We study the piecesof the puzzlesplayed on the kitchen table just me and my special daughter,the one with the flashflood anger,who screamsan unconvincingly“I hate you!”right to my face. When she ragesI comfort her through inexplicable tantrumsboiling tears and the confessional non sequitur“I hate Dad!”  We keep taking herto doctors who remaincurelessand we pray to Jesusto keep things placidbut it’s still a minefield. Strangers don’t always ...

Looking around this profane and prodigiousmarketplace,there is one answerfor everything: larger breasts. If it cannot sell on its own merits, if it is deemed inferior and rightfully ignoredby the masses then put a pair of big tits on it. And if the tits aren’t big enough, make them bigger. This is neither a great secret nor insightas endless magazine coversadvertisementstelevision showsand elective surgeriesdemonstrate. While I protest the smug and callous exp...

Marry me todayand bathe this momentin golden hope promise that you cannot live without mejust as my heartknows this truthfor me light our unity candle with your adoring gaze let us embraceexchanging whispersas we sway to a songthat only we hear and when we’re apart walk through your daywistfully awarethat you are incomplete and meet me back here at this spotand speed my pulseand gladden my soul just say yesand forever starts right here marry me todayand e...

As elusive as the mystery of that rattling sound under the hoodof my ’79 Aspenis poetry. Auto mechanicslike poetssee how everything should fitand can discern a perfect specimenimmediately but I’ve no formal schoolingin anything artistic. I tried writing poemsplaysessaysand jokesfailingin predictableunremarkable waysas the self-taught often do. This all startedas a way to soothemy lifelong sadness. I made myself little toys to amuse myselfand take mesomewhere ...

Don’t oversleepdon’t curse the alarm clockdon’t wake up the others don’t go to work without shavingdon’t wear that tie with those pantsdon’t leave without kissing her goodbye don’t drive like a maniacdon’t get in an accidentdon’t be late to the office don’t be unproductivedon’t go to non-work-related websitesdon’t daydream about sex don’t skip lunchdon’t eat any trans fatsdon’t talk to a...

Strolling throughthe church courtyardI passed the purple flowers and suddenly a host of butterflies appeared and swirled about mein mad abandon. This floating laurelof fluttering wingssurrounded meand became my retinue. As I walked among themI heard them singing: “Glory to God on high!King David has returned to us!” I did nothingto dispel their myth as I stepped into my carand drove away.

 Hundreds of poetry websites
thousands of poets
millions of poems.I send up mine
and hope it will not be lost
in the cyber-abyss
but I know better.My smoke sculpture soul
and precious imagery
are superfluous and temporalas inconsequential
as the confetti
trampled and left for deadin Times Square
on New Year’s Day
at 6:07 a.m. 

It feels quicker than a blink
since I first saw you
and took you to raise up
as my very own.
Through laughter, patience
scrapes and tenderness,
I readied you for
a cold and undeserving world.

Through the seasons
you blossomed
and the world became
resplendent with possibility
when seen through your
naive and limitless vision.
I knew the world
would sing your song
once you taught them.

You asked if I was ready
and I snapped awake
from my reverie.
With a weak, sincere sm...

Somewhere else
is what I want

but right here
is all I'm gonna get

and all I need
according to God.

So I'll walk through it
without booze
or pills
or illicit thrills.

You walked through
this howling madhouse
of no escape
and let them
nail you to the cross
where you died for me.

You're just a
big show-off
Jesus.

You suffered for me.

I pray I can
return the favor.

All night I worshipped her blankety-blank
without a single thankety-thank

so I called her a middle-aged blankety-blank
(to give her collar a yankety-yank)

then I pinched her on the blankety-blank
(it was really just a prankety-prank)

she hissed "don't you touch my blankety-blank!"
(I was hoping she'd give me a spankety-spank)

but she just covered up her blankety-blank
and asked how much I drankety-drank

and then my heart just sankety-sank
when she declared

"never again, w...

You just can’t understand
the pressure
the expectation

everyone claiming you
wanting a piece of you

the Jews claim me
as one of theirs own
but you know how
that all ended up

and the Christians
think they’re all doing things
in my name

the Muslims call me
a prophet
but still subordinate me

the Buddhists draw parallels
and come closer than most

and the atheists love me
because they find their strongest arguments
in my weakest followers

I’m tired of being ever...

We sleep together
deep through the winter
restlessly in summer

we fall asleep holding hands
sometimes curled like shrimp
sometimes we are a
human pretzel
of limbs
desire
dreams and exhaustion

in between our sleeping
we nurture small triumphs
we persevere
we work through
misunderstanding
and unintentional hurt
but thankfully
we ripple with laughter too

on nights
when I can’t sleep
I watch her sleeping
and smile so big
that I can almost hear it

I study the
effo...

I’m looking for
a slower and kinder
world

where little things
aren’t passed over
and cellphones don’t
buzz like horseflies

where kindness isn’t
an inconvenience
because there’s
never too much
of a hurry

I will savor that
spicy Thai chicken
and really try to
penetrate
the mystery of that sky
and how blue
can it really be

and money can’t
buy it
and it cannot be
possessed

just gently coaxed
from a grateful heart

it all goes by
so quickly
seemingly ra...

in my sadness
I went to the bookstore
to find something
that would fix me

In the "Self-Help" section
I found books on
money
sex
communication
dieting
dating & romance

but not

how to undo painful memories
how to make the newness reappear
how to make her forget
that really cruel and hateful remark
I had been saving up
for years

I left without
buying anything
when I realized
I was too late

I didn't need
a self-help book

I needed a time machine

Here I go again

secretly picking up
my favorite blade
and cutting myself

I don't know
what I'm chasing
but sometimes
I find it

perhaps someday
I'll no longer need
to pick at the scab
and feel the sting
as I tear
my beautiful brown skin open
to provide a canvas
for all this pain

sometimes
if the skin is intact
I will swallow it
in a shameful communion

"this is my body
broken by everyone"

and as the full rich red
slowly drips
down my forearm
I taste it ...