baby teeth

POEM FOR A WOMAN I ONCE KNEW

The body is what gets the body going.

Then, afterward, you read the articles.

The body that gets the body going

is enlivened by the mind and the mind

produces I. And why does mind produce I?

I don't know. Maybe for the same reason we have baby teeth.

Maybe I’m a philosopher, but I’m weak.

I‘m more of a poet.

relief

Midday Unmanifesto

I don't believe in absolutes.

I absolutely do not.

Every thought I believe

I believe the opposite thought too.

I don't believe in relief

I believe in relief of relief.

I don't believe in belief but

I do believe belief can relieve.

How could one reasonably say

"I don't believe in belief?"

Each thought is a relief.

Each thought let go is a relief of a relief.

Baby’s awake.

I will save this for later.

The flaccid ace

The flaccid ace

Self-disgust's busted.

it could never rule,
the way old gold can,

by taking a pounding.

Get up

and get going

into the flow like
well-hammered gold

liquidity

Love is a liquid thing

ebbs and flows

spills and splashes

but always seeking its own level

Always feeling its own filling

Welcome to NY

Welcome to NY

When I first moved to NY 

I was looking for a place to rent 

and picked up a Brooklyn Rail at a cafe. 

I opened it on the L Train 

and there was a poem by Cedar Sigo 

in which I recognized one of my own lines.

I shook my head and smiled. 

Cedar had "borrowed" one of my lines. 

It was a perfectly New York School thing to do. 

The line was perfect for the occasion too. 

"How beautifully the brakemen allow the blood through." 

I felt as if I had been given the key to the city.