to quote mac miller in wartime winter (freewrite)

bones unplugged

a gape of snow

stretching across chicagoland

in the age of aquarius

my momentum falters

no water pours out

frozen icicles bend

at the guttural breath

of morning undone

popping back into

membrane space the newscaster

remains impartial

the russian school of

future 

the palestinian nevers

a video i need not see

to know how it 

ends

"i disconnect and then 

i upload

watch it spin around"

wont you fathers leave

behind the sheriff's badge

i know little about fathers

but so much about 

the ache of blue and red

lights staining my mirrors

wont america release grips

and hold close 

the wronged the wrong-doer

i lean on my chemex

poor american psyche

begs 

what distant war might

discover peace

what change what change

 

where you belong

now im lingering in white noise

small power tool, Bruce is in his shed

sanding guitars

sonic impressions from video game song

in the other room in another timeline

tires on wet snow it is never perfect

outside but we talk about how 

it could be 

a little sunnier 

a siren bathing walls blue 

flicks of cat tail, too

in the window where nothing harms the 

dust

when the song ends, it whistles out

of frame, cartoon tornado-like

and always planes to O'hare rush 

in from the 

wide mouthed lake 

and i collect my senses

Woodland Sermon (for Ryan)

the christian enby

    whose lips ribbon 

into a bow

   teaches me forgiveness:

says imagine 

            a door left open, the light of 

christ fed through 

            thin veins of plant 

matter,

a foraging in the arms 

                                of deciduous woods.

We must realize 

our perceptions of others 

                are purely imagined,

they shove a slinky 

deep in my pants pocket.

This is your love

overflowing,

                You must know it will do

                what it's made for. 

snow day

 i stayed in bed with 

bad dreams and nowhere to be

the snow, blanketing

Winter reflection/Subway poem 3

The thing no one says about winter is that 

You are so much more likely to see the sun rising

It waits a breath longer for you 

To get on your way 

To work 

There's a kindness to the winter

The soft crunch soft landing underfoot 

Blue light haze through ice branches

Foggy glasses giggle I'm sorry I can't see yet

Big blanket energy everywhere you can sit

The thing no one says about winter

Is that the snow dulls the din and you can

Hear the birds that decided to stay this year

Black capped chickadee and cardinal share

The early evening memories robins never make

Already day sinks slower lingering over it's 

Reflection in the window holding its own gaze

Gingerly touches these purple puffs, red streaks

Dreamgirls on the road

It was cold in Albany when we started planning

Eastern bloc beaches and checkpoints  

I'm thinking I maybe left something there

Among the wild dill and poppies

And I like the way you see things.

We took up marigold ideas instead

A warm weather scheme cooked up

In the steam of broken hearts in lockdown 

Fueled by our own voices playing back

And dark horse crazy bitch discovery 

We arrived to where I left you in the rain –

Eastward bound then as now

Wars and weddings not withstanding.

Tell me what the cards say over coffee

Tell me when the say it's time to go.

Waffles

I'd take you

And your lively little dances

Across all this time

And this distance

I'd choose that song

On my jukebox memory

The one you made

In the kitchen

If you had to choose

Onions or garlic

Waffles or pancakes

This life or that

Well it's waffles every time

Subway poem 2

Oh, listen, you can force it

Make the beats land differently in your mouth

Across the world our hearts must beat so differently

Otherwise why would our tongues sound so apart

That year in a faraway English class

The teacher asked me to read Frankenstein aloud

To hear the music that is English in her ears

Why, anything can be melody! Monsters are a poem!

Monsters on my tongue. Your heart beats differently

Waiting for me to release them

TRYING TO REMEMBER THE LESSON

don’t try to fix 
wait for someone else to tell you 
that you're about to blossom
then shut them down!
then do it! 
double fortune surprise ball
spooling out in streams
maybe they do see you best!
like the outside cards were upside down 
like the outdoor cats wanna come home 
and the center card right side up,
the center being the wheel,
so an actual rotating totality belly button emerald,  
the sides being triumphant lessons posed as questions,
yes, he told me in his true blue way,
your questions are your answer,
thanks a bunch
but when i’m stoned he’s always 
wildly wise