some new short poems

animal sense

some dogs know where the sun went
they can smell a sunbeam as it inches away
how the sun pulls us all up straight from the ground
like needles from a ball, like limbs from a body
if the post is cracked what will the gate hitch to?
it will swing over the cold, muddy ground
it will fly apart like a dandelion's old head
the oddest cat just entered my yard
it owns the world more than i ever will
it's not afraid of predators
it just watches silently
as they take away its kittens


insect sense

a dominion of earthworms convene under the moon
fireflies, dragonflies, rocketflies, far from blame
silk worms pull locomotives with thousands of strands of silk
in the same way that blood hardens when baked


save the prince!

for better times, we plan ahead
retreaded tires and buttered bread
an extra spool of premium thread
will guarantee the prince's head


there she goes again

she turns around and leaves, but not before
dragging her hand across the rough wall
the faintest sound coming from the back door
a boot, firmly placed, the right amount of pressure
five broken bottles all leaking on the countertop


the problem with things that are round

late at night the stars lower their hair like Rapunzel
early in the morning the earth's hair stands on end
atom bombs can be made now that are smaller than golf balls
if you hold them in your mouth they taste like butterscotch
if you run around the world in a true straight line
you'll fall off the world, not because it's flat,
but because your path is.


nothing ever stops

if i close my eyes, the world explodes
if i bump my head, a crowd holds its breath
under the brightest moon, the night bugs are busy
we think the world stops when we do
but nothing ever stops, it all just rolls on
we all learned to walk, not one step at a time
but all steps at once, all fears exposed