Poetry – Haunted Avenues

Out Here

What are we doing out here,somewhere north of nowhere,our feet sunk in the shallowsof a cold river bed? We were yearning and young once –memories come rushing downstreamas clear and rocky as this river bottom,glinting gold in the summer sun.

Coming Home

The flood of austere streetlights cuts through the black of a moonless, starless night,projecting monstrous shadows onto fresh pavement – the row of tall oaks yielding to a stiff north wind.But just up the hill, a half a mile or so,is where the single well-lit porch,the faintly glowing front window,the well-worn red door,the well-loved facesContinue reading “Coming Home”

Sight

This is where I begin,by tuning out to tune in,shutting my eyes from the light,opening the cage of imaginationfor imminent flight.All perceptions are suddenly ruled by rhythms,little flourishes of sound,things no longer seen,and through this voluntary blindness, I’m unboundfrom what might otherwise be diminishedin this moving mosaic behind my eyelids.

6 A.M.

Even the most terrible truth’saren’t so terrible at 6 A.M.Your eyes squint open to the ghost of a little thumbnail moon framed between two naked trees outside your windowas a seam of tangerine light is flaring out in the eastand your mind like the early sky is a clean empty canvas, untouched and untarnished byContinue reading “6 A.M.”

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.

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 minutes bleed out in a pool of luminous silver while corporate propaganda videos drone on in 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”