The tide rolls out with

a self-made plague ship looking

for a safe harbor 

Bite your tongue until 

the blood comes to spit out the 

venom within you  

There was a time when 

footfalls in an empty hall 

didn't feel lonely 

Consume, consume, cons,

conservative pundits can't

keep their fictions straight 

Nuzzling muzzle 

and hot breathe in the morning 

is a wake up call  

We dug for treasure

in cereal boxes 

before we'd finished

Puzzles and secrets 

of bodies and minds remain

to be cracked open 

Minor scales played on

a sax give the neighborhood 

a carnival air 

She was once in love 

with death (as a concept) but

now it's just too close 

Sand still between toes 

but the beach is now in the

rearview fading fast

Ocean's night waves bathed

in moonlight crash and call "come 

to me, come to me" 

I walked down Seventh

Avenue towards the smoke and 

stench that sad morning 

Unfurl your fingers 

and take my hand since with a 

clenched fist you will fall 

They've got me picking 

the bones like a vulture that's

half-starved and hangry 

She thought Hollywood 

would come calling but she's 

still just a waitress 

The cricket's chirp is 

on the wing as summer fades 

and autumn draws near

Filigrees of flame

dance across the water's face

just before sunset 

This fuse is so long 

that it takes a lifetime to

detonate — BA-BOOM!  

Drowning in the ebb 

and flow your dreams are not a

buoy but a weight 

Shadowed by ghosts and 

in need of a future, we 

stumble in the dark 

A fools' feast filled with

distractions of every stripe 

won't nourish for long