the dusky plains a distended gray
as the miles on the odometer tick away
I am staring at the distance at the shifting dim
but my fuzzy double vision will betray me again

I have seen you from millions of miles away
the only thing that's in my dreams
the only thing that can be seen
but waverly

a steady stream of consonants/ce is all that I hear
but wavering and waverly and nowhere near
I am staring at the distance at the dark globe's face
but a massive flaming edifice is in its place

I have memories of things that never could have occurred
dreams of ten-foot flaming letters spelling foreign words
I am staring at the distance at the wavering array
at the shifting faces drifting into shifting gray

VICTORIA

It's the 25th of may; victoria
you might know me better if I went by another name

WHITE SHOULDERS

no pictures hang upon the walls
no furniture adorns the ground
we walk from room to room without a sound

no doorbell chimes upon the porch
no streetlight sparkles through the pains
we walk inside among the heavy rains

this house will this house will this house will
tilt like a ruined barn a ruined barn
two ruined arms on your white shoulders

no light shines down from spackled coves
no music tinkles from afar
this light as bright as an extinguished star

your vapors tremble to the sky
your vapors are all that is there
the darkness blinds in an olfactory glare

COUNCIL BLUFFS

to the river; Council Bluffs
pour your liquids to the sea

to the river; pour your faults
point your flaws; Council Bluffs

to the river; point your flaws
Council Bluffs; slowly pass

to the river; point your flows
a florid impasse: Council Bluffs

AVOID

They will not laugh at your jokes
they'd rather be with their friends
a different planet's their home
they breathe a different air
their cells are different from yours
you are distasteful for them
they have a different mind
they're not your kind

They favor different folks
they shy away from your likes
on rockets they will ascend
to atmospheres profound
nothing you like is like them
your puzzle pieces don't match
they have a different mind
they're not your kind

they harbor naggling doubts
their manners are unrefined
they're only biding their time
till they can get the hell out
their plot against you is hatched
from other sides of the fence
they have a different mind
they're not your kind

FOR TO POUR

pour yourself forth; forth into snow
snow into light; light into cold
cold for to pour; pour the cold forth
forth into snow; snow into black
black into night; night into cold
cold for to pour; pour the cold forth
pour yourself forth; forth into snow
snow into black; black into cold

into anesthesia
into light

pour yourself forth; forth into tones
tones into light; light into void
void for to pour; pour the void forth
forth into tones; tones into black
black into night; night into tones
tones for to pour; pour your tones forth
pour yourself night; night for the tones
tones for the void; void for to pour

APPEAR TO BE

what you appear to be
what you seem to appear
what you appear to seem
the seams upon the silver air

what you appear to be
what you seem to appear
what you appear to seem
the silver seams upon your silver hair

the seams and the streams
and the sign
our design
yours and mine
all aligned
it's the end of time

we will fall from the sky
like the rain's forgotten child
wild and vain
on the plains
into the seams in the terrain

CRY
by Godley & Creme

5 in 1
I'll drive south from Tualatin
in the damp and fog and rain
it's the middle of the winter
I will see you again
I will speed past all the paper mills
that are belching noxious fumes
I am thinking of the Siskiyous
I am thinking of your room

I'll take the 5 in 1 day
I'll drive from Portland to LA
as I careen past all the farms
I will be thinking of your arms
I'll take the 5 in 1 day
while the sun shines we shall make hay
as the sun's shining in my eyes
I'll be pushing 85

I'll take the 5 in 1 day
though you're still very far away
the earth is curving in degrees
toward the curving of your knees
I'll take the 5 in 1 day
as daylight's starting to give way
I'm in the Metro all alone
and I know you are there at home

I'll go straight through Redding
in an olive-pitted void
I will speed through Sacramento
to the country that's destroyed
in the endless darkened valley
I will sense your distant glow
in the frigid empty mountains
you sustain my hope

FOUR DOORS

a baritone morning
in coddling steam a drowsy dream
the water sputters
and I'm stranded there with shampoo in my hair

an afternoon's splendor
all twittering birds and people gliding silent
faraway planes
clouds sailing overhead
pour forth rain and I'm far from home

an evening of sound washes
past I'm swept in
an undertow all hair and
Smell
all around
where are you
where are you
where are you

night now the sound of breath
the steam of life now Sarah
now the door is closed

KOHOUTEK

middle of March 2 pm
it was raining at 1
it will rain again
down straight lines
from anomalous skies
from blanket gray
to gray inside

but it's never a straight line
in this heart of mine

2 pm; I should do something else
but that would be unlike myself
I'm feeling this wood
feeling every grain
feeling every drop
of every rain

'73 in a September night
barely opened eyes
undegraded sight
and the first thing
to hit my infant eyes
was a half-assed comet
in an empty sky