...lost birds and dogs...

the dog barks at the bird

in the rain

next to the garage door


the bird

flies away in the rain

into the trees


the man

with the dog

looks lost


he is staring

off into space

wondering


did the bark

or the vibration

send the bird away?

...really, go away...

when will he go away

really

(her version)

...go away...

when will it go away

...home at last...

a big day I'm sure.

I am worried, but confident.

Ones heart takes comfort

in the scenes of the familiar:

the dog, the cat, the yard.

I am sure seeing this

would heal my heart, too.

Take care of that little girl.

Take care of that little girl.

...calls your name in the nighttime...

do you know

how hard it is

to not call

you?

...the big joke...

with all of it

nothing was said enough

and everything was said

too much

and so the big joke

in the matter

was that all we did

was talk and talk

and the punchline

was literal, not

the traditional,

comedic sense

(self deprecation

not the depreciation

of one at the hand of the other);

the punchline

was four years long.

The realization, when

it comes to you,

will stick like a punch.

a punch line.

Sinker,

sunk.

...passed over...

uh, I know its an easy pun

(tis a tradition in the joke

of the reformed)

Call me Moshe

call me

...dizzy deck...

I asked them

was I really out?

Someone said

"hell yeah, hell fucking yeah."

Class dismissed.

...this is...

this is a fire:

it will end things.

Oxygen, for instance.


this is a nightmare:

it will fake endings.

Falling, for example.


this is codery:

this yes when no is meant.

Closing it all in.


this is open:

it will stay open:

Hoping, and such.

...minus...

2

minus

1

leaves

2

lonely

1s

...bullets over Bloomfield...

one shot after another

you kept firing

but at least the aim

was true

It's just a shame

you know

each one pierces

the other

as if no one

were even standing

in front of you

as if you never

even took aim

(I'm afraid to

know what else

you have hiding

in that chamber)

...return to sender...

this is what I have learned:

that the heart is more

powerful than the brain.

Think about all the innate

services of the heart:

blood flow and pressure

pumping and palpitating.

The message sent

from the brain is that

something is not right,

that someone is not able

to use the beat the same way we

are. This fear that the message

does not get sent.

But, this is thegreatest

fear: endings,

of poems, lives,

pulses, us.

this is the worst

feeling I have

ever had

...just Hackensack...

do they drive

faster because

this is a hospital parking lot

or is it

that this is

just HackensacK?

Why are there

so many nicer

places in the world

and why

oh why did Billy Joel

have to be right

this one time?

(this only encourages him)

...no right turn...

I don't like leaving

you there in the glass

tunnel taking turns

at watching each of us

walk away in the reflections

on the brown glass tint


I told you that this part

was the hardest

and you told me

that nothing


nothing

is as hard

as this

(and you were right)

...the light above the bed...

glows down on your head

shining through the silvers

in your hair and then

back through the tubing

and into your lungs

shining and open

accepting the glow

as if it were oxygen

as if it were the only

thing we needed

to keep us alive

...bellyaching...

it was either

something I said

or something I ate

(probably the former

as is common

as of late)

...easier than breathing...

there is nothing

easy about taking a deep

breath and slowing

down the world around

you but you try and try

and puff and puff

until it becomes easier

to feel relief and solace

in knowing the world

around you you created

...2:39 in the morning...

we can't do this:

no matter where we are:

we can be here:

instantaneously:

if necessary:

and if something did:

go wrong:

we wouldn't be notified:

because nobody knows:

we're here:

we're here:

but it is useless:

we might as well:

be at home:

ready to spring:

to attention:

to the upright:

position:

of the rest:

who walk with us:

at 2:39 in the morning:

if necessary:

...prayer and praise...

the softest side of the skin is unseen

the last wisp of hair glimmers without the sun

foreseen only in the distant detail

we look closer and closer at the clock

and hope it will stay still

no arm moving forward

or back to a false belief

but right here

and seemingly now

this will all be part of the cycle

just like the dismissal of cells

that appear as skin

when we fold our hands together

we pray that they cannot ever

separate or lose the other

this is not what we get

when we praise one another

when it is undue

this is what we get

when we finally get

what it is

that takes us over