EMPHASIS
I was waiting for you to snap out of it
I think I thought you’d come back out of it
but when I saw your hands were shaking
oh my god it was so heartbreaking
even then I did not get it
I can’t believe how I misread it
when you said, “I can’t live like this”
I thought you meant like this
I thought you were gonna change like this
but it’s all in the emphasis
I was waiting in a waiting room
when I found out that the waiting was through
on the phone my mother’s voice was shaking
oh my god it was so heartbreaking
and on the wall was a turtle poster
on his back he could not turn over
when you said, “I can’t live like this”
I thought you meant like this
I thought you were gonna change like this
but it’s all in the emphasis
it’s all in the emphasis
STRINGLYJACK
they say my love is uncivil
the urge to bite, the need to nibble
so when I feel the invitation
I check into my reservation
my sweet, sweet stringlyjack
lock me down and hold me back
at arms length my fingers tease me
this sort of heaven is uneasy
but if I’m free it ends in heartache
‘cause I’m my own Donner Party
my sweet, sweet stringlyjack
lock me down and hold me back
if you unhand me I will be all by myself
if you unhand me I just might unhand myself
so if your taste runs toward the digital
you find your hunger inhospitable
don’t be consumed by little vices
just leave it to your own devices
my sweet, sweet stringlyjack
lock me down and hold me back
Sweet sweet sweet stringlyjack
"He was a well-accepted member of his little household, and they were very casual about his condition," Nyhan says. The women had devised a contraption to keep him from biting his hands, a padded broomstick that they placed across his shoulders, and they tied his arms to it like a scarecrow. The family called it the "stringlyjack." Matthew often asked to wear it. … Both boys were terrified of their hands, and screamed for help even as they bit them.
From “An Error in the Code” by Richard Preston, in the New Yorker, August 13, 2007
OGALLALA
hey, look what we found
down underground
a secret sea in waiting
pump it up, have a drink
the glasses clink
a liquid celebration
used to be deep and wide
Ogallala
now it seems cut and dried
Ogallala
no way to turn the tide
Ogallala
all of the fish are fried
survey says almost out
prepare for drought
a bowl of dust for breakfast
thought it was all for free
but the giving tree
has given up the ghost
used to be deep and wide
Ogallala
now it seems cut and dried
Ogallala
no way to turn the tide
Ogallala
all of the fish are fried
oh no, Ogallala
don’t go, Ogallala
MELTDOWN AT THE MAUI MACYS
Haleakala was standing her ground
landing gear was touching down
rental car, on our way to
Ka’ahumanu Mall: queen for a day
meltdown at the Maui Macys
tempers gonna blow the AC
sheet shoppin’ when the shit hit the fan
family fued in comforter land
thread count creating a panic
vacation … volcanic
deep under the ocean floor
lava waits like the silver sword
for the day it finally flowers
erupts like a super power
meltdown at the Maui Macys
tempers gonna blow the AC
Haleakala, Haleakala, Haleakala
SUPER BLOOD MOON
i have never felt this close to you
i have never seen that shade of blue
but i’m waxing full of doubt
i’m just trying to figure out
why everything revolves around you
only you
super blood moon lunar eclipse
astronomical apocalypse
super blood moon lunar eclipse
of the heart
overshadowed
you’re the one
in front of the sun
super blood moon lunar eclipse
astronomical apocalypse
i have never felt so far from you
i was blushing, but now you’ve got me feeling blue
super blood moon lunar eclipse
caught up in your celestial grip
I can’t seem to pull away
so I’ll circle for another day
and when the tide has turned
is when you’ll see
you need me
SNAKE POEM
a snake poem curls round and round
no beginning, no end
it sheds dead skin
no breaks, all bend
it comes unwound
like a snake poem
snake poem
INVISIBLE BABY
on a saturday morning we rise
to the sun and another surprise
we walk up the street to get a coffee
our barista comes out from the bar
gives us hugs and asks how we are
did you bring your invisible baby?
here we are with our invisible baby
who never makes a fuss
but the thing about invisible babies
they’re so obvious
on the way to Discovery Park
is a bridge over railroad cars
all just waiting for a locomotive
on our hike we walk down to the beach
the sewer stench always in reach
and a baby seal sleeps as the crowd goes wild
here we are with our invisible baby
who never makes a fuss
but the thing about invisible babies
they’re so obvious
peekaboo with our invisible baby
is always hard to play
but the thing about invisible babies
they’re just born that way
oh baby, oh baby
peekaboo
here we are with our invisible baby
who never makes a fuss
but the thing about invisible babies
they’re so obvious
THE LAST DAY
well the road was dappled with yellow diamonds
and the Carlton burn shone black
the river sparkled with icy patches
and the valley wore snowpack
it was the last day of the year
it was the last day of the deer
I saw those big brown eyes frozen in the brights
on the last day of the year
on the road they posted the deer-kill tally
the annual car-struck sum
just hours away from the final countdown
and the number raised by one
blindsided
hindsighted
I saw the signs
I could see the future but I could not stop in time
we two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine,
but we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne
it was the last day of the year
it was the last day of the deer
I saw those big brown eyes frozen in the brights
on the last day of the year
TIME LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY
time lapse photography
is happening to me
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45
time lapse photography
is happening to me
boxes full of photos
fast forward in slow mo
blink of an eye
on my father’s shoulders
now it’s me that’s older
wrinkles in time
once I was a grandchild
once I had that hairstyle
wave goodbye
time lapse photography
is happening to me