Dot of Rain

A dot of rain
splashed on the glass
of an eye: watching
wet wheels hiss
through wet streets
streaked with light
tonight, mirrors of rivers
rushing through grates
over tunnels that lead
to the sea

.

Unbroken Highway

There’s weather over everything,
like a hovering pregnancy—

people’s faces punctuate
their own private climates

and if the weather’s bad inside you
that’s the blues—

wind hwooing through spaces
between buildings and trees

as traffic speeds
through an unbroken highway

.

Watching And Waiting

He’s got the blue cheese face of a miser
He’s got the soft white breast of a swan
He walks with thin swift feet on the jagged concrete
In the first rose blush of the dawn

He’s got his lock box stocked up for later
He’s got a serpent’s smile at night
He’s got jackpot dreams and a blizzard of schemes
He’ll unleash when the moment is right

He’s been sittin’ gettin’ bitter while the rest of ‘em play
But he’s gonna do something that’11 make you say
Hey! That guy is great!

He’s got his priceless bits of distinction
He’s in a club without any card
There’s a glint in his eye like a shivering sky
Before the rain starts coming down hard

He shakes like a tottering tower
He hums like and unsung tone
There’s a hiss in his voice that whispers of joys
That he left alone long ago

He’s been sittin’ gettin’ bitter while the rest of ‘em play
But he’s gonna do something that’11 make you say
Hey! That guy is great!

There was a time when he loved to go dancing
There was a time when he swam in a song
He was brave, he was glad, always gave what he had
To the chances that came along

But he got rocked by disappointment
‘Cause he could not have it all
He felt like a fool and he spit in the pool
And now he hides behind a high wall

He’s been sittin’ gettin’ bitter while the rest of ‘em play
But he’s gonna do something that’11 make you say
Hey! That guy is great!

.

Flotsam Hotel

I’m living in limbo
In the Flotsam Hotel
It’s after midnight
But I can’t keep still

These patterns of shadows
That crawl on my wall
The hiss of the water
Those steps in the hall

Those awful voices
In my head start to roar
They’re getting so loud
I can’t take any more

I’ve got to get out
I’ve got to get out the door

There’s a stink in the hallway
That’s crowded with ghosts
And shuddering murmurs
Behind every door

In a booth in the lobby
The night manager waits
With a thick plastic window
In front of his face

He surveils me
As I stare at my feet
And push my way through
The heavy steel gate

And then I’m out there
I’m out on the street

A wasteland of faces
In the desolate glare
A desperate current
Runs through the air

In all of those faces
The same hollow stare
A hunger for something
That just isn’t there

I duck in a corner store
To buy a cheap beer
From a youngster much
Too tough for his years

God! I’m thinking
I’ve got to get out of here!

Our business is finished
And I’m back on the street
I get trapped in the sites of
A drug-ravaged queen

Not a man or a woman
But a being in between
She croaks a proposal
That I can’t repeat

It’s hell to think how
Someone ends up like that
It’s as if she’s captured
In a permanent trap

And her soul escaped her
And she can’t get it back

The bosses of business
With cynical grins
Know somebody loses
When somebody wins

When you start losing
It feels like you fell
Straight through the floor of
The Flotsam Hotel

.

What To Do

I know! Let’s kill

the tv and see

what happens

The cold bright

image fades

with a fizzzz

A bomb-blast

of silence spreads

through the room

It’s hard

to look at

each other

Ghostly

noise grows

in my mind

Nerves

hum like

sizzling wires

Does anybody

know any

good jokes?

.

Gathering Evidence

We gather under flowers of fireworks,
beneath a big booming array.
BadaBAM! BadaBAM!
Who doesn't love a bouquet?

A silver chrysanthemum spreads overhead,
dissolves in a shower of sparks
and a sudden stuttering powdery
thup! thup! thup!

A hyacinth bursts in their wake,
red florettes spinning on their spots
in the smoky sky, exploding separately:
cap-blast claps applauding the audience.

We're here! And to honor the moment
a champagne daffodil fills the air,
a trumpet of sex, a jet of gold light
pouring froth from its sides with a galloping frap!

Each dollop a frap! that snaps in a splattering blast.
Rejoice! The event is any event.
We huddle in the darkness like thumbprints,
gathering evidence.



.

A Breath In The Rain

Six shapes

Almost motionless

In the misty air

(Not raining yet)

We wait

For a morning train

To take us elsewhere

It’s not what we want to do

But there’s not much else to really choose

Do you do it too?

Mornings

Weigh down on me

Like a final sky

(No air up there)

This place

Is home to trouble for

A million other lives

Every time I take a breath in the rain

I feel a shiver running through my veins

Here it comes

Birds burst

Just overhead

Like a sudden bloom

(And then they’re gone)

Good God!

That’s beautiful!

Did you see it too?

Into the sky they go

Maybe it’s not what they want to do

I don’t know

.