raindrop eyes or smooth gray pebbles [?] (poemoff 2)

raindrop eyes or smooth gray pebbles [?] (poemoff 2)

if a tree falls in the woods
will I be there to
hear it? light filters
slowly through sunsoaked pines
branches reaching
for lost memories.
they slip through
needles spread out--reaching
for something better--
a bigger forest.



Once again, my apologies to Mr. Zack. I have too much going on. Stupid Christmas season.

The title of this poem comes from "THEY CAN MISS" by Zack.

other way to move blood (poemoff 2)

other way to move blood (poemoff 2)

a sharp knife
can prick
or stab. you must
be careful or
beware. a gun can
shoot bullets, but
they can miss
tiny targets
(the heart is small).

i tap the window pane
with my forehead. The
glass is cool and damp.
one crack can
slice my finger,
oozing blood from the
shard. sometimes

i sit alone and
think of you.




The title of this poem comes from "OR HEART" by Zack.

beat i hear, comes from (poemoff 2)

beat i hear, comes from (poemoff 2)

tip top tap
tip top tap
drip drop drap
drip drop drap
tip top
tip top
splitter splatter

yo! ho! ho! (and a bottle of rum)


Zack, if this is too terrible to work with, I'll write another one. Maybe I'll write another one anyway and let you pick which one to use.

The title of this poem comes from "OR HEART" by Zack.

retreat (poemoff 2)

retreat (poemoff 2)

as if unluck was something
i could avoid
i stepped around the ladder
watching the black cat cross my
heart and hope to die

in the dark
it doesn't matter
(a cat is a cat when it's black)
but in shining sun or
gloomy fog (dewdrops clinging
to the grass) i step
around

break my leg
or heart
(or maybe it's
a fleshwound)

and i sit down
bathe in the sun
and tell secrets
to the wicked witch



The first line of this poem comes from Zack's "INSTEAD OF YOU."

cans, broken bottles that glitter (poemoff 2)

cans, broken bottles that glitter (poemoff 2)

toss you away
like so many
yellow McDonald's wrappers

cheeseburgers would be more satisfying

each second spent
eating chocolate

piling wrappers
next to my bedside

instead of you



The title of this poem comes from Zack's "HEAVEN'S LONELY STARS."

anything towards some other place (poemoff 2)

anything towards some other place (poemoff 2)

red sky at midnight--
blood red as my tears
reflecting in a pool of sludge.
tomorrow will be easier
than today
(which I guess was hard enough).

september anger
bubbles from the boiling pot on the stove
as i heat water for tea.
i did not ask for this.
you send
heaven's lonely stars
sealed in a shabby cardboard box
and they leak
out the sides
and stain the carpet with light.

and my twin bed,
empty enough for two,
sits alone.

The title of this poem comes from Zack's "DARK WORLD, GROWING DESERT: A SOLITARY MACHINE HUMS ON THE BEACH, AN ATOMIC FACTORY INSTALLED IN THE DESERT. "

early or fucked--i think only of endings (poemoff 2)

Sorry it's late.


early or fucked--i think only of endings (poemoff 2)

there is no silence
greater than
the heavy moment
after i hang up
the phone
when you
weren't finished
talking

The title of this poem comes from Zack's "THE STRESS SOAKED SYLLABLES."

eerie stepchild syndrome

eerie stepchild syndrome

cry as you dance and
prick blood from your fingers.

do you remember
the white barbie convertable

i got that christmas?
we played

until the sun came up
in whispered voices.

summertime left us
with barren trees of winter.

nowheregoing (poemoff 2)

I think Zack has either forgotten how to read or he cheated with the last poem on purpose. That's okay. I'll write my poem anyway.

nowheregoing (poemoff 2)

you repeat these words,
the stress soaked syllables
pulsing with preditory power.
i wish those words could be mine.

fuck me
you scream into the night,
and i answer
with a slap.
tuesdays are worth more
than saturdays
when drunken breath
fogs my glasses
and ruins already weakening eyes.


The title of this poem comes from "SEEING" by Zack.

my tree of tounges (poemoff 2)

my tree of tounges (poemoff 2)

eve made me a
crown of thorns
to christen my dry scalp
as i sway in a garden of my own content.
posion me with love
felt only by a man from heaven
gracing mortal angels
with heavyhandedsins
too numerous to name.

naked in the tomato patch,
i pluck these strange fruits,
shine them with my shirt,
and gather hidden whims
beneath my belt.

"sink," you say,
"your pretty white teeth
into deliciousness not
seen or heard
and you will know
the beauty of the world."
yet tomorrow's the apocolypse--
rain of crimes unforgiven--
but you lay sweetly
at my side and slither lies
through closed teeth.

The title and first line of this poem come from Zack's "IS NOT THE BEST THAT HEAVEN HAS."

tired of playing secondbest (poemoff 2)

tired of playing secondbest (poemoff 2)

the pastelpink rose
lying next to me
and dying
is not the best that heaven has
to offer
for my tears


The title for this poem comes from "FOR LACK OF ANY BETTER THING TO DO" by Zack.

the stars have not burnt my skin (poemoff 2)

the stars have not burnt my skin (poemoff 2)

whisper her your soul
in the soft wind of snowflakes
catching in eyelashes

i do not know your
memories of chest compressed
by days that are too long
and nights unremembered

the moon is dark
and yet i see
when i pull back my shade
the glistening white of
diamonds in the dust

The title of this poem comes from "YOU ARE A WARMRED SACK" by Zack.