about a splinter

mbrazfield (c) 2022

timeless was the crescent of your smile parted lips a sliver of teeth that when gnashed together meant a bite of delight on my neck
as those years have dwindled down the wood in my heart strips away to the core tenderness i’ve always held

when women pray

it happens any time

in any place

around the universe

and even under ground

where they bury us

or in jars

where our chemical composition

lays just there in a powder

when women pray

they are really talking

across wet streets

between cars

right on the division line

of light and dark

they really get into it

a rhythm only she angels can hear

the he angels

they’re pictures on Valentines

sent to Hank Bukowski

when women pray

they think of everything

dirty diapers pregnancy tests

pubic hair the national crime rates

they think of their breasts

the bruises by their mate

the love of a mother

the words not really carefully thought through

but the universe gets the gist

cars come and go

rush hour in the heart

fear and joy at being alive

when women pray

music dances off their tongues

penetrating embankments

concrete or otherwise

the lilts and little valleys

in their vocal chords

algorithms to the stars

when i pray

i pray for a strength like theirs

deep thought

see the jar

full of star debris

foresee the timid scars

chair on fire

the pair of tears

on the mohair rug do fall

drug i’m in love

my soul and heart

for you to tug

shoes walking bruise

the tattoo lamp

to clamp the jaw

a railway tramp he sings the blues

books with art of golden seas

hooks on hung the snooper looks

to dart across the windows

lest i depart with question mark

to the black door cave

across a lucid water

dreams are slaughter

silver daughters soar into the sky

to pour the naked words

atop of frozen embers

sevenbones

the dream menu comes it’s passed around to random strangers as we zig zag through the 2nd street tunnel lined with ceramic tile once virgin white now black as desert sky my favorite graffiti walls cryptic messages like seven bones in my life i’ve only broken 8 we are used to this air nose hairs full of stuff a little boy picks at his scabs and momma holds his cup the number 81 to Eagle Rock plaza goes but we’re not ready for the home bound road instead i cruise ball heel toe over to Grand Central and order a cheese pupusa that i don’t eat and don’t know why i bought from the corner of the eye i see the three delicious ones with mint julep eye lashes calling each other a dirty trollop after a few search engine insults trollop Sassy Ass #1 goes to the ladies washroom to turn back the hands of time on her five o’clock shadow she says Adam’s apple gliding up and down i lose interest quickly as i smell a puff of clove and delay the inevitable loneliness of thought by joining the awe and admiration of booth A23 and their giant Jack fruit bowl a delicacy for the valiant but not for me today and i begin to miss Walt Whitman even though he’s never met me and Lash Larue movies on Sunday afternoon when life was very simple like begonias in the sun with the savory lure of schnitzel and Ute Lemper singing songs

the will nots

this is your city filled with pigeons dogs and the likes of you children i have bred wild children of the zodiac keepers moon howlers zoo keepers of your selves

pic by mbrazfield (c) 2019

through my gutters there has never been a dainty lady that has crossed i am not bent to subscribe to what chains me daughter here are my children

mural pic’d by mbrazfield (c) 2019

waste makes haste to a life that is riddled by pain we are strong we are one but we can’t be here forever keep me i am your queen little angels in designer jeans

Pic by R Brazfield (c) 2019

forever rip roaring renegade chingona silver screen teen dream exalted to the clouds of gasoline el lay dismay you will not subscribe to fantasy when i am right in front of you

pic by mbrazfield (c) 2020

foot note

it’s a dirty trick the world is round and the road will take me nowhere go far away they say as they laugh in my face knowing that i will spiral on forever did You make it so that i couldn’t climb up to heaven certainly in my dream i can fly anywhere it is when my eyes are open that the gutter stinks my red nose upon it the bottles are brown and plenty the snakes jitterbug sitting on the throne of bygones but only in classification how can anything You created be bad free will maybe You shouldn’t love us so it will cost 100 trillion to be green and where will my seed grow thus we pluck each other’s eyes out i don’t want to think anymore or see anymore the beauty is of strange moon beams cats fiddles drug induced riddles Darwin you fucked up revolution on all that was gained the righteous claim their stain on the goodness of the worker

homenaje moribundo

From my bleeding heart

Rain the cries of a bottomless love

In ardor and pain and sweetness from the guava fruits

Destined to wither and die on your ground

Angel of cruel deliciousness

Knocking on the broken door of my memory

As I agonize in the thought of your becoming eyes

Hell does circle me every day and brighter at night

Lady of the circulating endless ecstasy

Only you can allow me to die in peace

Image by mbrazfield (c)

estimada novia de colores

en las garras de la pasión

mírame en los ojos

un color come el mío

te juro no los vas a ver

eres el suspiro de la vida

que nace y muere como la Coatlicue

quiero ser libre en tu prisión

y nunca escapar dulce peregrina señora del altar

de las cosas más sagradas en su naturaleza perversa

píntame con tu arco iris

columnas de nuestros padres

las madres ya no van

y siguen su camino

quiero que hagamos amor

en Saturno

y con uno de sus anillos

hacerte mi esposa