her

the fat of the land has dried into grime

mere clots of spit and mire

under her instant foot in the vomit of the day

the sour milkiness of death’s redolence at night

grabbing at the air grabbing at the sights of

those who have always been there and those

who are to come

shifting in the seas of traffic lights

half-moon eyes bloody in the tides

of discarded discontent

the wind howls on the sills of justice

kissing painfully the wounds on her hand

as puckered resentful coins hiss at her disposition

the wheels of the gods grind on

and her island there waits

the laughing air and the scornful heat

injures her every pore; her pancaked gowns threadbare

smiling at the visions only seen by those who know

the devil and the angels roaming up and down the hill of somber perfection

host to condemnation of heavy hearted posts

vigilant to nothing

in the bell jars of our age

nothing ferments nothing grows

the heart in her breaks the barrier

knowing that she will see some light

the golden days have passed onto a future

waiting there like cats

old castles for her flowers and her stars

beauty melting unto asphalt

a stairway opens up with gems of cardboard

sprigs of wasted love litter her alcove

she lays her head to rest

to William S Burroughs

in the cosmos
there’s always a math.
one vein to feel it all.
at the Bowery something started,
a nest for a vulture’s egg
that saved a world.
beloved that you are to many
more who can receive.
pain can come to anyone
i know you and you know me.
time at the tip of a barrel.
time at the tip of a pen.
can you see through the
fog of eternity and the sands
in the raw?
so vulnerable and delicate
to love of no despair.
one more tonic for the body
at last my love can rest.

downtown breeze

then one more time

                  she comes, tip toes like a

hunger on the Hill St. bridge

but does not offer her love pang to me

             orphaned i stand of the

                      ideals i’ve had

             for ever it seems

                 she enters and

leaves unimpressed

as always

5 spot m

brown pigeons crap on the hollow sidewalk

the old Chinese woman waves her hand

wills their Jackson Pollock orchestrations

by feeding them week aged beef stir fried fare

the gin and tonic mixture of my youth

roughly flows through decrepit portal veins

fifty-year old girl tells me what she wants

easy with my ductus deferens

sip a drink of shame no olive in sight

politely decline her proposition

of five spot love while i wonder away

from Magdalene of little Italy

strolling towards the ragazzo mios

void of all holy penance in this world

briscula my only love lady fair

death walks quickly on J Pershing square

Zanja Madre

i don’t like the water

although i miss the womb of my earth

my mother’s womb was dark and cold

pulled out dragged down

i long for primordial comfort

the safety of the sky is no longer priceless

the desert is warm at dusk

and the moon smiles her face down at me

as if pointing a finger

lost at the root i stand

without a ground

but i am not holy

little life big sorrow

the weights are against me

the lake of green is kept

by fire of angels

which i don’t understand

looking with no eyeballs

like Teresa

the dandelions are long gone

Metropolitana

i had not taken notice
that there were no flies
in that lobby
the mail slots are still there
the supernatural tungsten charm of

Bogey cigars and cancer
i can smell the sordid gardenias
when did nature go so wrong
and i can see the nylons and
the hats waiting for a call
i sometimes feel that in
1923 on a rainy day
i took a bottle of pills
ladies were dainty
even then


Bogey never waited in the
silk upholstered chair
for a girl named Gina
or a Midwesterner
called Claire
as a matter of fact
if you must know
my business mac
i have only passed by the glass
guarding this lobby on the way
to nothing more

Rexall

on the table is a word
followed by dozens of
other words lying next
to each other in lines of
instruction, warning and
grief

although the moon has
dropped her pretty face
i pick her up by her wise
chin and beg her to shine
again

the stars in my moon’s
hair dance like beams
in a driven stony river
where the bones of time
soak unto the soil of my
bloods

Westlake

at 5:37 p.m. the smell of
bacon and fabric softener
covers the neighborhood
like 4 a.m. London fog

so many lies and angers
and injustices and tears
and hungers and losses

in one city block
but the smiles, oh
those immutable smiles
and the hope in the paper sacks

dog shit by the fichus trees

is the city’s way of welcome

but the carnival in the hearts

and the corn fed regimes in mind

cannot and will not tear

them down

angst, terror and hate

has become a child’s game

the roses are not free

but they are in juan v’s

can along the window

rotten with defeat

it is no longer enough

to wave the right flags

blood sacrifice one son

to the blue coats and one the

the Vat

no we have become

smarter than you

and we will not

lay down to the east

or to the west

but resign to be

free in the window

in the door

in our spirit

and in the mind