We Will Judge You Based on Your Wedding

We will judge you based on your wedding,
on what you have designed. How many guests
were you expecting, and how many are present.

Toy Lawnmower

To learn to mow the grass,
pretend to mow the grass.

Pretend enough and you'll
get good. Playtime trains

the wobbly, imprecise body
for how it will be later, give

Europa

Even while surrounded by ice,
there is buried water not frozen,

never freezing. Floating in the dark
brine, sealed off from humans,

microorganisms, mouths full of
saltwater cud. A scientist...

Groves

This is the year you are alive in.
Before, you can't know the plagues

that ravaged the villages, the city
before the great fire, the green land

before the grey city. These are

As Far As We Know

The Earth is a swimming pool,
but solid. The Grand Canyon
wouldn't be the shallow end,
or even the baby pool. To get
to where the diamonds are...

Spot

Instructions: Place test on a flat surface out of your line of vision. Then, read this poem. Repeat, if you like. After three minutes have passed, then check the results of the pregnancy test.

Pirouettes begin...

That's How I Roll

What did the enormous boulder say
to the little village, when it was dislodged
by lightning and sent plummeting
into the valley. What did the lucky dice
say...

Celestial Seasonings

Flight of the bumblebee
next door, the neighbor's

kettle's voice through her
screened window at three

in the morning, into our
bedroom. The cool air

brings sound, dangles there.
Not wind....

Never All Things at Once

White blossoms or green leaves,
not both. "Edelweiss" with the Captain
and Liesl, pink and green-clad children,
Maria watching,...

Fraction

One day, my heart will stop beating. (not everything is a joke)
-Jimmy Kimmel in a tweet on January 13, 2012

There will be a world with no...

Long Time No See

When was it that
we last saw one
another.

We use our whole
conversation to
uncover when,

picking through
events and dates,
eliminating

the...

We Look for Migration

For months now,
I notice what seem

to be leaves floating
and flapping in the air

over the freeway, above
my windshield and car.

As a poet, I naturally find words, sounds, images, and phrases inspiring. Equally, I adore technology, and how it allows me to further play with pace, tone, and concept. I often make video poems, and thought I'd share one with you this week. When I created this video poem, "Light...

From Scratch

Trust the road to hold the car,
the signs to gesture honestly
and without malice. Trust
that a mile on your odometer
means a mile behind you,
...

After After

After after, there is
always more, another
after and another
sewn together, leaving
like the train trailing
behind the bride's
wedding gown and
dragging across...

Ghost Stories

Because fire coaxes the carbon from wood
and releases it back to the atmosphere,
we gather around it and watch.

It is our favorite kind of destruction, contained,
...

Lorem Ipsum

To see design more clearly, sprinkle tormented
gibberish across the page, flouring a counter top

so dough can be flattened without sticking.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur,

All the Apathetic Monsters

Arms extended limply. Back and shoulders
drooping. Once you die and come back,

you weigh more. Mobility is challenging.
Time flows around you, torrential,

and...

The Shore

Here, look at their bodies. Even clothed,
their skin is near to the surface, JWoww's
powerful breasts, Mike's self-exposed
abs. Every part is eventually eased out

for us to see by...

Smithereens:

All along the curb, people in pajamas
peering into parked cars,
the front passenger windows of ten cars

smashed in. What tool did they choose
to shatter the glass, a hammer,
a baseball bat. What kept us all...