How the sun regards everything
–the rocks and tides
the bones of fish and piers
the egret and the snake
the silence of the heron hunting
man in the shape of smokestacks
and the sound of a tugboat
abandoned parks and souls
from holed mud to the whole horizon–
in equal measure
is how I’d like to see things.
But that moray eel part of me
that dark hook of me
the one that never lets the sun
fall on his slippery skin–
he won’t let me.
for e.e. cummings
river stone sun moon
let by let, in noon night dreamt
and get by get, let letting set
by piece and piece and picking up
the dustly dust that had been down
he sang his yes and flung his no
flow by flow, stone by stone
thereby came his riverever
(so riverly and thus forever)
moon river stone sun
(yet he’s not the only one)
wave by wet, bird by wing
bee and sting, trees and ringed
nor faraway, but nearby far
one by one, not two by two
into drumming breathe big star
how he wonders do you too?
pebbles down or time it pins ya
empty pockets ’til it getchya
but then and now and oftening
past did its went and forgotten things
all never’s said, and of course i’ll be’s
but all the things in between, oh the things…
so sun moon river stone
(yet they’re not the only one)
flesh by flesh, touch by touch
bark by skin by scale as much
dream one wakes, wide by wind
wild it, yes, remembering
pebbles down or time it pins ya
empty pockets ’til it getchya
he on cheek them, kisses, winks it
whenever floats it up, then sinks it
until into breathing, dream by star
no matter thinks it who you are
and so too you can soon
stone river sun moon
sing your yes, fling your no
stone by stone, flow by flow
Remember that time you became an inland sea?
I was trying to get out of the thick,
the searing
out of the bright, dark memories
heavy with the weight of undying
I yearned for your moon
and moon again
wanting you in my midnight arms
I tried hiding in the shadows
but he’s a trickster, this lord of life
following me like murderer
I tried breaking open
a mottled rock and jumping inside
but there’s not as much space
in there as you’d think
and only hotter
I heard you calling from the shoreline–
How many times have I heard you
and sat a dumb fool
bleak and distracted?
but you, wet with purpose
cleared my ears
so not walking, but running
I dove into your belly
when you became an inland sea
for me
I detached my head/knot
floating it on your waves
eyes closed for repairs
bouncing the ignorant sun off to the hills
our bodies swelled,
and in swelling together duskward
released ourselves
hazy were the eastern miles
from where I’d come
cloudy were the western miles
to where I was pointed
with smoke, or fog, or amnesia
I’m not sure
but right there, my body in your belly
all was clear, bright like home
I could see all the way to your bottom
and you could see all the way to mine
You discharge me
when the waxwing calls
and I roll out of you
the sun I’d cursed, going, gone
the moon I’d yearned, dawning, dawned
I fell into my nest of feathery fir and cedar
my sleep as round as your belly
because of that time
you became an inland sea
In the swollen days of July
I’m the slow ant
drifting alone across la playa
with a pelican breeze
one grain short of a beach
one sandy soul sunning
just out of reach
I’m an egg huevoneando
learning to cook itself
I’m the río running wide
outside time
Inside the outside-eyed ride
I’m the night enormous
enamored and kissing
the stars scribbling down
a wild wink of a life
spelling me out
in splendiferous form
winks start affairs
and ants build empires
helping to sleep us
under green eye of Venus
Sueña conmigo,
mi amor de la playa
one grain in the sand
one grain in the sand
igual que yo
sueño contigo
one grain in the sand
one grain in the sand
let’s swell swellingly
and make a beach of it
Not just any beach, but one
like a summer dream
Dear ones,
I must go now.
The dawn needs me
uninterrupted.
Morning misses
the feel of my face
across her feathered fingers.
The cool sage
of her early breath
requires my participation.
Oh how even through
the 101 impenetrable walls
of your comfortable palace
the cries of a forgotten land
carry like bugles of a victory march
a celebration of peace
after the great war
And though the heavy eyelids
of all your enchanting veils
conspire to hide
the gaze of the beloved
I must keep my promise
to the light—
she needs my eyes open
now more than ever
for shadows are racing
across the body of the world
and without my bare skin
as a witness
how can it stretch itself awake
and bring those shadows home?
The warbler needs my ears
to help summon the sun
The patient heart of the oaks
long for me to join
their silent morning meditations
So I must go now.
I climb the palace walls
and keep walking.
Past the courtyard, past the gate.
Across the belly of the golden fields.
If you should miss me
know I am doing my best
to help the dawn
spill herself recklessly
into the memory of our great belonging.
The sun is in need
of your wakefulness
He’s gone far, far away
and sometimes forgets the orbic path
Drink him into your body
as the wink of the crescent moon
through the iris
eye-womb of the night
Feed your thirsty eyes with the
throbbing midnight brightness around you
Slake your thirsty ears
with the sound of the universe flowing through you
in the dark
How else will he reach the big sea
on the other side
and raise the flag of his mighty ship in the morning?
