maybe i could end up in central california

by my favorite venue and the ocean,

and we'd be three-quarters complete

tomorrow i'll wake up and contemplate it further

clammy night not so bad when i try to think of reading your mind

walk the streets to see you come and go, whoever you were

you didn't turn around but i caught a glimpse of your head

walking past my fence. the reason wants to be found out

these days. even sitting in here i have to put my spoon down

when i catch the fading light playing on your hair like a memory

out -- of -- place. try to order it but give up too soon.

horoscope poem, pt. 2

leo
the universe isn't listening to you, so why
keep roaring about it? the streets outside your bedroom
fill with too much traffic for the sky to hear about you
and your infinite stubbed toes,  lover with halitosis,
aging parents, favorite shirts grayed in the wash. if you
 still want the world to listen to you, why don't you try
 opening your own pickle jars for once.

virgo
there is a steep fall coming for you. avoid
the panes of windows, the cracks between blinds.
this fall will find you: you know this, awake
sweaty some nights from the spill and sharp of it.
tie your shoes carefully, but don't fright.
the ground doesn't hurt you as much as it ought.

libra
toss out the nostalgia with the garbage, libra, is the past really as
clean as you remember it? your mother still keeps boxes
of your baby teeth. you feel trapped-- the secret
lies in your own adult molars, those silver cavity plugs.
your twin daughters pierce their navels this week. look
every gift horse in the mouth and you may find the voice
you've been searching for.


scorpio
that nickel scent you've been smelling but can't place?
it's no jar of quarters, no grandmother's perfume. potpourri
and pumpkin pie won't cover it. scorpion, your barbed tail
and easy-edged words mean you never look for pain in your own
scraped knees. find the source of the bleeding and apply pressure.
tourniquets will come in unexpected places-- the neighbor girl
with her nervous smile and soft cheeks.

Sacramento class struggle

deadbolt lock
flourescent buzz on linoleum floor
dinner is beer and box of blueberries
fold-out brokeback futon

let the freeway be your ocean

from the family desk

well, it was my duty
   I must have put it behind something
hey, you're taller than me

um a box of
   I have been a heck of a house guest
is that box one or two

don't let it get too dry
   located the decadent stuff here

at the end of the day it is what
   it is what it is thinking about what
it is going to eat

   oh look there's steak

are you against the idea that single amputees are always pirates?