Wings

When the eagle rests, 

tired of its majesty, wait… 

it’ll soon find its wings.  

Dear Elsa,

I fear the westerly winds have stolen your scent.

I no longer find your face in our favorite places.

Your palm prints on my skin have faded with each of her kisses.

The poison has reached my bones – 

I barely recall the tom-tom beat of your heart.

She’s too thorough; she saw tearstains on the sheets

And switched the Egyptian cotton to Chinese silk.

Last night I had the nightmare, remember? The one where

I fall and fall and fall, hurled by some formless creature 
Of the dark. Drawing the breaths of a drowning man,

I woke with my head clasped to her chest –

I had her name on my tongue.    

Instant Dust

Throw your handful of dust in the air,

Hold it to the flame of the sun,

Let it mingle with the rain and ride

On the four winds to the four corners;

Find patterns in its patternless swirls through the yawning void.    

Whether a rapturous bow colors the eastern sky,  

Or a confused wind howls curses in the dark,      

Take the instant by her delicate throat

And lay waste to the bounty she offers.

Tomorrow’s lesson: the taste of shadows and dust.

Heavy Hand

Daily, the broom says to itself,

“I will no longer soil my hands.”

But fate’s heavy hand holds fast  

Until the broom falls apart

And is itself swept away with the dirt. 

Cold Open

A stately Lexus leisurely

Steals through the street,

Its red neon rear lights

In tone with garish bars

That pound bass rhythms into

The mystical three a.m. night.

The limo chances upon

A girl – all legs and rhythm

And the two halt instinctively.

She dissolves into its depths

And the limo slithers on –

In its wake a heady mix of 

Cheap and expensive perfume.  

Senryū

Curse her demon soul!

O yellow dust of time

Bury her someplace deep 

U

m

b

r

e

l

l

a

Lightning bares its gleaming teeth.

Even as the storm pummels

And the thunder growls,

The umbrella smiles

At the fuming

 Skies.

                                                                                            - for April