six studies of landscape and history in the key of wingman

1. poppy red morning
glowing through pulled-shut curtains

2. open sky
deep blue above me
in stillness
there is the force
of 8million fists

3. pink grapfruit
from hands to mouth
while swaying
in yellow hammock
it is no longer citrus season

4. ‘bear rug
draped over front yard chair

5. barefoot and sweeping
barefoot and mopping
work
is the rhythm

6. a stomach
unlocked
of grief

7. the loss
of never entering
your calmquiet
again
my art
going hungry
in your art’s
absence
(i don’t know
how to do san diego
without you)

8. setting a new
neti pot record
to four times in one day

9. riding west on dekum
through the wind and gray
of a storm
that never arrives

10. corinne coming home to me
at shannon’s house
(the hilarity
of the out-of-contextness
and familiarity
smashing up
against each other)

11. hot rose tea
at the dining room table
shiz and i study

12. in case you didn’t like
wingman series

or
six studies of landscape and history
in the key of wingman

i’ve got another suggestion
for your print series title:
a pound of olives
or a tub of anchovies


with the united states postal service as your past self’s accomplice

1. sunday morning
streets so quiet
at 8am
(makes me think
i set my alarm wrong
and it is more like 7
or 6:30)
minus a man
calling out to a golden dog
in the golden light
from one of my favorite houses
(with actual flowerboxes
hanging off the front windows
with actual pansies in them)

2. paul
brings in chocolate pocky
and asks me
to please
pass the strawberries

3. today’s special
includes hardboiled eggs
and a fruit-side
we name it
the mister rogers

4. exquisite corpse
sharpie marker knuckle tattoos
you get the verb
i’ll get the noun

5. the tattoos:
adam: hott spit
pauly: lame spud
me: fast wren
dyanne: dark fang

6. dad
in from the darkening yard
we joke about
lassoing ladders
as family reunion yard games
we investigate
45 years of work
with two to four weeks off each year
we define the nuances
between scholarship and fellowship
while i explain
mfa
while he explains
tenure

7. after two hours
of circumnavigating
we arrive
at a shared vision

8. yesterday’s chair pose
humming
in today’s
thighs

9. your past self
betraying
your present self
with the united states postal service
as your past self’s accomplice

10. my hand
on stomach
the moment it all breaks

i apologize
for cheese and cracker dinners
with peanut butter and jelly toast
as second dinner
i apologize
for not being able to remember
the last time
i fed myself
a whole
warm
complete
meal

chemtrail stars

1. wind
strong enough
to pry the roof off
all day long

2. macon
at my door
in almost tears
the sadjoy
of leaving
we hold on
on the couch
in the car
in the street
this will be the color of our kitchen

3. red curls
blue eyes
earl gray tea
and breakfast special
with over easy eggs
both laughing
when i
offer her
my meat

4. recording
the busy signal
on garageband
happy 87th birthday
grandma

5. first day
after 5day work-bender
and my body
still
reels
stomach especially

6. circle of 19
pulling questions
from the bowl.
ethics
jealousy
disclosure
possession
cultural shifts
primaries and constellations

7. scarfwrapped
buttoned up
layered
wind at my back
on the ride there
a little more resistance
on the ride home

8. dream:
rooftop
house in the desert
sky looming and split open
milky way spilling out
a slip under
chemtrail stars

9. glass
is made of sand
this is one of the secret things i already know
but still
tell me
more