Little pen tip scribbles In loops on lined paper Touching the top and bottom of the faded blue rule A bit cursive, Some letters squeezed fast, dropped onto a conveyor belt bouncing into too tight sweaters like extended family members at a house warming party Sticky collars of craning necks b e g g i n g For refreshments Eyes spilling juice, peeping toms Over at the neighbor's fire lit roof Reflecting in skylight window beams trailing off… And down brownstone s t e p s Hooking around city avenue curves Slowing down To reach concrete sidewalk Hitting straight into the night of the city's h e a t Starting then s t o p p i n g My mind wanders to a freshly laundered pope gown In a sauna Sweat saturated into porous linen, s t a i n i n g settling into the frame, Flesh against transparent wet Soft black spreading to… My cheeks are f l u s h, so I write Names of poets Past and present A cleansing mantra And here it is again Drawing the shape of the ache in my chest On the margins, grammar school crush That warm halo right here. B e a t i n g Steady, as I smile half in a dream, I run the ball point D o w n spines of books The roll R o l l i n g Smooth criminal on canvas fabric Soft zippers The muted fall of dyes hitting a padded surface Full stop.
Layered Fragments, Becoming Whole 