tracks-

Standing beneath the train
who knows who sees us
who knows who watches
out the window

Walking by the tracks
who knows who spies us
who knows who eyes us
about their day

you can never be
wholly alone in this city of eyes
this city of spies
you can never be unwatched

As the train rattles past
you might ask
who is watching
who has seen you

barnacle-

I swear I heard them chatter
I swear I saw them breath
I swear I saw them toss their beards
and turn their faces to the seas

But pippies and muscles and barnacle shells
don't chatter or preen or fuss
they just cling for their life to stay out of strife
on the pylon to which they are trussed

The wood rots away around them
the sun splays salt-crusts on their shells
and I imagine they chatter
as they cling for dear life in the swell.

Tides recede and strand them
blinking-glossy in the heat
and they become a spectacle
for the the thudding of tiny feet

They close their shells tightly to keep out the wind  
and the prying of wet little hands
for once they are loosened they'll be tossed away
like so many shells on the sand

Hold on little men- cling tightly!
Hold on little men- be strong!
Hold on little shells full of salty brine!
The sea will collect before long!

For now, you bake in the sunshine
clinging to the rocks
Pippies and muscles preening their beards,
for the corals in pearl party-frocks!

candy floss-

this morning I saw a crepe myrtle

full blooming a furry pink-gloss

I thought to myself in the sunshine

it looks just like candy-floss

why shouldn't I bowl up & eat it

it looks just how good things should taste

i couldn't imagine it wouldn't

& leaving it there seemed a waste

I should tell you that I didn't touch it

that I left it there in the sun

but to finish the silly story that way

simply wouldn't be fun

so I grabbed a handful of myrtle

& the bees came & joined in the fray

& that is just how I got stung in the sun

so I threw the pink myrtle away

all bets off-

I loved you until there was

a threat

to forget

who I am

I loved you until

all bets

were off

I loved you until there was

a regret

that I let

myself be swallowed

windows-

windows peer out at me

laughing at the sky

endless light and blue

reflected in their eyes

some of them smile out on me

chipped-teeth of cracking panes

maybe blind with blinds

and painted faces lead-light stained

draped in deepest velvet

some windows are my whores

or slatted with venetians

others are nonchalant bores

but open wide and gaping

drinking cackles of street-crushed-sound

they wrap you in the echoes

of a noisy life profound

life as a book-

driving through the country

I find myself

Surprisingly though

I didn't even know that I was lost

Places with big skies

always unravel the soul

spread out your being

untie all the knots

driving through the country

I find myself

happily though

I didn't even know that I needed a map

street signs point the way

but they don't know where I'm going

happily though

this is no mishap

I'm not looking for a signpost

I'm not looking for a guide

unexpectedly I'm not even looking for the way

but still I manage to find myself

riding through the country

I feel I know what I have wanted

I feel that I am no longer drifting

I have been pulled down off the shelf

leaving-

i bite my fingers

chew my nails

cast my eyes downwards

try not to exhale

you'll leave me yet

they always do

you say your different

you say you're true

but by the time

I know you're not

you'll be far away

and my heart will be shot