POETRY

“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.”
—Rita Dove
oh Manifesto

The collective
failure
of ethical standards

Making Israeli Salad

Now that the Israeli has left, it falls
on me to make the salad.

Time Travel

I count my homes—
those of my scattered youth
the sanctuary of our young family
the intermittent rest stops
of apartments and vacations.

Finding My Fix

I slumped in front of a massive desk, a passive patient corroded with failure and dread.

Clotheslines

Ma wrings
a wet world
of colors

My Multiverses

It is the 70s. 1970s? 2570s? Who knows?
Audre and I have a penthouse in New York.

Ode To the Dove Pt. VI (Avrom Sutzkever)

Yes I am guilty, I’m guilty. A sin was desirable then.
Bring the dancer back to the stalks.

Despairathon

You’ve spent a lifetime training
for this.

The love of my life moved from portland to new england

He has stories that I am not in
anymore. It’s healed this way.

things they won’t tell you but should:

love is a soggy tea stain on a grocery receipt

Letter To a Young Poet

Do not say anything anybody else has said ever. Things are not “bleached by sun.”

Vase

The storm passes without snow.
The car waits loyally in the back lot.

REVENGE SCENE

Okay, picture this: We’re in an elevator. The elevator shuts down. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, only that we’re alone.

You can’t make them love you, no matter how artfully you betray yourself

Try not to see your own predicament in every fucking thing.

First

Long after midnight, we’re talking about our first time

love poem with dead leaves & color

I would always rather be happy than
dignified. Rather held than held
in awe.

necromancer woman, witch woman

In my universe, my arm carries a heart and flowers,
my back a misguided quote