masked, upright
shoulder strap across
classical music pipes
into free headset
soy latte post-salad bowl
in the airport, a far cry
from the recollected little metal spoons
and trays of rubbery chicken
on long ago cross Atlantic flights
cavorting in the aisles with brothers for hours
away we go after the prolonged sequestration
toward an unfettered future
the doorway to elsewhere
stays ajar and Caren appears
having crossed my mind
two years earlier
eventually it links to water
embryonic, the 80%
we ignore so easily as if
this mass of flesh is not illusion
we deny oceanic ripple
aqueous cell structure
salted or clear
our buoyancy
keeping us supple the river
we think won’t dry
Monday, I put it in my pocket,
rub it smooth to soothe my nerves.
Tuesday, I try to scale it.
Enormous, looming it takes all my strength.
Wednesday, I kick it out of my way,
inconsequential pebble in my path.
Thursday, sit on it. Look out at the horizon.
Feel small compared with geologic time.
Friday, wear it. Bedecked, bejeweled, glistening
and weighted I feel protected by earthly wealth.
Saturday, walk into its cave cool dankness
to escape the glaring sun. Awed by form.
Sunday, waft through with immense faith
that there is another side to this hardness.
the purple stone stolen
with my journal
and the woven bag
inherited from a cryptic poet
all taken from the white car
window I’d left open a crack
in front of a medical building
when i recover the secret will be out
i wrote you into the truth
you whom i carried across
the empty threshold
of stolen time
above the country
plenty of 1st class arm
space and documents
the news is all about Iraq
insurgency and the beheaded
which ever chosen language
co-opted accent of refugee
vs. shameful vernacular
the stiffness of L-5, S-1 coincides
with various rainy days
ignore disjointed information
focus on seat belt explanations
and exit row agreements
carry a picture jasper stone
to breathe into once in a while
concentrate on the immeasurable
moment where altitude at top speed
propels time forward to satiate wish
first there was the flood
mushrooms grew
between rug and wall
students wrote in the stench
mildew and herbal tea
sage and dank earth
water seeped up onto kitchen
tiles, between concrete grout
puddled under yellow formica table
when it was time to pack
the cabinets poured years
of supplies onto counter tops
reams of colorful paper and boxes
of drying ink collided with scraps
of ribbon and glue sticks
the doll collection was lowered
into containers carefully; babies
and Barbies wrapped in tissue
even the heirloom doll was boxed
away in her layers of wool and lace
her porcelain face covered
and the myriad magazines
hoarded for collage work
were stacked into crates
as each object went into a box
the barren room
succumbed to emptiness
Shinook speakers painted
red iron oxide pigment
on basalt rock
tally marks
of vision quest creatures
from spirit world
zig zag lines
exit their heads
a pledged family
of cañon wrens soars
above the owlish face
of She Who Watches
it’s a cold basement gray outside
the phone disrupts a simple quiet
severed from the outdoors
by a lazy quest for warm and dry
houseplants languish beside the clothes-
rack drooped with lycra garments
triangular beaks of seagulls on the Japanese bedspread
flash across their dim ochre sky
downstairs fake gunshots ring out in an electronic splash
and traverse various spinal nerves
notice the lure of sleep reflected in the tuxedo
cat curled on the purple couch
angel selves overlap
data fills empathic void
perforations impasse
challenge opposite coasts
weather eradicates evidence
friends bridge a new cirque
the archivist
and the sculptor
lust after geometric application
nothing comes between