I call it Voiceterbating

I'll hum and click and sing for hours
keeping my fingers busy
dice or jewelry
loose change and trinkets


humming clicking
playing with the sounds, holding them

mouth
throat
chest
nose

nonsensical syllables
chopped up and delivered
into rhythms
that go on for minutes
that wind along like lifetimes
and get shot through
with bursts of birdsong,
crystallized howlings
and whooping exclamations of joy or regret


I couldn't tell you what I'm thinking
starring blankly at busy fingers
dice or jewelry
loose change and trinkets
voiceterbating

Plea to the Popular Universe

a little mercy, please
just a little mercy
on your latest violent offender
I've never set out
to leave anyone in pain
it's always meant to be
blunt
swift
and ending
a little mercy, please
a little mercy
for the hopelessly lost
I've not found anywhere
where I felt I might stay
I've not screamed
to be taken back anywhere
all I ask
a little mercy, please
while I continue
to destroy myself

hangover,
breakfast sandwich,
Barry Manilow

jukebox blasting classic rock
dancin'
drunken chatter and laughs

it doesn't matter if we
hardly hear
each other's
whiskey scented words

baby,
it's our eyes that are doin'
all the talkin'

those lonely Brunz nights

the record stops playin'
candle lights fade
just a drop of wine
in the bottle

i take
one last drag of my cigarette
stretch out across the floor
and the stillness
of the room
slowly seeps in

waiting waiting wanting waiting

A still shot torn
left on the cutting room floor
cigarettes on your voice

Small Wonder

a tiny ship on a vast
expansive sea
sometimes there are
many ships
usually there are not
sometimes the weather is golden
often it is not
sometimes the roundness
of the world is made apparent
and sunlight makes the water a mirror
of heaven
holy and reflective and transforming
but usually it is just lonely

To prevent the moon from disappearing
Stare at the moon
Never blink when others are blinking
and always think
about the moon