Did I Miss A Day?

New Valentine

2012-02-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Through andthrough
to master thepurpose
one assignsoneself
to wake up freely
inside thepoem
just here atthe mid-
point feel itfeel itself
assessing thevastness
acknowledgingthe nothing
not originalto you
as itdisperses and descends
referring toitself
as ‘through’

Yesterday's Valentine

2012-02-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

How do weinvest
in something astransitory
as transparentas a life
in the fleshwho can
settle down onthis earth
and make astay no one
can stand itmore than
a century andmany
of the bestare bleakest
spendingbrilliantly
then quickly movingon
some at least having
left us inpictures
and words atemporary
reason todelay

Valentine's Valentine

2012-02-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

When it rainshere
the trees andplants
get a day offand can
sleep ineven deeper
you can hearthe roots
munchingcuddling
entering thedream
of the earthwarmth
while abovethey pull
the blanketscloser
around theirnaked bodies
to get in outof the weather
of thisman-made world

King's Valentine

2012-02-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Some leavesturn into faces
before theyhit the ground
they believein future lives
because theyhave still not
exceeded theirtrue calling
within each ofus a genius
strugglesunder a stupid king
two hillshidden behind
two mountainsknock-knock
in one oftheir past lives
you were a walledgarden
and I was awandering vine
and I went farfrom any garden
drawn byunseen horses
and you I havenot touched you since
the four windstore you apart
and your facewent under

Even's Valentine

2012-02-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

A first staris budding
in the Palo Verdetree
is that whyyou’re barking

even when youcan’t see me
and I can’tsee you
it’s what we’rethinking

and we’restill blinking
in clusters wethe children
of theiramazement and chagrin

O to be donewith poetry
for it to havemade its mark
accomplishedits twilight

so we can moveon
to the realmagic
the purer night

Dying Valentine

2012-02-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

Only the dead can
counsel thedying
only those whohave
been therethemselves
who know thescore
but who hasn’tbeen there
where there’sno there
multiple timesbefore
as encountersfrom afar
with theserious minds
of our space-in-timeattest
this must bedoubt
the stage ofdullness lost
andblessedness not yet

Rainy Valentine

2012-02-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Since nothingonce
experienced orloved
is lostforever we’ve
inventedmemory
as witness signand seal
a few tokenssaved of doubt-
less velocity whichone day
will fittogether nicely
proving space
the fivethousand pieces
in fortyshades of green and blue
we’ve beenworking on for lifetimes
a mere excrescenceof time’s
endless beforeand after
but fun towork on
when it rains

Feather Gift Valentine

2012-02-08T12:15:00.003-07:00

A tiny featherI watched
from fiftyfeet away
floating anddrifting slowly
suddenlylanding at my foot
my left foot Iretrieved
it with myright hand
placing it inmy left palm
a thing soslight
turnedsideways it’s invisible
but looked atmore closely
its lineamentsare cloud-like
so it’s hardnot to remark
even in ascientific way
where itlearned its art

Three Years Valentine

2012-02-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

I pray forpeople
who think theyknow
what poetryisn’t
capable ofsubmitting to
given theappropriate past
to build adream on
in the threeyears
from 1798 to1801
John Keats andGiacomo Leopardi
shared the airNovalis breathed
just asSimonides had
the moral airof nine years old
as can happenon Second Avenue
or near thebridge which
of course isnot only a bridge
the bridge ofsighs
but too manyconsonants
mean thelanguage
can’t betrusted

Future Rose Valentine

2012-02-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

I stopped byto prune
the rose bushfull
of dead headsand
to give itwater the dark
house cold behindme
empty as adead bird
leaves kickedagainst
the door andpapers
blown in underthe false
bird ofparadise bush
the rosemary deadtoo
except for afew sprigs of blue
what we do nowor don’t
becomes thenatural world
the whole futureof the rose

Character's Valentine

2012-02-06T10:49:00.003-07:00

Isn’t being inlove
a last-gaspeffort
to restore one’schildhood’s
level of trustin angels
where want andwill
share the samebed
as they still doin German
for all reallove is
childlike incharacter
only children canlook
at God oranything directly
before allthat fades
and to be freeas that
we may still want
but to thinkwe have it
now because wehave
the word forit
is a great deceit

Floating Valentine

2012-02-05T10:33:00.002-07:00

What does itmatter
if you’re ahuman being
a plant or a stone
floating abovethe plain
oldentanglements
among hisseveral
misgivings whatdoes
an orangutanpout about
knowing helives
in the heartof all love
let him pushon
into otherworlds
standing onthe sky
fondled by thestars

Green Valentine

2012-02-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

At least once inthe spring
may you drive theroad
from Firenze toRavenna
that Giottogoat-path
twisting through justgreen
valleys andhillsides
stillshepherds still vineyards
and ask whatit reminds
you of slidingback in time
from Dante’seyes to the 5^th
century baptistery where Jesus
waist-deep in the Jordan
naked against a golden sky
receives his enlightenment

while a river god hands him

agreen mantle to wear

and westep back to gasp

Time's Valentine

2012-02-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

One hill slidesinto another hill
until youreach us from hell
the ninthlayer of the earth
the latestruin and crust
until you can’thear
the cauldronat its core
anymore like looking
straight intothe sun
unbearablewink of Time
out of whichwe’ve not
so much fallenas were
pushedbrowsing strolling
into thisspatial world
which kidnapstime
and torturesit and makes
it feelcowardly and small
so far fromhome

Etheric Valentine

2012-02-01T14:02:00.002-07:00

From love came
light and air
that much isclear
water camelater
and then matter
but what beganas man
was to bebroken
into kindertoten
lieder blood
made into mud
an Ahriman in
every buildingplan
a Christ in every
budding sun

Careful Valentine

2012-01-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

Carefully heselects
a teabag froma large
variety ofoptions
finding onefor sore throats
then standingfor a few minutes
at thecupboard choosing
a cup from alifetime of cups
finding one inthe back
hidden a darkblue
I forget whereI picked
you up hemutters forgiveness
is the simplefruit
ofself-knowledge the water
just boilinghe pours and waits
letting itsteep and steam
every secondhealthier
every second yourname

Giacomo's Valentine

2012-01-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Whilecontrails play
X marks thespot
above theruined city
I sit indappled shade
readingLeopardi
like a princeon holiday
with the goodsense to enjoy
this gem-likeday
the abandonedhillside
of this nightperched
above the sea
in the silent distance
until Ineither think nor feel
my heart skipsa little
at the storms ahead
who remember eternity
so muchclearer
and thefoundering
than we do

Valentine for Pierre Reverdy and Max Jacob

2012-01-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Often in ouryouth
when we feltan anachronism
creep near
soon a godwould step
out frombehind the stony
curtain of thebodies
we lovedthrough
in those days
now I feel hadhe said
by my ownperceptions
which the pastis full of
hundreds ofyears later
had andhumbled
by our ownyouthful courage
which couldonly
carry us sofar

Gemini Valentine

2012-01-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have neverbeen more
exasperated withmyself
and strangelynever
morecompassionate
with theexasperation
I feel comingtoward me
and through me
but how manychances
to kiss and makeup
do I give myself
before mycompassion
peters out and
my eternal exasperation
gives up onitself

Empty Valentine

2012-01-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

I grew thesefrom seed:
two wonderfularms
two wonderfullegs

and wonderfulhow two
proved thebasis for
everything Igrew

and killed andgrew

imaginetraveling miles
for aparticular color

an idea withchildhood
written allover it
as if it weren’t

a red and purple
sea hustling
a predatory people

but aneggshell you
gave me to care for
aspear of celery

and acold sunny
afternoon’sthree wasted
wishes we willbuild

new birdhouses and
they will comeback
three daysthey cried

circling theemptiness
where theirhedge had stood
where they hadnested for years

and that wasjust one group

Hazy Moon Valentine

2012-01-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

A landscape ofquiet dust
under theglass dining table
as the sunpasses by
creating anddestroying spaces
we have onlyaccumulated
into matterfor a while
as a barrieragainst sadness
is built or adam against some
flood bound torearrange us
but not to becarried away
or getenchanted by
material freshlyemerging
from thestitching of millions
of tinyinvisible elements
underuncertain conditions
wemisrepresent as ours
our river ourtime
but to getintelligently lost
and sleep in astrange bed
and wake amongstars

Gracious Valentine

2012-01-22T10:49:00.002-07:00

Hey cadastre
hither line byline I’ve
set this leasteasement
in higherindifference
in the metesof love
and boundswhere they
kept theiroriginal t
the forerunnerof more
modestlanguages
unmarked bymonuments
as how you sayeagerly
similar andspecious
in our anytimegoing
from grace tograce

Risen Valentine

2012-01-21T21:33:00.001-07:00

Especiallybeautiful tonight
is thesleepwalking wind
through alleysthrough creeks
a coldpsalmist in cloaks
of living silk
a cellular succulence
in the density
of the god of darkness
driving themoon
out of sight singing
I have something to say
but I have no one
to say it to

Choleric Valentine

2012-01-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Even there atthe level
of bacteria
a signal tostop
swimming and
lodge in thewalls
of the small
intestine aterrific
readiness torespond
to radicallychanging
chemicalenvironments
to return toprior
conditions andimpulses
no longer relevantcolonies
angrilydriving out
all moisture and life

Ear's Valentine

2012-01-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

You were sitting
in the sun Iwas
sitting in theshade
the hearing inmy
left ear isgoing
going where I said
don’t youremember
you didn’thear me
it was alwaysyour
insouciance Iloved
most about youI
heard youclearly say
the sun waswarming
you the shadewas
cooling me off
can a hearthave
tinnitus minewas
ringing offthe hook
don’t youremember
you didn’thear me

Whisperer's Valentine

2012-01-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

If our betterangels
are as farabove us
as we areabove the
animalkingdoms
the compositeflower
each sointricately is
I try toimagine their
profoundfrustration
infinitepatience as
ourtrainer-teachers
whispering and
herding usthrough
our lives towardsome
harvest like how
today my angel
told me to inspect
my hands everyday
and ask myselfif I
remember how I
made them andwhy

Martin's Valentine

2012-01-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

We do what welove
and we love todo it
we love eviland we do evil
thinkingbecause we love it
it must begood
or we love todo
whatever andcall it
good becauseall these
preliminaryquestions
must getdiscussed
among ourincipient selves
but then theaudience
goes blind andsilent
the curtainopens on a castle
an old man isknocking
at the gate

Not My Parents Valentine

2012-01-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

A very oldcouple at Fry’s
staring at theheartburn
remediesdisplay
theireffortless calm
in the face of
the diaperaisle
how they holdstill
as thecosmetics section
passes them bytrembling
I meet themagain
heading forthe exit
him holding aclutch
of yellow freesias
her hugging afifth
of scotch

Mani's Valentine

2012-01-11T09:39:00.002-07:00

Today I turnedto Mani for help
he of theManicheans
whose namemeans the jewel
who was flayedalive
by those whocame to believe
killingsomeone ends their life
forgettingtheir home with the gods
just an ideaamong ideas
among streetsand bridges
how can westill not speak
to one anotheras light
to light stillnot know
ourselves aschildren
of the sun andmoon

Your Valentine

2012-01-10T11:00:00.002-07:00

From thegleams
in gems tothe colors
in flowers andwings
to the firesin eyes to
the light inminds
to the seeingpast
bodies pastbrains
to pictures inthe past
from thebeginning of
memory to the sense
of a futureself the true
long-prepared-forone
but for whatfor
whom if notyou

Misunderstood Valentine

2012-01-09T10:02:00.002-07:00

On secondthought
there is theother cheek
half-empty twin
the double and
the object subjectto
incomprehensibility
which is notmerely
a misunderstanding
or acompensation for
the one wholoses you
half-waythrough
theconversation
but the one whofinds you
in his eyes

Alone Valentine

2012-01-08T10:47:00.002-07:00

The sunlightthrough
their tail-wingswhen
they’re at thefeeder
in the morningis
lovely andferocious
but do youreally think
writing in crumbling
columns is away of
imprisoning theirsongs
it seems Ihave
encouraged awar
that can only lead
to their destruction
then my own
the afternoons
are calmerwhen
the feeder’sempty
I’m alone

Lily's Epiphany Valentine

2012-01-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Maybe you have
just one more
day inside you
have to shed
beforeconclusively
withoutpretense
you’re dead
and start to
stink as dying
process callsout
to dyingprocess
along the stem
your five arms
into ashesshrivel
what was petal
what was flame

Twelfth Night Valentine

2012-01-05T10:10:00.003-07:00

Losing warmth
to gainprecision
as soon asthere
are two thereare
edges gatheredtogether
in our names
bird seed forthe birds
gone to warfor
isn’t thatitself the canary
I know how you’restalking
me no not youclear reader
of the secretscript
a forest ofnasturtiums
the trees ofparadise
in our antdays

Sleeping Valentine

2012-01-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Is it stillhard
in heaven
to get used to
thedecontamination
of love from
rage when we
really see how
narrow hownervous
we were onearth
what isreasonable
treatment whenyou
glimpsedriving an
old mansleeping
on the side ofthe road
our sorrystories
even in heaven
still hard tohear

Overheard Valentine

2012-01-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

That firstnight
orange treesblooming
one hugesilent bell ringing
how it shakes
what isgreener
twenty yearslater
a few drops ofwater
dribbled onthe tongue
all we couldswallow
of one another
I was dying ofyou
in the nextbed
it wassomething you said
cut me dead

Neighbor's Valentine

2012-01-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

I saw death
pass through
my yard on hisway
to my neighbor’s
last night I
dreamed death
comes to each
of us in theform
of a tinyspider
three daysbefore
our actualdeath
which we brush
off quicklywith
perhaps ashiver
a thing so insignificant
no one remembers
afterwards
getting tagged

Habitual Valentine

2012-01-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

As long as
you make ahabit
of living you
have to break
it howevertomorrow
distantly pain
takes up therefusal
to change why
else are you
dancing togather
lift andcontrail
mouse-tracks in
the snow up to
a certain hush
of wings

First Day Valentine

2012-01-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

The fortune
left on thetable
but the cookiegone
I keep moving
around theroom
until thesunlight
fills it theguest
has arrivedthen
I lie down andlet
his warmthroll
over me thetips
of the treesare
illuminatedfirst
then my toes
he holds me
to the fire of
his love I had
to say it or
have we notall
come to be
extinguished
on this earth
not air tobreath
but light

Resolutions Valentine

2011-12-31T10:42:00.001-07:00

To bring into
my sleep
the whole tree
of knowledge
like a rabbit
from a hat
and to bring back
into here now
a new love
for small things
small movements
of perceptionin
the corners
of your mouth
when you do
what you do

Certain Valentine

2011-12-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

At a certainangle
of love thesun’s
rays penetrate
to the deepest
part of thecave
and gather
themselves into
a luminous
pool of white
awareness
that canshatter
at least once
the darknessof
this place before
it moves on

Struggling Valentine

2011-12-29T11:55:00.001-07:00

Morality canbe a play
for copingwith fear
the melodramaof matter
and ofmattering
knowing forsure
you will bekilled
since nobodydies
willingly orto have
seen thelittleness
of our naturein its most
grandioseschemes
and to maintain
a mountainrange
of equilibriumand poise
a warm breeze when
cooler heartsfreeze

In the Museum Alley Valentine

2011-12-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

The traildepends on
whoever walksit
the way thewater-walkers
reflect thecontrails above
this year’sJesus
was a laughing
baby on YouTube
who made us
laugh and laugh
it'smind-wrenching
andheart-wrenching
what we’vebecome
since Dickens
Christ theghost
the ingot
come littlelambs

Museum of the Innocents Valentine

2011-12-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Natural to themortal mind
is a nobleheart that doubts
not merely thelove it generates
but all itsother parts as well
when love isabsent or forgone
beings wholearned their logic
listening totheir parents quarrel
tend not todiscover what is noble
kind alertfearsome quiet
except inlibraries or alleys
in open fieldsof snow
watching thesun move
from the woman’sface
to the angel’sface to
the man’s withonly
a drop of itfalling
on the childbelow

St. Stephen's Valentine

2011-12-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

Suddenly apomegranate
crashes on thebricks
so loudly Icome to
check it out andfind
the sorrybrain
a nest ofrubies and
a brown stainon
the insidewalls like
creases on thecheeks
of saints andall the while
in the back amanic
mockingbird’s grinding
industry ofsong
troubling but untroubled
keeps onkeeping on

Christmas Valentine

2011-12-25T11:35:00.002-07:00

The enduringversus
the endearing
though notfrom eros
do we learn
to go onliving
the seed oflove
is buried in the head
packed tightas
a pomegranate’s
blood seed
thoughtsdripping
on the snow
an end therein
of all we know
and sing

Orange Valentine

2011-12-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

I’d look likeI just got off
the boat an expression
of my mother’swearing
those shoes ah
the slurs of yesteryear
where have yougone
how July’swarm gesture
gets refusedby November’s
brusqueturning and
walking away
in December Iwait
for you tocall
watching theoranges ripen
to theirjuiciest point
the colder itgets

Between Nazareth and Bethlehem Valentine

2011-12-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

All lives aresolitary
all lives are salutary
all lives aren’tset
among quietlyfalling leaves
on sunny emptystreets
all lives arecautionary tales
all cautionarytales are alike
but not alllives are alike
after busilyfallen leaves
now I see thatplastic owl
is stillsitting on the roof
all this time Iforgot OMG
to take himdown

Solstice Valentine

2011-12-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Aconsciousness
can only be builtup
oncorrespondences
if we canagree
in the finalpicture
that there canonly be
states ofconsciousness
in theuniverse
starting withlogic
as it exactsits
rough penance
first asforetaste
of realsuffering
unconsciouslyself-imposed
and then asthe true
realities ofthe world
assume theirplaces
the sun but nothis surrogates
who appear to bereal
but distinguishthemselves
as clearillusions
in the fieldsof light

Beauty's Valentine

2011-12-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

When young
I was told
my longearlobes
meant I would
live to a ripe
pear’s age small
splotches andhairs
would bloom
out of them
into thatfield
but when theflower
arrives itmeans
the plant isdying
self-immolating
which wemistake
for beautyartfulness
or theevolution of
color as thesecret
element behind
all creation
not the flagof
surrender andthe
lifting out ofmatter
as it waves farewell

Simple Valentine

2011-12-19T10:03:00.001-07:00

Was he a manof war
or a man ofpeace
or someone undecided
I mean did hecarry
a hatchet or abook
in his leftbreast pocket
a book ofprayers
or a book ofpoems
it’s a simplequestion
with an answerthat can
only beanother simple question
only a narcissistcares
about his ownopinions
ours is toask the questions
and havingwoken up to
the emotionsthey unfold
draw out theirimplications
as our youthforetold

Angels' Valentine

2011-12-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

How much joy
can the world contain
how muchsadder
would we like itto rain
that theuniverse shrink
to this softmass
of heart and brain
brings painunless
we let thempass us
out to the peripheral
stars and backagain
and let themreturn
let themconsume us
for whatevernutritive
value we maypossess
and let themthink us
all the wayout
to the end of shame

Christopher's Valentine

2011-12-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

Regardless ofyour name
I must insiston the story itself
its inherentoriginality
and literaryvalue its
touchingverisimilitude
as proof ofauthorship
by someintelligence or nous
arranged inlayers ply
on ply ofmetaphors
until thequestion itself
becomes areligion
but the pointis not religion
it’s about the metaphors
one thing beingcarried across
and laid intoanother thing
thenon-material world
populated withits own
calm andisolate beings
three candlesgold
and green andblue
set before athrone

Performed Valentine

2011-12-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

From our safeseats
way up in thegallery
we can watchthe end
of thinkingunfold
way down thereon
its miniaturestage
as if we werethe czars
for whosepleasure it
was all beingstaged
or outcastssneaking in
after it’sdark and started
it’s all sucha performance
most of whichflies by
or over ourheads
how theconcept
comes home tothe thing
and the thing
returns to theconcept
a whole newthing

Cloudy Valentine

2011-12-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

You must chose
to be a person
of someconstancy
or a cloud-
person theeffect
of otherforces
that can flip
you pancake
sweet person
that you are
in any event
the cleveridea
to be good to
one another
doesn’t mean
there is a god
or words areclouds
and I am not
a falling leaf

Advent Valentine

2011-12-15T09:57:00.001-07:00

A red bird rests
in the evergreen crotch
of the Christmas tree
I mean no meanness
to speak of birth
how it happens
once a year
on earth but what
did it mean to the gods
to have one sent
to betray the mystery
of death by dying
as a man in whom
a god still lived?

Beak's Valentine

2011-12-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

The day thehummingbird
broke his goldenbeak
falling on the floor
I was notabout to freak
I’d alreadysurveyed the worst
the moneyplant was dying
one leaf at atime
from someunknown disease
the sun wasilluminating
our heartsmore and more
powerfullyevery day
where was it allleading
what wouldhappen next
would we bepounded
the harderinto the earth
or borne awayhelpless
into heaven’sairless lair
we woke totrembling
the bomb ofour life
having justgone off
which somehowwe
survived tobuild again

Petitionary Valentine

2011-12-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Help me angel mine
find the karmically correct
way of meeting
these fears which undermine
my sense of self-respect
this ravenous child inside
who will remind him
of his innate good sense
in the time before the
separation and the rape
let's see what happens
with the idea of freedom
they said does the slave
select the master does the
stone become the bread

Child's Valentine

2011-12-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Let the sun
sit down
in the pail
full of rain water
a charming
three year old
splashing child
under corduroy
clouds not
the heart of
the king
it means
but the king's
way a street
in every heart

Questionnaire Valentine

2011-12-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Haven’t we hadto fight all our lives
against thedisapproval of others

but who cannotsay that

is it reallyour plan
to dispose ofone another

don’t we allbelong

to severalcivilizations at once
howevercontradictory

are our livesstill a secret
we keep fromourselves

isn’t everylife about failure

as a siblingof success

I refused tolet my parents raise me

don’t blame themnow for my excess

December Valentine

2011-12-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

Somethinghappened
to our love after
we had lived together
for several years
I could feel
someone seeing
through me Icould
sense someone thinking
my thoughts asone
of their ways oftouching
or perceivingthrough me
we seemed tobe able
to give thissomeone
back and forthto one
another and aslong as
he was with us
we were safe
and home

Cold Valentine

2011-12-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Let the coldreassess
the cruditiesof young men
he saw histhrobbing
sorrow was notthe word
joy was notthe feeling
though theworld was reeling

ripe orangesreach over

into the dark recessesof the
pomegranatetrees
in my Granada mind
but theirspirits come down
only as far asthe rain

picture ourthoughts
completely wokenup
as ifregaining the original
ground we callmagic but
don’t believein anymore
except asflesh and blood

Ashen Valentine

2011-12-10T14:59:00.001-07:00

Once a day
I try to say
in a written but
informal way
what the pond
also rises to say
or the trees see
in the fires of
winter we are
of one mind
on this
accumulation of ash
love's residue
as me as you

Transparent Valentine

2011-12-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

The way bluesenses
red backing itup
in all itsendeavors
which the oldstained-
glass windowsachieved
those firstpaintings
usingtransparent light
as its medium
outside ofrainbows
if you’vestood in one
or the flightof a thousand
Amazonianparrots
casting anorange glow
on those below
amazing as you

Will's Valentine

2011-12-08T09:44:00.001-07:00

We must not
worship furniture
and yet we do
the furniture of your
bones as they accompany
your softer parts I do
of overlapping weather
systems arranged as
organs of pleasure
and perception I do
try to build a daily
temple to and feel
that enormous will
passing through
as breeze as you

Praise Valentine

2011-12-07T09:09:00.001-07:00

Life is a page-burner barn-turner
film-noir thriller
starring Rita Hayworth-like
heroes and complications
you think of as friends
I want to be left alone
in a completely different movie
sometimes one of the floors
mutters to an end-table
but notice the humble hyphen
neither letter nor punctuation
emulate the hyphen
yea in the morning praise it
our words holding hands
sometimes their only connection

Reading Valentine

2011-12-07T09:02:00.001-07:00

Books about the end
of the world
you know
fiction
in a los Algodones
dentist's office
where you were
cleaned and
crowned
with a too-white
porcelain one
taken back
for yellowing
slightly
to match
the sawdust
of our days

Sunday Service Valentine

2011-12-04T09:57:00.001-07:00

All these complements
that make alife
my hand-madelove
I can’t carry
the one youacross
without theother me
coming along

at seven I wasa real saint
which was finefor a year
but as acareer
it leftsomething
to be desired
and a longhangover

pretending iswhat
we’re stillsending
so terrifiedto be you
I mustcontinually
construe andcling
to this me

o practice me

god ofimperfection

Moment's Valentine

2011-12-02T10:25:00.001-07:00

Poetry is themoment
of recognitionin you
that occurs in
the act ofhearing it
which isreading it
the spiral action
of its unfolding
its unwinding
as if youswallowed
some new drink
tasting it onyour
lips as itrushed
past you intoyou
hurrying tofind
some new truth
like untoitself
in your depths

Teal and Amethyst Valentine

2011-12-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

Two facespress
against the sides
of your body
so it carries theoutline
of lipssmiling
another face
rolls your head
in its mouth
until youdissolve
in tears or laughter
and finally afourth face
marries yourfeet
to back andfront
fromunderneath
until you’resurrounded
by faces notin
bodies anymore
suddenly you see
how love gaveus the right
to punish oneanother
because we promised
we would never
use it anymore

Eventual Valentine

2011-12-01T16:33:00.001-07:00

I think a clear thinker
today is someone who
hasn’t entirely goneover
to materialismyet
but whoseideals
still make himlazy
with respectto the
pragmaticprinciples
upon whichthis nation
was founded lest
everythingbecome
merely abusiness deal
butmilitaristic
religions don’tthink
that waydemocracy
is not somecult
of freedom
but a caring
of each forall
and yes asharing
in all by each
or else it’sjust
the same oldslave
master thing
eventually

Indigo Valentine

2011-11-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

The oboes areover
like a man
without adistance
it was not asif
the secretreturned
to be toldanother way
‘secrete us inreality’
(WallaceStevens, p. 310)
a convulsionof evenings
one of whosesparrows flies
over the housedressed
as the moon thewhite stain
of our sin sincewe were
still children
aninvagination of sparrows
you friendswho wait for me
to slip out ofmy body
into yours asthe oboes
approach and start
munching and reality
secretes us

Feathery Valentine

2011-11-30T09:56:00.001-07:00

How a featheris made up
the top buttondone up
so that whenthey die
gathering togetherin one
place eachyear’s worth
they releaseinto the
universe acall to all
they’ve leftbehind
to follow themhere
into a hiddenwoods
lifting everyparticle
of memory back
to its secretnook
and cranny
in them air
is taken back
to light
then slowly
very slowly
light is taken
back to love

Pigeon Valentine

2011-11-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

I know howVirgil felt
standing alonebetween
Homer andDante
his two prizedgoats
whose hornsmade
smallincisions in the air
on market day
I know howresponsibility
felt standingnaked
between freewill
and biologyits fate
I know how thedrink
felt betweenthe bottle
and the mouth
and the bullet
between thechamber
and therevolution
until a pigeonflew down
and shat on mysophia
in a countryof pigeons
I know how itfelt

Language Valentine

2011-11-28T18:00:00.001-07:00

If all that’s leftto read
in your ownlanguage
is an amateur fragment
of a poem anaddress
to an unnamedlover
full ofstartling obscenities
and brokennarratives
of cruelty andlove-making
meant toremind us
of who wereally are
of course youwould
read it overand over
you wouldmemorize it
you wouldwrite it down
on your skin ifthose were
the only wordsyou had left
in your ownlanguage

Leafless Valentine

2011-11-27T17:26:00.001-07:00

Red-facedranunculus
you are part
of the amorousness
of the earth
whereas I amonly
some person whoplays me
so far beyondmetaphor
as to haveestablished
a residence inreticence
as when I sayI
and yet you would
come to me so
much soonerthan
I would totallygiving
yourself up tome
and to ourpoor
rentedafternoons
again andagain
until starvingfinches
had eatenalive
everypomegranate
their empty shells
left hanging
on theleafless tree
outside ourroom

Money's Valentine

2011-11-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

What happens
in a heart
is whathappens
in a home
or happened
in that firsthome
though thereisn’t
just that onehome
that’s a lie
whose adolescence
returns under
an assumed
name Money
who wants torun
everything
for its ownsake
not as a tool
in thetransaction
but the master
of the outcome
you its slave
rich or poor
bitch or whore

Retrograde Valentine

2011-11-25T09:07:00.001-07:00

Slowly I turn
letting thesun
circumnavigate
my body
its warmth
spinning me
like a child
like a flame
like the lines
on this page
once a fence
holding in
the spaces
now in the park
we come on
large flocks
of mourning
doves grazing
on thehillside
grasses
intermingling
with smaller
flocks of
blackbirds
trying together
unsuccessfully
to spell what
looked like
we don’t love
you anymore
as we sailed past

Thanksgiving Valentine

2011-11-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

If thought
is the father
of feeling
who’s themother
if not desire
holy desire
herself who
made us
which is why
poetry isn’t
about you
or me but
something or
someone we still
long to become
anapproximation
of divinity
an open field
after rain

Walking Valentine

2011-11-23T15:16:00.001-07:00

I grew a tree
just to watch
its shadow on
the facingwall
naked orclothed
climb up overthe
neighbor’s roof
I taught it towalk
right down the
street ittaught
me to speak
and when
not to speak
so now without
it to mirrorme
or without me
to mirror it
neither of us
would long exist
or persist
in this world

Song's Valentine

2011-11-22T11:21:00.001-07:00

Didn’t I dreamI was
speaking to alarge group
when suddenly abird
burst into songright
outside thewindow
like a knife
though ourears
and I asked
what bird is
that amockingbird
mocking me
mocking mypetty
ecstasies andgross
manipulations
but afterwardsI learned
it was myfriend’s
cell phonegoing off
we laughed inwonder
how many wouldknow
that’s what trulysang

Human Valentine

2011-11-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

Once becauseof
unclearwording
in the message
of instructions
two speedingtrains
head-on collided
once becauseof
fuzzy thinking
by a few men
in the highestplaces
twocivilizations
were destroyed
these connectus
these worldwars
we start tosee
humanity not
just ourselves
to stand up for

Stolen Valentine

2011-11-20T19:11:00.001-07:00

Holding withall things
the sameidentical intensity
as my love forLucifer
my love-hatefor Lucifer
my beautifulbullying older brother
because hemakes me look
my cowardicein the eye
when hisfriends come round
who are wolvesscavengers
so well shoedand scarfed
they pass meround
like a brokendoll
no not my bodyanymore
my soul fightingharder
to take backwhat he stole

Vacillating Valentine

2011-11-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

Usually I’mmoving
in twodirections
at the sametime
going back
and forthconstantly
inconsideration
of anintensely private
inner world ofplumbing
andexperimental
philosophy mixedin
with certain socially
unacceptable tastes
and smells
and an outerspace
in which Iperform
myself as monomanically
if notmajestically
as I can on aregular
daily diet ofbliss
as a being living
in this worldtoday
who would liketo be
a poem in his next life

Predatory Valentine

2011-11-17T22:20:00.001-07:00

Capitalism ispredatory both
by nature and byinclination
why won’t wefinally admit it
the simplefact that in a system
where moneyrules bodies
things power moremoney
how can thatbe good
for anyone yetobviously
everyone seemswilling
to be killedunder such
terms of sale aslong as
they don’t haveto share –
in this wehave not yet
gone furtherthan wolves
or lions noras far even
as penguinswho apparently
would never puttheir
own people onthe street

Quantum Valentine

2011-11-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

Curious howstring theorists
while faithfulto materialism
do perceiveanother dimension
even if it turnsout to be only
a further elaborationof materialism
but that forcesare not material things
the willseparate from its activity
they refuse toconsider seriously
even thoughthey’re eager
to abandon theirown
evidentiaryrequirements
in this exceptionalcase
pretendingthat’s somehow different
from believingin unprovable gods
or God oursciences our religions
still refusingto take the obvious
next step offthe cliff
of time andspace
past words toseeing

David's Valentine

2011-11-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

Don’t you find
yourself grinning
that among
the myriadsand
myriads ofdetails
from whichlife
here on earth
unerringly
is woven there
should be the
word TEST
pops up on
the screen
whenever your
mother calls?

Drifting Valentine

2011-11-17T11:06:00.001-07:00

A tiny loop in the middle
of the thinline
of thedried-up body
of a worm Ifind
I can’t shake
a tune in mind
from yesterday
in which apiece
of cellophane
is drifting
down a street
often I have
thepremonition
someone iskilling me
while at the sametime
someone else
is saving mylife

Stern Valentine

2011-11-16T10:22:00.001-07:00

I need to turnmy tree
so it faces mystar more
and can lookout on the other side
just to remainvertical
feeling thedownward pull
as the lightascends
into thatinfinite gentleness
often mistakenfor indifference
where glimpsedthrough matter darkly
the sterndivinity of myself
maroonedstares back
bestowing itscosmic disapproval
but smilingstill expectant
I mayeventually catch up

Forty Year Old Valentine

2011-11-15T10:59:00.001-07:00

I think we areall very excited
and criticalof ourselves and
struggle tomaintain a healthy
amount ofself-dismissal
pity which canflare up
painfully aswith any story
with a ribcageand a spine
at certainmoons you see
yourself thething cast off
and to behonest must
rejectyourself as well
to get us todespair of
everreturning to the sun
our true homefurthers
nothing andyet we must
for a time befree to dare

Shanghai Valentine

2011-11-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

And then thecamera
followsDietrich
to the Peking train
station whereAnna
May Wong iswaiting
in hercompartment
smoking andsultry
a dog isseized
from an oldwoman’s
frantic armsAll
Aboard thenthe
phone rang and
into thecountry
where time andlife
have no valley
I mean value
Marlene offersher
hand to thedoctor
the chickensscurry
ahead of theengine
into the nightof Clive
Brook’s pastyface
I mean smoky

Lord's Valentine

2011-11-13T14:43:00.001-07:00

Like a child
I come to you OLord
not like a man
I don’t want
to be a mananymore
now I want tobe
what youwanted
me to be what
was it youwanted
me to be
not you right
I could not be
like you
I had to befree
I had to be
someone elseright
I had to be
your child

Chilled Valentine

2011-11-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Because mymother
would put meout
in my babycarriage
on cold winterafternoons
for a nap allbundled up
now I love togo outside
on coldmornings to walk
or putteraround the yard
and stay outuntil I’m
really chilledand then
come back inside
to warm upagain
only inchildhood
can we get what
we need most
in our lastdays

Existence As Valentine

2011-11-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

That we existat all
as consciouscreatures
means thatexistence
itself exists
existenceitself
did not atsome time
exist and atsome other
time not exist
the math isinescapable
existence did grow lonely
that much isknown
about theorigin
of a feelingorgan
an infancy oflonging
starting to mind
what happens
what’s clear
going forward
we wereconstructed
from theground up
to a pointwhere we
could eithersink
or swim ourchoice
of the next existence

Nice Valentine

2011-11-05T15:50:00.002-07:00

You’d think we’dall know
by now what ‘nice’meant
how it derivesfrom a Mongolian
mispronunciationof the much
longer butunfortunately lost
name for asmall woodland
gazelle-likecreature now extinct
in one versiona Dionysius-like
figure trickedout as a wild woman
is broughtbefore his doom
and thenrescued by a very nice
person in agazelle disguise
simple foolishignorant
up until the17^th c.
pleasant friendlyattractive
since the 18^thc.

Cloudy Valentine

2011-11-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Some gods werelounging

on the cloudswhen all
of a sudden a747
droned through
loaded with theopposite
of honey somemore of
my relativesfrom earth
I often think ofus clouds
howeverseparated off we
manage toimpersonate
one another asall parts
of one bodyone living
spaceshipfloating between
the radianceof the gods
and the constantthirstiness
of mankind formore
trying to mollifyboth

Cold Snap Valentine

2011-11-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Now the old gnome
sits alonesmiling
amongvanquished leaves
in his ceramicheaven
staringthrough me
so I hidebehind
the deadasparagus fern
I think Idrowned
with too muchsun
to lift backup
this collapsed
world you have
to clean andrefill
the birdbathon
a regulardaily basis
you have tolearn
to speak in several
plant dialectsat once
you have tohave loved
thousands offaces
none of themyours

Foundation Valentine

2011-11-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

Who can thinkthrough
every singlethought
to itsunwavering conclusion
like thethought
of thinkingitself

to itsearliest beginnings

as radiancefrom

cloudsobserved approaching

filled withspears

of lighteninghurled

by unseenwarriors
and to come tothe end
of matter and stand
at the brink ofthe abyss
unwaveringly
who can step across
to truth?

All Souls' Valentine

2011-11-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

As I am under thespell and
sentence of deathas you
I know are alsolet us
speak out against
the unjust nature
of ourconfinement
how all thechurches
are abusivefamilies
how our worstenemies
are who welove most
but not in agood way
how it’s stillbasic
sharing stuff ornot
or what is theworld for?

Virgil's Valentine

2011-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Keep the sacrificefat
but the museslender
close theclearings
in the woods
set bounds to love
stand the sea
wind-becalmed
be black be blond
be mad toleave me
keep them forme
all mysentences
that end
with your name
there take it
the reed pipe
why should I
speak of him
from that day?