life is not simply ethics
or a college course gone awry
people’s lives hinge on listening

we take corners, we take to our sheets
we hide when too much is demanded all at once
confluence has its way with us

follow sugar on your tongue when you taste it
take the cues of sour stand back and revel

Thank you
as a noun as a tangible
as a please know
a bene placito
you deserve the world

Where are we going?
The helm is floating
above the ship
the sea is plastic
pretend blue
serene and false
strangely static

warning signs proclaim
the undertow too strong

keep treading water
don’t get whisked away

If I didn’t know
what day it was
would Monday feel less
bombarding?

If I could hug Sunday, I would
tell it how much it matters
its cocooned sloth-like
gentleness the way it frames
what I want to appreciate

Sometime in between
days’ connectedness reigns
unending string
of things to be completed
turned in

When little matters
beyond purpose
let the frenzy go

The weekend like closed tubes of paint
suffocates in bottles while stained dishes pile high
dislocated speaker sounds strewn about

A runner mid-stride frantic for ground
energized over-hurdle high
repeatedly we decide to refurbish
half steps strewn about

The day cannot have its way with us
we are here
amidst the elements

me small enough
to be held to need
to be seen again

to be allowed to be lost
in my thoughts to dream
as if again I were only

II.
It is not easy
to fall gently back to sleep
when one’s awakened

III.
Your generosity
makes me blush
I am not much
for such compliments

When you see yourself in the mirror
who emerges but an empty backdrop
of confusion.  Passion ignitable
not yet seen through.  Who will hold you
up to the onslaught of  reality
not terrify you and say see
this is what you must prepare for
uniquely.  Without squirm or worry
you might resist the possibility
of seeing the mountain as challenge
and encourage the beauty of the un-caged
the non-fishiness or horizons becoming
visible vantage points of dreams in the skyline
unafraid to focus periodically
make it stay, perceiving capability.

Remember the ocean is big
but more exciting than the fish tank
however safe and comfortable the couch.

Eighty percent of our classrooms are tracked
without so much as a shift of the headphones
the subway loudspeaker begs clarification
craves a “What did you say?”

“What did you say,” went away
with years added one on top of the other
toxic additions, led paint
since the middle ages mounted
people kept in their place

What possibility of change exists
with the moneyed minority so small
who require no interaction
or practice being with others
enclaves of no need for hope
destroy us all

For this to be fixed
my children have to go to school with yours
your children might fail
might even be shipped off to war
in fact all of that would have to become normal

today is for
today is
today

smile gently
at those crossing your path
let them enter
they haven’t said
yet what they have to say

do not be afraid
a narrative will take
shape shapes