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Inundated--
like slipping from toes to fingertips
into bubble-capped bath of
red wine and silk,
honeysuckle and
Verdi.

You, in the
tingle and flush
of my flesh,
in the silence between my
heartbeats,

flooding voluptuously over
my beloved curves.
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A Vacation For One

Summer encroaches,
riding down the parkway
in your shiny green Honda.

In the seats
(always strapped in)
sit memories
of annual May-to-August rituals:
late-night urban expeditions,
tri-flavored Hawaiian Ice
(I loved those faux daiquiris),
and mealtime conversation
that never ran out.

~'~

This year,
the driver's seat is vacant,
baking in late-spring sun.
Your cologne and aftershave scents
have faded;
contoured for your shoulder alone,
the seat-belt dangles,
limp.

Inside the ashtray,
your class ring nestles
beside a gum wrapper:
dusty fossils for ghosts
of youth.
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Seattle

Seattle's claims to fame
are coffee and rain;
a black hole sun,
and the birth of grunge.
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Eating Tortilla Chips: A Study in Taste

I hear the
eager ripping of plastic
as I open this bag,
releasing the fresh scent of
processed corn.

Greedy fingers snatch
the first vertex they chance to brush against.
The first is perfect:
unbroken isoceles,
waved into natural bowls
for trapping salsa.

Nose-wrinkling first bite--
the tranlucent tortilla
cannot boast any substance,
melting like sugar candy.

"Bad batch,"
I quip, and toss the bag
to you
for trial.

One bite
takes you to heaven,
and you horde my discarded snack.
I shake my head.
I eat Cheerios, instead.
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"Daniel's Song"

October dawn, autumn aurora
flooding the fading
russet rainbow of trees.
Gilt flakes decorate infinite
ripples that lap fluidly against earthy banks,
caught in a pull like that
of a woman's womb
rousing a sensual tide.
Cupric drizzle
condenses,
highlights the broad
blades to lend brief shimmer, then evaporates.
Blazing morning brilliance
sizzles and explodes,
eventually retreating into
October dusk.
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"For Kerouac"

Your asphalt altar
unfurls between unending fluid kingdoms
like ribbon, tying together your women
and dark faces lingering above brassy notes,
both of which, you sweat to embrace.
At every moment,
the yellow dashes tremble,
urging your return.
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Unfinished Rhapsody

Cerulean eyes forbidding me love,
forever in platonic stasis
where the roses halfway bloom
and wind ruffles the curtains.

Pages flutter,
sailing from high
to hardwood floor.
See the black quarter-notes scrawled,
a solemn paper hymn.

One blank sheet,
staffs unadorned,
remains unscratched
by my musing quill.
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Downtown Blues

Seven clouds of youthful breath
under a broken streetlamp.
We are strung across the street
like beads
from West 17th.
Energetic? yes.
Strummed like guitar strings,
our voices are carried away in the night.
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Svengali Meditation

Your twilight comes quickly
on my lusting savannah
as all nights fall.

Yet I had hopes this dusk might stay its hand
at tender persistance
from your sultry fingers
so swift to caress
complementing eyes so hesistant to anger.

Awakening in breeze-kissed grasses
inundated by velvet indigo,
I sigh, malcontent,
awaiting daybreak.
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Hesitant

The chill seeps in.
Fogged panes
diffuse morning light.
A gentle rumble
your breath beside me
For once, I hesitate.
Grey light caresses your face
illumining the strong jaw.
I watch carefully,
seeing it in day for the first time
messy hair so unlike the careful style I glimpsed in the club last night.
My fingers find the curve of your back,
nestled in the shallow slope they discovered in dancing.
Cool sheets fall away from me
as I rise,
breasts covered in gooseflesh.

Maybe this morning,
I'll let you sleep instead.
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Lion

you,
a pawing lion.
fingers mine
entangled in tawny mane.
eyes so hungry
are masked by your lying tongue.

Have I not sense
to flee the peril?
I flirt with my death
and this great cat's sun-fur,
so that he may feast upon
my naked flesh.

Christ saw
you
fall from heaven.
I believe that it was I
you fell upon.
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Untitled: Winter

The air,
bitterly cold,
accosted my face.
So still,
laden,
it snatched up every sound,
and my breath,
and the sun's warmth.
Fickle air
beneath the frosty sky
betrayed my numbed fingers
and my too-frequent exhalations,
leaving its mark with reddened nose and ears.
How cruel
for this frigid air
to have made me long for indoor heat,
which would sting my raw, chilled skin.
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Ophelia

Pallid flesh,
for the blood which ran sultry beneath
and tinged her countenance pink
has chilled.

Woman
Reverted to sleeping child
Converted to silent tableau
of madness.

Her lover's away;
Strange fingers lap tenderly
against her body, rocking her
in slumber.

Ophelia,
newfound sea nymph,
her glory robbed by cruel water,
breath stolen from her lips.
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Underachieving Romeo

He said, "I've found someone,
or rather,
she found me."
I could not hold back my bitter tears
as he offered me smiling condolences,
for, in my mind's eye,
I saw the new girl,
leaning over his shoulder,
with features far more fair than mine.
For shame! For shame!
That this grocery-bagging Romeo
could make his sometime Juliet weep
and ache
even when her new companion pales against fickle former love.
Many things I understand,
but not the labyrinth of my heart.
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Discomfort

The pervert
has
but one voice.
It breathes heavily
in my ear
and asks
what I am wearing
and asks
and asks
questions about my body
that make me squirm
in discomfort
in longing
for a man
who questions
my mind.
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"Shepherd"

I have my dark nights of soul
and you stand
firmly by me
like a gentle man to lead back
lost sheep.
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"Selfish

My soul cries out to yours
knowing
I've caused pain
my tears flow and
wet the page and
blur the ink
there must be a better existance for us
than what I create.
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"Undercurrents"

Self-contained
and I can be alone in the middle of a crowd.
in music
when words do not entice me
I pick up the melody of the strings and let the violin
carry me away
finding new depths.
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"Campus"

Walking where the trees are
Misillumined
Roses bloom in rainbows
Unwilting
Fountains spill their water shamelessly
From spigots and cherubs' urns
while I watch.
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My childish anguish
in my woman's eyes
being so far from you.
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A charade of a thousand voices
A parade of a thousand masks
Grotesque in their Mardi Gras grandiosity
Smiling lips and screaming, hollow eyes
Such as it is
Such as it is.
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"Burning Incense"

A stream of smoke writhing
Blossoming
While sun filters through
Filtering
Into gossamer dragons
And spun-sugar scrolls
Spinning
Endlessly tumbling
An intricate dance
To melt into shadows.
Melting
Dripping ghostly prisms
Without rainbows
Without puddles
Once
So often
The pinnacle
Convenit
(orchestral)
A collapsing universe
But it all fades away.
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"Inebriation"


You are the wine in my glass
Swirling darkly in my open palm
Glinting light
Sending up your intoxicating fumes for my perusal.
I taste your richness on my tongue
Dizzying
Soft vertigo
Sending me drifting warmly
Falling into burgundy slumber
And you
My breathless passion
You are the empty bottle in the morning.
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"Amnesia Sunrise

Embers fade
Glowing grown chilled
Time for you to go
Find the frigid morning
Warm sheets falling from hot skin
Stare at me with pleading eyes
I turn from you
Daylight breaks and leaves me lonesome
For I send you away.
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