The Mirror

It was the smile that got me thinking There was no bitterness No resentment No tension between us She kindly spoke With a voice gentle And undemanding “Have a nice day” To which I returned “Thanks, you too” As I took my receipt And walked out of the FedEx office exactly eleven point six pounds lighter than when I’d gone in   “Have a nice day” It wasn’t a commandment to be obeyed Issued from...

On that first day We woke up restless Stillborn, bleak, dry and dark Blood dispersed in the water black Ink without paper Language without form Absence without grief It was all ours And ours alone Hear the scalpel-sharp intake Of a baby’s first troubled breath On a day like this, there are no words Yet our voiceless cry, it must be heard For our wings, they are tired And there is no land in sight...

Out of the eater Comes something to eat And out of the reader Comes something to read...   You may find me in town Or at home resting my feet We’ll discuss the numbers Of money, milk, and meat We’ll entertain the angels Without offering a seat We’ll speak of the devil Without feeling the heat But this meeting of minds Will remain incomplete This is only my shell With which you meet   I’m...

I was there at the breaking of dawn When the unknowable heavens Were divided from my unknowable heart When the mountains of my spine Emerged within the salty womb And trees took root With a harvest of life And breath And the pumping of my fragile heart Sustained by nothing but light And my waking life Was divided from its dream And my subconscious disturbed the surface Before diving deep on holy gill And my...

And as I wondered what fears I was about to face When I peered over the ledge Of my own dark and troubled heart And leaned over to look inside I heard a quiet voice speak these words   “Do not be afraid, Whatever you find here Is only a mirror with which To see yourself more clearly”   After an awkward moment of silence I ventured my reply   “Well, I found YOU here...”...

I see you out walking Holding a mirror beneath your eyes So you can look downward into the skies One step at a time all the way home Careful not to go near the sun’s heat For fear of burning your tender feet Using cooler clouds for stepping stones   I see you out walking I see you flying your kite in the park I see you scribbling your notes in the dark I see...

What was it? I’ll tell you what it was It was a dragon A fire-of-hell-breathing dragon A black beast of death-muscle-and-teeth dragon   And I was no hero I was a child Afraid of the night So I fled from that beast   I buried myself in the earth And deep under the sea I built my own prison And bore the darkened marks On my flesh Where the concrete walls Taught me with their...

The room itself? There never was much light in there So when I tell you what happened I hope you’ll cut me some slack But as I stood in this room today That I had known so well for my entire life That chair in the corner The bed against the far wall How many times did I collapse on both? A heaping pile of angst Or bellowing laughter contagious like dust Never once noticing...

I am many things I am a roller coaster I am an overpriced funnel cake I am a long line for a short ride I am in on the take I am an unneeded traffic roundabout I am the price of gasoline I am pretty sure that I am self-doubt I am the spent remains of the Fourth of July I am climate change I am the spit in your eye I am death on...

Baptism 1: 1975 Born of Machine At the gates of the Magic Kingdom In a room with a view Disneyland across the street But after nine months in line The ride malfunctioned Lungs not working No time to linger in my mother’s arms To be held close I would have died then and there Without the second womb Made of metal And oxygen   Baptism 2: 1980 Born of Freshwater When I was held At...