Abstract Absolutism

I'm thinking about saving up a bunch of money
and buying a bunch of heroin
and shooting up in tiny increments every day
more
and more
and more
Little by little
until I can't get any higher
and then I'll just shoot up some obscene amount
That seems like a good
fast
fun
easy
way to die
Or maybe I won't
Maybe instead
I'll just work really hard
and work harder in tiny increments a day
more
and more
and more
until I can't get any harder
maybe I'll be a heroine
I'll be funny
smart
successful
glamorous
my whole entire life
that seems like a good way to live

Gut Feeling

My sweet darling one
you are perfect

My aching heart knows
you are perfect

Arkansas

The seriousness of friendship
and the madness of lovers
confronts us everyday
A postcard
wild flowers under windshield wipers
set against
Tuesday's junk mail
or today's parking ticket
There are some that ignore it
All of it
every good morning,
goodbye and God bless you
or maybe
they just don't notice it
The subtlety of friendship
the meaningfulness of love

Kansas

We braced our bodies against it
The wind that stirred the fields,
the sleepy truck drivers
and the highway patrol men
It carried the debris of the earth
the shucks of over-ripened corn,
the tumbleweeds and the ash
Dust
unable to settle
gathering
mounting
As horsemen would for battle
or
in my heart
like the light of dawn
pressing towards high noon
And we found ourselves
given to the plains of each other
in a place like home
bracing our bodies against each other