Sunday, July 2, 2017

you always i keep

there is only one
right answer to the question 
do you love me?
always. feel free 
to play infinitely 
these words on 
repeat they are some 
of the few i ever got 
right along the way to you
r heart dear unlikeliest of 
no longer strangers
you are invited to 
be charmed by each of the
times i keep falling for you still 
steady your eye on the count 
down from the seconds 
i first laid ears on your stories
any minute 
now i will ruin 
everything i still love
you always were my 
only favorite reason to keep 
trying to get things right 
to keep coming back 
home is where 
my heart is with 
you always i keep
hoping i were not wrong 
to think that 
there is only one 
right answer to the question 
do you love me? 

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

were i a hummingbird

were i a hummingbird 
i’d hover,
over earth until 
guilty verdicts 
reverberated 
from the laws of gravity.  

were i a hummingbird 
i’d make home 
of her garden, 
and of her olive skin 
which steeps in the green and gold 
of the afternoon 
and iridescence 
percolating through the branches. 

were i a hummingbird 
i’d live swiftly, 
so swiftly she did hear my colors 
writing songs through her lantana. 

were i a hummingbird 
i'd flicker,
into spring and through every direction of her wildest dreams,
like the interweaving lines on her palms
and out from each one of her fingertips. 

were i a hummingbird 
i’d return, 
today, and every today after.

were i a hummingbird 
i'd hope she were hearing,
i'd hope she were seeing
i’d hope she were smiling,
i'd hope that she were nearing

i'd hope she were
were i a hummingbird,
(and she would be).

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

one way ticket

all my roads 
feel like a one way 
ticket to a cliffs edge. 
in all of my dreams i 
jump before look
ing to the bottom of the canyon 
and a miniature trampoline
hoping to bounce my way 
to the other 
end of these train tracks 
i still wait 
for your ear to press a
gainst. i still keep 
mine held tightly to the steel. i 
will always be 
at your other end i am 
always at your finish line. 
come barrel
ing around my corners 
please come train 
wreck me you know 
i spent every last pen
ny on our one way 
ticket to catastrophe   
but goddam you 
have never made me happi
er to have been so foolish. 

Saturday, June 24, 2017

your hair is long

your hair is long 
again like it was 
yesterday has it been 
so long since i re
member what the soft
ness of your 
hands feel like have they 
calloused to my touch? 
in your silence i have count
ed all the ways to say i love 
you and soon 
i reach the walls 
of every i still do
standing be
tween us and you.
do you still 
keep the an
swers to all 
my favorite questions? 
no one can find 
them any 
where only silence i keep count
ing all the ways to say i love
you your hair is long 
again like it was yesterday 

Thursday, June 15, 2017

arguably they're our pages

we hold hands 
when we ar
gue. i want to 
pull my hair out 
and (though I have
n't quite learned how to)
kiss you simultaneously. 
we are endless
ly on different pages,
but argu
ably they
're our pages. 
some say 
we could
n't be more opposite, 
some say opposite
s attract, 
i say let 
me love you 
(once 
and for al
ways). i say let
's prove 
just how beautiful
it i
to have so lit
tle in common. 

Monday, June 5, 2017

to count to i love you

how many mornings
how many nights
how many suns 
how many moons  
to count to love you 

one two three we 
all i do is smile 
four five six i’m 
still holding my breath 
seven eight nine take 
every piece of time 
to make it to all ten 
reasons our fingers 
keep finding their way back to one -
anothers 

how little 
how much 
how long 
how soon 
does it roll on like the waves 
is it defined like the shore 
is it higher than the sky 
does it outnumber the stars 

how close   
how beyond  
how gentle  
how strong 
can you find it in her eyes
does it fit within both hands
is it further than always  
is it nearer than now 

how many letters  
how many words
how many shouted
how many whispered 
to count to i love you

Monday, May 29, 2017

Anchor

wild to remain

when i enter your garden
i pass through no gate
simply onward the trail 
to your highest peak 
i have never known a way like yours 
and you have never known a wandering like mine 
still i welcome your curves 
and you invite my pace 
we are lovers to the unmapped path
our forward takes 

you are the brightest sun 
you are the clearest sky
you are the piercing heat i feel inside 
you are the stone and dirt beneath my feet 
you are the pattern of the butterfly
you are as many colors as the wildflowers 
you are the ones i had yet to see
you are the fragrance of lupine 
you are the shapes and lines in the leaves
you are the strong wind that blows through the branches of the palm trees
you are the sharpness of the needle grass
you are the cactus thorn 
you are the blood that pours 
you are the smile that forms 
you are the knowing that wounds heal 
you are the cry the coyote sings 
your are the hummingbird's wings
you are the lizard that hurries on 
you are the highest note of the sparrows song
you are the coolest breeze 
you are the view from the mountain 
you are the slow decent
you are the softly content
you are homeward 

when i depart from your garden
i steal not a single flower
still your sun
has burnt all of me that i made bare
still your thorn 
stings to the touch
still your song 
is known to my tongue 
still your scars 
are now mine to call home 
so you 
untethered for the on and on 
untamed for always
you are free to grow 
and wild to remain

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

to be

music on music 
books on books
plenty to keep 
my mind distracted 
from 
all the songs i should be hearing 
all the words i should be reading 
plays on plays 
wants on wants 
more than enough 
to keep my hands 
and thoughts  
too busy 
to simply do 
the things 
i say 
i simply want to do
now 
the time has come 
to end the consumerism  
to cease the hustle 
for something new
so 
find me a quiet corner 
pull up a chair
keep me afternoon 
come sit with me 
stay a while
share
all the stories that
i have been waiting to hear 
i have everything i want 
and all i could need 
now 
the time has come  
to be still 
the time has come 
to be 

Thursday, May 11, 2017

dear chicago

dear chicago 
swallow me 
from frank lloyd wright
to lake michigan 
i only want your 
absolutely everything, and 
all your in betweens
with your outstretched arms 
like my skyscrapers, i am
reaching for the fringes of your grey skies
my collar
turned up to your wind 
my feet 
dancing to the beat of the rain against the windows of our eyes,
my eyes
still looking for your every so faintly sunshine
dear chicago
swallow me 
from then
til tonight
and all your in betweens
i only want your 
absolutely everything 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

my grandfather's guitar

i didn’t get your frame 
i didn’t get your height
i might've got your courage 
but i didn’t get your fight 
one things for sure 
one things to stay 
i got my grandfather’s voice
when i play 
my grandfather’s guitar

four fingers on your right hand 
you lost your thumb on the farm 
south of calgary alberta 
canada at heart 
the blood in you 
is the blood in me 
i got my grandfather’s heart 
when i play 
my grandfather’s guitar 

“throw nothing away 
always clean your plate
fishing and a hard days work 
we wake up early and we come home late” 
the years roll on 
still these remain 
i hear my grandfather’s voice 
when i play 
my grandfather’s guitar

driving all four windows down 
hypoluxo to old dixie
your 76 lincoln continental 
and the lantana florida breeze 
turning up the radio 
we’d all hum along 
i hear my grandfather sing 
when i play 
my grandfather’s guitar

i was just a boy 
when heaven called you home 
too young to understand 
too young to know 
but i hope you can see me now 
standing tall to say 
i got my grandfather’s voice 
when i play 
my grandfather’s guitar

Sunday, February 12, 2017

infinite

infinite,
sounds too few a number 
for the times over 
and the skies under 
which I have thought her most beautiful. 
i try to count them with each breath from my cigarette,
each exhale into the chilly los angeles night, 
the smoke from my lungs.
the warmth of my breath, 
like the waning of her voice
and her still fullness in my memory,
floating on and up through the branches
another drag 
another smoke
another exhale
another hope 
that still tonight, 
the countless clouds 
floating above los angeles, 
hang as reminders of just how beautiful she is, 
and remind her that i
am still counting. 

Monday, January 16, 2017

the light of today, is all yours

i don't blame you 
for taking all the wind out of my sails.
we both know i would've found a way toward you 
had you given me even the faintest of breezes.
my ship was never the steadiest of vessels,
and yet somehow we always found our way to your shores.
now i'm searching all its bends and curves 
for a way to make them still feel like my own. 
so i climbed as high as i could
and lit thirty candles 
with the sun for a flame
on the the wicks of the Los Angeles skyline.
i wished on every last one
for you to find the strength to embrace all the happiness in the world you have always deserved. 
happy birthday to wherever you are. 
i wrapped up the sun,
tied it with a string,
and sent it once around the earth like a balloon, 
hoping it will find you in the morning. 
the light of today, is all yours.