Not Just Anybody's Distress Call

From out of nowhere, 
When I needed someone 
To tell me who I was 
And where I was going, 
No one showed up 
To call my name. 

Notation on Negative Capability

Shit I can’t read 
A goddamn note of music 

But sure looks like 
The starlings 

Strung out like so 
Much sheet music jamming 

The utility lines can’t either. 

Hard Awash in a Fog

Thick cotton swabs 
The mind white 
Gone soft too 

To many harsh black 
Landscapes too thin 
To hold water 

Just right for you. 

A Poem, More or Less (after Porchia)*

One can never say enough— 
It has to be less or more, 
Till what’s left is just 
What you’re looking for. 


 *The catalyst for the above: 

     “Whatever I take, I take too much or too little; I do 
not take the exact amount. The exact amount is no use 
to me.” 

--from “Voices,” translated by W.S. Merwin, Big Table Publishing Company: Chicago, 1969.

Ultimate Refugee Solution

Round burning bedsides, 
Vigilant undying lines 

Of snuffed out candles seeking 
To be lit again once 

Their last day on Earth turns 
Off the lights and sputters 

To all a goodnight.