sweetbrother

"She wakes in still, wee hours in an ancient house that groans in restless sleep Just outside her window she hears the low sound of a breeze wrestling with the boughs of trees and nuzzling the surface..."

"I watched her dance on Beale Street, her long hair flipping in the breeze, slender limbs in constant motion as if worked by puppet strings in the hands of laughing gods I had seen her, just that day,..."

"Twenty-Second Streetgleams outside the windowcaffeinated musiccrushes the earthe young and beautifulchatter and relaxthe scene is all the way liveI am all the way aliveDupont Circle's ghostsdon't foll..."

"I see a young woman in a garden with sturdy, patient hands that nurture fragile growing things I see her eyes watching a chrysalis about to burst with life, then, the unfolding dewy wings of a delica..."

"She is a festival for my mind and eyes; I drink each drop of her satisfied, but wanting more I struggle to keep up with the quickness of her and the quickness of my pulse around her; she doesn't know..."

"She was my butterscotch flavored dream until she dreamt of me Then, I was her target for a river of abuse and I took it just so I could be close to her And now I see her, randomly on a subway train ..."

"She wants to play musicuntil she diesand I can hear hereighty years away from nowstill blowing joyful changeslike some rambunctious child; she isa soloon the soprano hornblistering across the skylike ..."

"I see her only as words on a screen and in that guise she is sultry, and mesmerizing She invites me to ride with her on the unfettered mustangs of her imagination through the fields and forests of he..."

"I am in no mood for mourning; I will put away all sorrows and observe- leaves turn to brilliance this September as before yellow school buses return to placid morning streets as before a bright moon s..."

"If I burn the details of my life as kindling gathered over weary years and sprinkle the ashes over you, then call it art, who are you to judge? You might find me bleeding all over a page and cry in ..."

"Monday morning, October 8th: a northern gust wakes me with its hellish breath carrying the threat of dark months and chills to come On October 10th my friend Ruth, strolling her leafy neighborhood, n..."

"Fat missiles of rain dimple the puddle at his feet as the spectator, chilled beneath a bus shelter, watches the frantic tangle of lovers calling each other in the guttural language of desire, feeding ..."

"The streets are filled with my tribe; we congregate in the parks and on sunlit corners or in dark noisy rooms Some sit home alone in the company of the evening news and maybe a carryout fast-food bur..."

"Dr. Sara, in a soothing voice, tells me three yellow pills per day will light the darkness in me. I smile and nod, as I study Dr. Sara's eyes and hands, wondering what school she attended to learn can..."

"She is on a wall in a hushed room Elegant people gather in awe to contemplate her bronze angular form I am invisible in a corner content in the secret knowledge that she belongs to me She is in my..."

"You cradle it in your arms like a lover, then polish it to a dusky sheen looking to see your face reflected But it is of no earthly use to you it is not a talisman that protects you from harm You ca..."

"Ella Fitzgerald's voice pours like dusky smoke over the bright crowded room where I sip tea Her voice seeps through my memory she has me riding top down in a '64 Mustang along a road through the fore..."

"I had a question in my heart, about this wild romance between two souls We had met while browsing through a vaulted hall of dreams; affection flared as we embraced the beauty of each other But still..."

"No, I will not teach you; you already know more than I could teach you Inspiration's not found in books or in anything I could tell you. It is in your big sister braiding your hair and in hopscotch ..."

"It arrived last month sent from a house on distant plains to my house the one with a ceiling but no walls The time has come for my reply; today I cultivate my garden of friendship carefully- the luxu..."

"Dr. Sara notes in my chart "He seems quite stable now; he readily chats with other patients or quietly reads. I think he's ready for discharge." Stability is a dream, a white picket for the mind a ho..."

"No, there will be no photos; put those cameras away. Your film will not capture me because I am made of shadows. So many questions! Where do I come from? From everywhere and nowhere and from the sour..."

"I am for now, wading in your tide pools your ocean has retreated from my rocky shore still puddles of you gleam in the sun my bare feet tingle over smooth pebbles and ancient shells Ankle deep in you..."

"Is that one of us with her back to me browsing the shelves? We are everywhere sneaking into normal folk's inner sanctums. She, with the white stringy hair, is sneaking like me. My presence is disapp..."

"She moves like a willow in a breeze stretching, turning, until her slender form is transformed like a flower as it opens Meanwhile, my clumsy fingers struggle to capture an image I'm not there to wit..."

"Four days had passed since she had tangled with her evil dragon Netta crowed in triumph; she proudly displayed her shattered glass no longer primed to feed her beast Her eyes, her words, glowed with ..."

"First, she was a voice heard through the cool white walls between us- a voice lonely and searching and aching to share and she shared, through a wall all the dreams in her head and in her heart. Her b..."

"I do not dare to reach to touch what's distant as the moon I let moon's light wash over me in warm waves; I am golden in this light The harsh light of day reveals me blindly stumbling through existe..."

"A long table is piled high with a feast of delicacies and I am invited to partake because I am loved if only for this day A shining ribbon of river winds through a barren desert; I look on from six m..."

"There is a mountain meadow I've seen once in life, many times in dreams where the only voices to be heard are those of lonely crying birds and the eternal gentle gurgle of a clear running stream, wher..."

"I offer magic and beauty for you if you would only listen I crave to watch you listen, to have you wake up in my dreams, to show you visions of joy and of despair and to hear you call them beautiful..."

"She looks away from the harshness of the faces on a screen she looks away from contemplation of lives lived in a foreign world. Could it be that she's afraid to see behind the screen? Eyes, upon the ..."

"I must have a purpose- if I was brought here to Memphis, Tennessee. I sell my reality cheaply opening many eyes, I hope opening a few, I'm certain and the miracle of a sleeping saint rolls on, through..."

"Earth mother in cut-off jeans leaves me startled at her sleekness I am in her house, among her friends and children gathered awaiting stories She is in my life suddenly, as a flash of blazing sun to..."

"She came into my life so quietly offering a helping hand. I took it in the reluctant way I receive all gifts three months later I could not bear to let go She was a candle in my darkest night bringin..."

"Strasburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton... We tumble onto the road from 66 and embark on a bright September journey that begins with gentle rolling hills. In spots, Earth's birth pangs are seen as rocky sc..."

"Northbound on 14th, conversation starts with the dream that scared her awake this morning and never does she suspect that the moment soon will be a poem. Conversation with Erica is a fast car ride th..."

"It rolls thickly from my lips into your reluctant ears. I offer it boldly, perhaps to earn a smile or even an embrace from you. As a child I learned of its frighful unyielding power, that I could use..."

"It's called a clementine it fits snugly in a fist its peel melts away revealing liquid sunshine its sweet juice drips down the chin encouraging smiles it is a metaphor for satisfaction. Written Novemb..."

"I sit reading Baraka at a bus stop brown bagging a liquid midnight snack. Down the street, my colleagues work the nightclub crowd I only watch the nightclub women- sleek like birds found in jungles fl..."

"Would you love me if you knew where I sleep at night and of the nature of the characters at my breakfast table? Would we be friends if you could see the darkness that shades my heart at times, if you..."

"Holiday cheer: a tub of soup brought last night by one of those random angels in attempt to ward off steely breezes A pint of something special tucked away in a pocket, to give the illusion of warmth..."

"There is a solitary figure-a long shadow under a streetlight-could it be that man, come to haunt my dreamson another restless night?I can't escape this troubled pastof collecting bruises and apologies..."

"He tries-Oh, Lord, he tries.He's hunched over his keyboardin the shadow of our city'sbig stone shaftand he triesjazzy battle hymnswhile the Republic files past,mostly oblivious.But now and then, a cas..."

"I sit in a dark loud crowded room,tied to the umbilical ropeof forever delightedheroblivious to the aural assaultof hiphoppers on a stage.Why am I here?To watch her bodyrock in timeto drummers' thunde..."

"As I hiked a wandering paththrough the forest I've lately been exploringI heard a chorus of whispers and shoutscoming from a nearby clearing.I shyly stepped into a spotaround your illuminating fireand..."

"Strapped by four points (each wrist and ankle) this is not some kinky game this is the reality of mental health On a distant television, the Super Bowl rages on Dr. Sara watches from a safe distance..."

"To even finely honed perceptions I am a phantom, just a cipher, a murmuring voice lost in the clamor of the street, a face as invisible as a breeze, trampled by hustling feet like a weed; even mikes a..."

"I don't want Jesus wrapped in tinsel and sold for $19.95 I want Miles, Yardbird, Coltrane and Mingus to come to life and perform a concert in my yard And I want someone sweet and soft to hold to war..."

"Under a silver moon the red dress girl wobbled, unsteady on stiletto heels and giggled, "I'm so drunk tonight!" Her boyfriend glanced around, and whispered, "Hush!" as the inky shadow of my body lapp..."

"She adjusts my new jacket in a bright color she knew I would never choose she says "Here's a nice new look for you." Woman remakes me into an image of her own choice melting me in her fire until I am..."

"The setting sun poured into the sea like pink fire as Janis danced The glittering sea gently rippled as Janis danced I watched from a eucalyptus grove as Janis danced Thick locks of obsidian twirle..."

"Fifty tablets of Motrin brought her here for a breakfast of charcoal and five days under watchful eyes She felt unloved; she sought to tell those who knew her this is what can happen when people don'..."

"Touch me, once again like you did just now and soothe me I know you wrapped your hands around one of mine just to calm my tremors. Now, we both know, just one thing is good for that, but your touch d..."

"I sipped my oblivion gingerly at first, to savor my forgetfulness Then later tumbled in headfirst splashing and gasping then quickly sinking; trapped like a fly caught in amber, I struggled against i..."

"I hated you because you kept staring through my mirror and I hated your relentless upturned palm awaiting salvation from your hunger I avoided your houses that stank of piss and sweat and booze and s..."

"She wakes in the morning anticipating her day awaiting gifts of love. But where is Daddy? He is somewhere dreaming, as always, walking along some deserted street, bathed in the rain with a bottle tuc..."

"I find them like loose change on the streets. I find poems everywhere; in the dreariness of a dark shelter basement, sleeping with fifty snoring souls, or, as I awaken, in my sidewalk nest to the sme..."

"a gift was given out of love and as a thing i was told was needed an eternal moment later i realized it was only borrowed it's a gift i've shared with you; you've toured my vaulted hall of glamor a..."

"Well, it was fun while it lasted. I'm leaving here, not for the usual reasons people leave - offensive content, poor ratings on their poems, etc. but because I no longer have the regular internet acce..."