In the rat’s mouth
of wealth
one learns to accept
opulence
as a perk of life
dazed by the depth
and breadth of it
spread on the hyaline
sea sparkle & sky
cluttered with yachts
cutting cream swaths
in a diamond ...
LEAR IN FLORIDA
Lear had no grandchildren to aggrandize
him, fondle him with kisses, no photos kept
in a drawer, to convince him he’s alive:
time slices, filial fawning, thin as thought.
What denouement but ...
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Time is not worn,
O lady with the Rolex on your wrist.
It wears us from the time we’re born
And when we’re gone its tickings still exist.
Your show of wealth
But shows how ...
AT GROUND ZERO
There are no words to mitigate or mourn
As pale with dust like walkers on the moon
Ghostly rescuers probe thru human ruins,
Lifting their eyelids scorched dry of ...
THE HERO AS THE LETTER Q
Book hungry hero riding in the wrong
direction, galloping so strong and certain
with an historic crack across your brow,
gawky and gaunt, time’s angular knight-errant.
Clearly you wear ...
THE MEDAL
Bear, would you like to see my purple heart?
Terrified, I followed Uncle Eddie up the stairs,
expecting to see—God knows, what hideous thing,
what awful hidden wound from the Great War.
He ...
ADULT WESTERN
a mental movie
When old King Colt still ruled the ribald West
With iron hand: You buttoned up your vest.
Put on your ten-buck hat, strapped on your gun
And stepped out blinking ...
GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
Imagine that huge ogre glaring green
Burst in this Christmas, snorting on a charger,
Flashing a hatchet, holding a bright sprig
Of holly, thundering his cold steel challenge.
Comic almost ...
