Dimes and Quarters

If I could see you now, standing
in pools of cherry red
a warm drop: I shake insatiably

yet I still take the ether to bed
yet reckless holds the knife
yet there lies the best of me

(nothing happens in this space
my chest, a tear, a rawhide gash
explain   I can’t explain   explain)

I spit out the hole in my soul
It’s black and grey and green
Nothing comes into it, nor out of it

I’ve got to know, though, I’ve got to
what did it really look like to
collapse two on two, two into one

What was the sign the air made?
What squeeze   flesh   clit   sigh
What blush   throat   mockery   oath

What was the sound of the ocean?
Rose   teeth   sand   belief
Hope   death   stillness   surprise

What arrow could be unbent, unbroken?
(No, that’s too much to rely on
Better instead to complicate, then resign)

A die cast in the shape of your heart
Sharp edges we failed to file down

—

Autumn

My gun, my gun, my soldier and my gun
We sing a song of intimate violence

Two birds, aloft, in ever-spinning glide
Crash down to utter decline: today, today

Yellow-footed monsters carry trees, more trees
I dig a hole around the entire earth

I have spectacular vision   I see you there
I aim, I smile    you smile right back

Creation stops for a little while
Gardens grow around our interlocked feet

Knocking over statues, cremating highways
Sucking little eddies on your skin, your bones

Why is it so cold in the morning?
Why is it so difficult to trust in the day?

I shoot   you smile   I laugh   we laugh
We go out breathing air, breathing air

We go out gasping wildly for air