The Mercury Cafe

when you enter
the mercury cafe,
you don't know

that through the curtain
to your right
lies are just barely audible
over the whir
of a cappuccino machine

that through the curtain
to your left

and downstairs,
poets are preaching the truth
to an audience
that will never understand

and upstairs,
dancers are doing the same
with their bodies.

when you enter
the mercury cafe,
you are an impostor
and you know
what every impostor knows
but you may tell
no one.

Make Your Own Facebook Quiz

who were
you
in a past life?

which sex and the city character are
you?

what weapon best suits
your
personality?

what if the question
is ill-posed?

what if the answer
is x?

what about
a pen?

not a moment too soon,
i found out that i could make my own quiz.
this one doesn't have any questions, though,
it just sends you an anonymous message
with your number:

1-0-1-0-1-0-0-1
1-1-0-0-0-0-1-1
1-0-1-1-0-1-1-1

and you can do with it as you wish.

One

how many stories
could the night tell you
about the sun?

how long is the line
that separates a moment
from itself?

what does listening say
when it speaks?

what does speaking hear
when it listens?

Untitled

among astronomers and dancers,
who understands the way a body moves?

among philosophers and priests,
who understands the way a mind moves?

among surgeons and widows,
who understands the way a heart moves?

is it better to take things apart,
or put them together?

(Revised in coordination with Katie Richardson-McDaniel.)

Conundrum

the senses struggle
to sedate ... can anyone
show me how to see?

Ageless

an untethered wind
sings in the tall trees as leaves
forget their colors.

Saguaro (2)

i followed the scent
of a white saguaro blossom
deep into the desert,

counted well
how my thirst would develop,

counted the hours
before my withered body
would embrace the shifting sand.

counted them the same as the hours
of a life at sea,

failing to appreciate
that such a creature could endure in the absence
of so much more than water,

failing to understand
how different something as simple as respiration could be,

failing to predict
that i would stumble into a lack of oxygen,
turning so many beautiful shades of

red, blue, violet –

becoming a flower myself,
blossoming briefly
next to you.