The Touch
Last night I woke up
to a dream. Foam in the sea
trying to catch time
in myriad forms;
my limbs drenched in waves
my hands outstretched.
A dream touching
the timeless
Alone
The street lights greet me in benevolence
when I look at the night
with a watchman’s eye.
Traffic pauses to think
how busy the road is,
and I become...
The Widow’s Nights
“Days are not so bad.
My volunteer work.
Lunch with friends.
Gardening.
All of these fill the daytime hours.
But it is the nights—
they are so long, so very long.”
I don’t know how to respond.
We smile at each other in
a moment of silence.
Then, she adds, “If you have
any alterations you need done,
bring...
Wargame
Speak. Seek. Advance. Retreat. Say a word. A thought or two. Sing for me. You know you want to.
Canoe down the river. Climb up the waterfall. I’ll be here when you get back. Waiting to give it all.
Or maybe I’m not here. I’m deep-sea diving somewhere. I’m searching for...
THE LIGHT SINKS LOW
Here, the light sinks low
as a meandering river,
into the threshold of my windows
when I bake half-grown weeds.
My nails are black with smoke.
I clean the air around me
with my overgrown hair.
My kitchen sink is on the other side
of the green balcony.
It tells me the story of a...
Pinakbet
A dish I watched my grandma cook with
zest. I was six or seven.
Bitter gourd because I’m diabetic, my
yearns for sweets squash-yellow.
Canola oil sizzles, the air adorned with garlic
expressions, wafts of red onion.
Drizzles of black pepper, and I
wonder if this spice will let me live longer.
Eggplant will tell me if...
PLAYMATE
As kids, you and I
Loved red paper lanterns
And exquisite Japanese dolls.
In winters, we decorated
Our flower vases
With chrysanthemums the color
Of tiny pink cakes.
In summers our fathers
Took us to drink
Green mango sorbet
At the same quaint little joint.
Springs and autumns were
The times for new clothes
During festivals as even trees
Turned fashion-conscious
And flaunted their...
Sea-Smart
Lion has your tongue
A fool sold you pride
Buyer’s remorse
when eagles scratched three eyes
If you only have one bullet
better make sure that it’s pure silver
If you’re bound to draw your sword
just promise me that you won’t drop it
Tiger has your tell-tale
A spell cast your path
Sweetest reward
when whales do higher math
If...
Tarmac Labyrinth
Have you ever forgotten a road
only to travel through it
years later?
The old smell of it coming back,
the same branches leaning towards
same shadows designing it
weaving nets
The same emptiness and
potholes.
Doesn’t it make you reminisce
about the things you passed?
Left behind?
Glanced at and Ignored?
If you haven’t tried to recollect
the stops you made...
the authenticity of my butt
i now hear that
the authenticity of my butt
is in question
who are these doubters, these trolls
naysaying, behind anonymity
well, i stand here today
and tell you my butt is authentic
unadultered, genuine american male ass
this is not some cheap foreign knock off
no booty magic here, no $5000 enhancements
no fat...
GALLERIES IN THE NIGHT
Abandoned by all kindly lights
To gnash their teeth
In penumbras of their own making,
What half-bitten talk
Peoples the dark galleries
Between masterpiece and masterpiece,
Restrained from lawless combat
By gilt-edged police
Or the garth of mortar?
The greatest allegories of art
Are secret journals kept
By that gossip Night
Whom no historian of art consults
As they...
The Final Draft
I've started living after my death!
I was killed
Some four years back—
Stabbed and drowned!
’Twas a shallow stream;
I quivered out,
(Ah! Blessed ghoul!)
Was yet again
Earth-bound
With the hope
Of new love
And assassins
For my carcass soul!
I've lived and died
Many times
In my secular half
And your non-religious (w)hole!
Faced umpteen deaths,
Say, in Mohenjodaro,
And in the Mayan...
THE DECLINING ART OF HEART MENDING
Cannot deny that I have a brittle heart,
weak and fragile like thin ice!
As it happens with hearts
that are volleyed back and forth,
mine too drop and crack with a crunchy sound,
like a bag of wafers.
Now, you know that girls make the best cardiologists.
The Heart is...