Poetry – Haunted Avenues

6 A.M.

Even the most terrible truthisn’t so terrible at 6 A.M.Your eyes squint opento the little thumbnail moonframed between two naked treesoutside your windowas a seam of pale orange lightis flaring out in the eastand your mind like the early skyis a clean empty canvas, untouched and untarnishedby the imminent eruption of memory.

Tell Me

Tell me what you saw,tell me what you know,tell me which way you came,tell me which way to go,tell me there’s nothing to fear,tell me everything’s the same,tell me it was all just a dream,tell me it was all just a game. Tell me, tell me, tell me!it was all in my head.

Baggage

Baggage in the twilightBaggage in my sleepBaggage in the morningBaggage at my feetBaggage on the stairsBaggage on the streetBaggage to burnBaggage to keep

Allure

I’ve always wanted to live by the ocean.I can’t quite explain it –I’m terrified of deep water. Still, I promised myself oncethat someday I would,even if only half believing. Midlife and landlocked, I’m no closer,though I’m certainly closer to death,whatever that is. Day after day I want to wake up,gaze down at a sleepy harbor,andContinue reading “Allure”

Inside Out

Draining the last of my coffee, I glance up at the big silent clock hung high on the wall, its spidery black hands creepingwith unseen velocity towards 4 a.m. I sit and watch my remaining minutes bleed out in a pool of luminous silver while corporate propaganda videos drone onin loops to the bare coolContinue reading “Inside Out”

Telepharma

Woke to the sound of rolling thunder,eaves dripping softly outsidethe bedroom window, and something else,strange murmurs from another room –a chattering television left on,peddling drugs again;pretty pills with pretty names,warm lighting, and sunny actors to sell them.Then the disclosures; an obligatory listof potential horrific side effects.Drugs for everything but no cures.Drugs for everything but theContinue reading “Telepharma”