Imported Poems

the hottest
chilis leave
no trace
nor do briar patches
leave a
mark.

yes i can
dawdle
would as soon
dive in ice
as gather
bouquets

you and i
destroyed
all of me
my defenses
beliefs, hopes,
dreams.

and somehow
created new
strengths.

so i may leave
you now, you know,
because you can
never maim
...

until i've seen
the northern
lights i won't
be satisfied
living in my city

until i've eaten
fugu i won't be
sated by sushi

until the forests
return i can't
sunbathe on
your deck
without guilt

when solar-powered
cars are mass
marketed
i may, just may
learn to drive

when beggars
say thank you
instead of cursing
food gifts ...

1/23/06. edit to topic: i kept her longer. couldn't let her go. don't know that i ever will...long enough to hear, not imagine, her heartbeats...what a miracle...and to find out that my dreams of a girl were correct. and to put my life on the line and (partly because of that) be less angry with him.

i've also added a stanza and italicized one word that needed it.


our months
together/her
tiny heartbeats
fall from the scalpel
as i ...

and i am afraid
i'm very afraid
of taking a deep breath

and drawing
a knife
wrenching
it
into my
heart

and finding - too late -
only empty space

small flecks
of what may have
been blood

tiny shards
of what could have
been life

there are
days, Dorothy,

when i
am jealous
of the Tin Man.

nourishment,
love

jetting,
dribbling.

tears rain
from my breast
onto
shower panes,
too fat and heavy
to fall from my
eyes.

milk that you
will never
drink
the nurse told me
to dry up
but how can i stop
this is all i have
we will never
be together again
so i may...
never...
stop
spilling
...something.
...