Floundering Over Rice

Undesired

creature comforts:

her favorite meal;

not mine--

delivered to

my doorstep

while an old friend

bought me time.

The laces of these boots

have strands of gold 

entwined.

A weekly sweep

will miss some hair

like this gaze

dodges eyes.

Fair Play

Beware of the man

robbed of purpose.

He leaves his pistols

where home was

these days

since he's poised

like a spring

indecipherable

hungry headlights

stabbing into

the night.

How Violently American

Our Maker's

lath and plaster

a ribcage and skin

barely conceal

the stubborn organ

that feigns 

the most precious emotion 

that we 

as a failed experiment

were given.

This commercialized day

to signify its gains

is, for many, a spectator sport

indecipherable to those

who loathe

the smell of their own skin

but we've forgotten

to care for one another

and so we deserve it.

It's wasted surveillance

on palliative care.

You can eat thrice daily

and still starve to death.

Don't find yourself

counting on rain

that ain't coming.

Honey, you're golden

but we can't speak 

in code

for much longer.

Apples to Apples

My father's killed

two deer in his lifetime:

one intentionally

with his bow

on state park land

and one accidentally

with his sport utility vehicle

on the Palisades Interstate Parkway.

I was present for neither

but at ten years old

I followed him into woods

along an apple orchard

in the shadow 

of the Shawangunk Ridge

where he had permission

from a farmer to hunt.

It was so cold

beside that tree

where he waited

for the buck 

that wouldn't come

and I waited 

for the sun to rise

while it was darkest

before dawn.

It's the same now

three decades later:

Love is being 

someone's plan.

Celestial Association

Listen, I don't make

the rules or whatever

but my favorite book

as a toddler was

"Stevie's Tricycle".

No, I couldn't read it

but my mother did

since I was in

the womb or whatever

and so it was my favorite

after I foolishly left

that warm, safe place.

Stevie rode around

his neighborhood

back when a kid could

do that unattended.

Its golden spine 

legitimized the action.

What I remember most

were these peaches

on the trees.

They were this warm orange

color with red rubbed in

for ripe emphasis.

We could talk about this

and we could talk about that

and your therapist would

reference Freud

while mine echoed

from the bottom of this bottle

but at the end of the day

that you're willing to give

here and there

when we're running low

all that matters is that

your cheeks

when I gaze down at you

form the same warm mixtures 

of hues as those peaches

in "Stevie's Tricycle"

and if that ain't enough

then bottom's up.

Sparring Partner Parlor Tricks

My favorite place

to see you's 

on mountaintops

since I know

that's where 

you belong

though I'd suffer

a nosebleed

via horse height

as you would

if I could

thread a tether

through those 

two rings

I gaze at

more than 

you'd like

to admit.