at the creek today

to dip beneath the surface,

to climb into the trees

and brush against their wings

and,

i found the earth is green

because the water’s blue

and despite beauty in the moon,

she’s jealous of the sea

and how it moves for you

late-stage canabalism

the body of the people is a body of tin

but when they come looking for me

there won’t be no body, my body’s a temple

and they’re all godless aren’t they

(shit, they didn’t even tip the server)

wildflowers

god coming down to see us was news to everyone. why now? i wasn’t sure, but still the day arrived and the heavens parted and without objection she came

the sun: 

when she came she found him hot and wild, entirely listless to her arrival

she stopped and saw that this was good, so she stayed awhile

and when she rose, for a moment, her eyes shone just as bright as his

the moon:

when she came she found her cool and calm, gently changing her shape, slender now full

she stopped and saw that this was good, so she stayed awhile

and when she rose the tides paused

momentarily unsure of where to go

the earth:

when she came she found the earth beautiful and green, passionate and restless

she stopped and smiled for this was good, so she came down to stay

and only when her lips had tasted the river, and her breast knew the mountain air, and her feet were cleaned by sandy shores and dirtied again by the forest floors, was she satisfied enough to sleep that night

the animals:

she rose the next morning and walking between the trees she came across a doe— spotted and elegant and in that way like her

she quitely watched the doe admiring its gentleness, when without warning or hesitation a wolf darted across the ground. low and quick the wolf came, greeting the doe with a snarl. from where she stood she could only briefly watch as the two ran off together deeper into the woods and beyond her eyes

she saw all this and knew it was good

:

god stayed in the forest for many days, and i watched her as she greeted all the life here. every stone and insect was admired in all its glory. i so desperately wanted to run out and join her, but there lived in me some ancestral fear. so for many days i simply watched as she enjoyed the beauty of the woods, and woods enjoyed her’s

after many weeks her presence in the forest became natural, i no longer felt the need to quitely follow her about watching her every move. i slowly began to go about my own business again. then, on a day i had yet to see her, i was walking along a narrow path and came across two sets of bones. i stopped and looked and saw that it was a wolf and a doe, late in their decay. 

the bodies lay intertwined one embracing the other, sewn together with dry grass. 

i continued looking at the two and could see that the doe had fallen to the wolf, the gashes on her bones clearly made by gnawing teeth. as for the wolf i was unsure, but perhaps an unlucky encounter with a rattle; there were a few that lived here. 

i was chasing these thoughts when a sharp and unexpected sadness came over me. i watched the bones silently with teary eyes, feeling something i could not name. picking up my head i looked around for some wildflowers, and gathered a few dozen them. i came back sitting on my knees to place the bouquet, and with a quick prayer i headed back home

it never rained

you know that carnival ride, the wheel where you stand inside against the wall and then it starts spinning, the rotation pinning you to the side screams of excitement at first but it keeps spinning and its harder to breath and it keeps spinning and then you can’t scream anymore

anyway,

i like to lay in the grass looking straight up so i can see the sky curve around me, imagining that it’s only the spinning that keeps me pinned to the ground, and if some teen at the operator panel stopped the ride things could slow down and i would simply step out into the sky

but,

maybe instead of the sky i’ll simply melt down into the earth embracing her, slowly separating and turning into nothing; either way i can’t scream anymore.

i look up at the clouds and watch them separate and turn into nothing, they seem to have the hang of it

the things you can't hear; the words i don't have

i needed the word that meant waking up to the sound of you coming home,

the sound of your footsteps behind the door, water running down the bathroom drain, when you're finally next to me and you sigh, no longer holding your breath, no longer drowning in the riptide that is stop signs and paychecks 

i needed to know how to shape myself and the movements to make so i could tell you all this 

but i never learned the shape of sound, and i can already feel the soft and even breath telling me you found sleep some time ago

discalceation

come all you lonely

to your home in the forests

to the banks of the prairie 

in trees of the garden

the ants have built pyramids

the earth placed her chapels

the birds made their nests 

from clouds and the sky 

but the children are lost

all the pilgrims are gone

the cuts on their feet

they've been gone for too long

the cuts on your feet

you've been gone for too long

and so i share myself

some days the sky welcomes me

so i’ll walk out to the trees who called

my bare skin radiant and hot to the touch

everything left open to the world about me

my soft warm steps (the sun,

going in celebration (and the birds,

with the grass and mud. (and the flowers

all the world stopping to bathe in the

flush glow surrounding me

but when i stopped and stood before you

uncovered, vulnerable

reaching out for you

i wonder if it was you or i who was burned

that second when our fingers touched

spirit in the cupboard

little spirit, little spirit

come enjoy our home.

stay into the night 

no need to be alone

we'll make a cup of tea 

sweet with milk and bees

we'll raise the children right

we'll train the birds to smile

and play the ukulele

little spirit, little spirit

all dressed in white.

the flowers in the kitchen

i hope are ones you like