THE DIGITAL COMPANION
Clock Counting
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ISection I
23 poems
Section I
23 poems
01On Black HolesI fold darkness small;one loose thread could swallow me.Nothing weighs so much.EXPLORE →02New Haven Bus StopHave-nots line the wall,blacktop barnacles in rain,waiting to be bussed.EXPLORE →03AstrologyWe knot stars to fate.They are busy exploding,not giving a damn.EXPLORE →04Irises UnfinishedHis glance writes a lifeacross the ice in my glass,then leaves it half-told.EXPLORE →05I Don’t KnowOne soft “I don’t know”beneath the prophets’ shouting—a moth loves the lamp.EXPLORE →061725 Jefferson Park AvenueWeeds breach the floorboards.Ants shoulder crumbs through my dreams;I sleep through lessons.EXPLORE →07Morning CryTears strike my oatmeal—not with sorrow, but with sparks:too much dawn in me.EXPLORE →08EdgewiseI hide broken glass;Mom finds my secret treasure.I sink past her voice.EXPLORE →09Reflections on Thinking about ThinkingThought reflects on thought.Where the heart was, a crater—no echo comes home.EXPLORE →10Angel StudiesBooks give angels wings.God forbid we trust someonewho can bruise and bleed.EXPLORE →11LovingLove, a flock of beaks,stitches nests into your frowntill the corners lift.EXPLORE →12Saw TeethTwo minds, matching saws;we meet, hoping teeth will mesh;are shredded instead.EXPLORE →13Kurt, Isaac, AndrewAlone with the proof,you cup a flame none have seen,then light the way back.EXPLORE →14Lost BoysBike wheels split traffic;discarded boys force the brakesto admit their worth.EXPLORE →15Brasserie of BabelWords fail over eggs.A Belgian mouth meets my own—at last, fluent French.EXPLORE →16Cycle MaggotsWe ring the same belland come running when it calls,hungry for the leash.EXPLORE →17FlightA matchstick takes flight;waves count time I cannot hold.Still, no one is you.EXPLORE →18ResortPalms, stand straight. No fruit.Keep the fucking sand outside.Welcome to the beach.EXPLORE →19Clock CountingI count clocks alone:big hands, small hands, none to hold.No second allowed.EXPLORE →20MALThey dress up in straps.My mind grew around a shiv.I can’t take mine off.EXPLORE →21New Year's in San FranciscoNew year, milk-white lip;his passing smile becomes song.I take it with me.EXPLORE →22Three StrikesYour vows are to him.No god promised us this joy;lightning strikes again.EXPLORE →23Idle HandsHell keeps idle handsboxed beside their unlived lives;not one lifts a thumb.EXPLORE →
IISection II
13 poems
Section II
13 poems
01Serendipity PrayerYour feet spark with joy.Dawn finds the grief in the smoke—passion’s other name.EXPLORE →02Your Eyes’ BlueYour eyes shelter blue—small lamps from a drowned childhood,lit without promise.EXPLORE →03DiagnosisYour words fall like stones.The eyes that once dreamed of flightturn their pockets out.EXPLORE →04Part WaysA shared point of light:the old circles intersect.You leave; I can’t come.EXPLORE →05The Rocking ChairI sweep your absencelike glitter from every room.One chair waits for you.EXPLORE →06Why Not AskEach time you check in,you pull one more Jenga block.I call; waves answer.EXPLORE →07LithiumWhite flag, paper wings;I walk to the pharmacy.More than salt, perhaps.EXPLORE →08The Night BeforeWords retreat to silk.Your eyes, two wide wells of moon—were you even there?EXPLORE →09Ode to Eye SocketsMy eyes thank their cavesfor the glass they did not meet—darkness keeping light.EXPLORE →10FencingBright teeth in the weeds—fences guide more than they guard.Read before you cross.EXPLORE →11On Meeting GabrielBodies miss their cue.Two souls undress in their place;time forgets to watch.EXPLORE →12Dear Kaleidoscopes and Water WheelsHide your colored glass.The machine needs only teeth;grind your gifts to gray.EXPLORE →13LuciérnagasBy the church, we glow—a ring of brief red embersno one stops to count.EXPLORE →
IIISection III
20 poems
Section III
20 poems
01Not For BumpingBlack veils, candy cars;not for crashing, but to steera life, for one lap.EXPLORE →02Ode to an Errant Tennis BallBright ball in the mulch,they beat the bounce out of you.I’m stranded here too.EXPLORE →03Banach-TarskiHumpty hears the proof:one cracked egg could have been two.Now he’s twice as mad.EXPLORE →04F*** FebruaryWinter’s runt shits slush,tracks wet paws through everything,then calls that a month.EXPLORE →05Pink Popcorn TreesPink trees make no pledge.Roots drink just enough to bloom;peace falls, petal-soft.EXPLORE →06Botanical EncyclopediaPetals, drawn to scale.I close the book; a tulipbeats between the leaves.EXPLORE →07Discovery in the Style of FermatI’ve solved everything.The proof will not fit insidethis little haiku.EXPLORE →08Stone Fruit SkyPeach and plum clouds steam;a small genie grants ten dreams—no wishes, not yet.EXPLORE →09The TruthPast death, by the sea,truth waits in a sealed letter.Read, or let it rest.EXPLORE →10Ode to Mme. GodetEnglish after dark.Her wrath floods the world we pierced.Shame speaks fluent French.EXPLORE →11Beat PoetsTwo words from my dad:spent bards, beets, or a command—go on, poets, beat!EXPLORE →12Both SidesTouch smooths every edge;islands shape beaks to their seeds.What shapes orphaned thoughts?EXPLORE →13Odd Imperfect FriendLet the primes pair off.I would rather be myself:odd, imperfect, yours.EXPLORE →14Ode to Doubting ThomasOne voice asks for proof.The bowed heads had questions too.Doubt earns my blessing.EXPLORE →15Ode to Female Indian Software EngineersShe drops off her child.Wild machines heed her soft voice;whole worlds run on her.EXPLORE →16Postmortem ATTN:For my final frame,pick the best of sixty selves—the one that got woofs.EXPLORE →17Rule 30One rule inks a shell.I lose it to drinks and years;its pattern finds me.EXPLORE →18Matter Changes StateFriends dissolve, unasked.Some change once, into diamonds.Time can’t blur their light.EXPLORE →19War & PeaceA jet tears the sky.A monarch stitches it shutwithout any sound.EXPLORE →20Advice for a Bright DotBright dot, not yet home:the weight you bear will be wingsin a sky that fits.EXPLORE →