lunch break

the threatening hint of hunger unites us into
an accelerating force barreling down the tower.
the path of the stairways takes too long, but
the warp-speed descent of the cold boxes is
there for us.
any of the three can vomit us into the sunlight.

the concrete-armored earth is warm and firm
beneath the daily traffic of rubber soles,
and the occasional skin.
the gravity beneath the tiles push back against
our weight, a resistance ancient and unstoppable
and never ending.
the pause and the deja vu of not knowing which
direction to take is inevitable, an aerial tide
tinged with infected city breeze.

her artillery eyes roam upwards. the hunt for
enemy clouds begins, but
the heavens are a peaceful blue today.
i consult my tongue for a reminder on
the nationality of sustenance we have recently
erased off the face of the world.

a decision is made. a destination is set.
a rendezvous wed to today's death match against
the demonic, abyssal, hunger of high noon.
oh, don't worry, loved ones; for the low cost
of small animal and defenseless plant life, we
are unbeatable.



2012.jan.19

tavern

talking economics
with the king of the mountain
over cold beer, cold soda, bacon,
and cheeseburgers

while Lane and Jerry harmonize vocals
from hidden speakers.

the king of the mountain recommends:
lechon, liempo, pizza,
breaded pork chops, vegetarian breakfast.

and books and TV series and Bean, Sean Bean.

the king of the mountain decrees:
quality of video, audio, and content
are of utmost importance.

that there is a point of no return.

the lawyer and the monster and I
stand audience to economics of electricity.
economics of political fumbles
in this part of the world.

economics of leaving the mountain for diplomatic duties
by the seashore.

a neighboring table begins the holy rites of Poker.
smoke breaks free from out of their teethed dungeons.

threatened, the monster and I cower into our silver ride,
into dark streets of an aging evening.

deserters.

in the tavern the cheeseburgers built,
the mighty king and the magnificent lawyer
carry on.

invasion

you and your city fell around me while i slept.
i woke up to find you replaced her and the world
she built around me.

your roads stretch from where i stand,
the perfect cuts of stone piled upon perfect cuts of stones
parry a glimmer out of the morning light,
out of a familiar sun i am sure i have never seen before.

all your constructs synch into a scripted ballet of physics,
and it is unlike the mad and random flailing i remember.
all your constructs hum together a calculated mathematical heartbeat,
and it is unlike the chaos of prose and poetry i remember.

it is the sound that betrays the difference best:
the blaring echoes against concrete and hardwood and glass and steel
ring hollow against the memory of the strings of whispers
she once blew into my mouth.

but why do i look like each passerby one way or another,
and somehow i know your languages?
somehow a few of you know me and blatantly spit greetings.
somehow your scents and your sights all beg for my admission,
that they are familiar,
that they are mine,
that they are all i ever had,
but i shall not be deceived.

you are all aliens and you do not know you failed to steal from me
the memory of my love.



2011.mar.23

tremor and tide

the last perfect circle i ever saw
was a single drop of my blood on the snow
that buried you today.

crimson circle on endless white ocean of flakes,
you'd understand how i could only
think of you.

i died with you today like in all the recent days.

and in my latest dying breath
i remember when titans underneath the world
conspired to crush your breasts,
unwittingly crushing mine
along with yours -

didn't those fools hear
about how I left the million missing
pieces of me with you?

and wasn't the sea the greatest witness
to our soiled bodies and clothes by the shore -
how could she drown us the other day.
how could she drown us like this.

on radiation-laced winds, on radiation-laced rumors,
voices of hope speak of our nightmares.

and i could only hear
a snowflake crack on my shoulder in the wintry fields.

alone in the silent white with you in my vacant arms,
i die to live another day for you.


2011.mar.17

you remind me of Lightning

I know your brand of anger:
I recognize the shell of quietness
shielding circuits of complexity beneath.
I sense the electric backdrop trying
to provoke out of you another
spectacular release.

I know how the madness beckons,
darkness’ beacons underneath the resolve.
Cancerous desperation -
sprinting through the mazes of fate
of a broken world yearning
to break you, too.

The cold blade on the skin brings solace,
I know you know this.

I know how you find the silence so eloquent,
her fluency in the language of your soul
demands that you fall in love with her.

But listen: I love you more.
I know you better.
I fell for you first.



2010.sep.01

6

take a deep breath. this is
a six-year plunge, this is
star-struck and stupid, this is
the color of cowardice.

save your breath. this is
a vote for ignorance, this is
a concession to deceit, this is
the color of corpses.

hold your breath. may there be
air at the seventh, but this is
star-struck and stupid, this is
yellow.


2010.may.11

the brink

am i possible
rising into your world
inspiring new contradictions
saving you from boredom
bystander to your stardom;
could i be possible?
skimming across your horizon
moving with your motions
eye to eye with your demons;
make me possible
immortal in your memory
saving you to save me.


2010.mar.12