No Third Thing

Only so much room in a lifeboat,

half-capacity sixareen.  Bushel basket.

Butcher.  Baker.  Maybe

a candlestick-maker;

the notables cross over

in threesomes.

Synchronicities flutter in threes,

casually.  Historically informed,

hinting at world harmony;

a table of elements

that dissolves on the tongue

like rice paper, moths.

This time it's fresh;

just the northeast wind.  

Ball of string.  Buttermilk sky.

A buoyant list scrawled

on a paper kite:

1.  I am loved

2.  There is solace

There is no third thing.

tk/September 2014

Beautiful read by R.A.D. Stainforth...and a bit of music as well...

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Circle of Life

Mad wings beat― 

hover, peep, tumble

from fairy tale, Easter basket.

It knows it should fly.

How did it stray from the line?

I chase, bent down.

Hands stretched.

Come to mama.

Life flashes before my eyes;

friendly persuasion.

Can I keep it?

O! gosling mine― 

dark precision drops from the sky

pulling silent pink ribbons

gripped with no emotion.

tk/May 2014


 R.A.D. Stainforth's best rendering...emotion beautifully captured... 

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image: Chair With the Wings of a Vulture, 1960, Salvador Dali 

Storyteller

le Jardin, 1962, by Max Ernst 

Hold me as close to your fantasies as I will ever come.

Wave a magic wand

over forgotten fastenings;

wake me from the hollow tree.

How big is a halo, a button, a zipper pull?

Your eyes flash parable blue,

pan with anticipation,

tighten to close-ups of hands and feet.

Nothing is lost on the cutting room floor;

whisper a sweet amen at the end.

Remember this holy travelogue,

so it can be told over again,

without pillars of cloud.

Expose my gothic wings.

God and all the saints are gone; only kitsch remains.

tk/October 2013


Another excellent read from the incomparable R.A.D. Stainforth: 

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Balloons

Stretch tight over dizzying breaths― 

float free, without string.

Seek new perspective

from the living room ceiling― 

bend, squeak, twist,

dazzle hemispheres.

Edge close to the sofa― 

the first intimate spin

connects rampant static.

Rise above the night sky― 

pull magnetic on paths coincident.

Take care not to burst

against the points of stars.

tk/July 2013 

Many thanks to R.A.D. Stainforth for adding breath to my words.  

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