the agreement the final word

sitting in the ruins

out of water

saw the white door many times

there is always much to spend

with pictures across eyes

realized

when parting

   just around the corner

we shared so many good times that

            we had to

thank god for allowing us to meet

we should treasure every encounter

maybe that is part of significance

maybe that is part   of 
days   of 
     mind

the agreement

      the final word

because

      at this moment

it is only

to feel the   

well  

   their

elders

full of sorrow

like grateful trees

a park of need

thank you for the better

from the same factory

      victory

because the feast was all good but

when her tears today

ended up on

      your face

         it looked like

two brothers and a sister

in the same boat

   wearing navy blue coats

singing songs

      writing poems

all the way home

bangbangbang bangbangbang

   do you consider it

i think it’s your strength dear

this part

      in here

all the way

      up to tempo

   over the rhythm

he doesn’t really know

            how fast it’ll go

fear of rejection

      happy day

   of the

newest year

the arab league of autumn

      where courage sticks

    home is here

stop chasing other happys

      for people

stop

      bangbangbang

bangbangbang

for the contrarian

making the whole process

more complicated than it has to be

no-body would disagree

it matters not

how good you are

what good you do

or does it

is the final measure

more than cronbach’s alpha

more than just seeing

if the same answer

can be had again

are any answers

sacred

is any

          thing

   say

      cred

      sake

   read

for goodness sake

       for pete’s sake

my sake

   for me

what about that

years speeding up

only to slow down

in libraries

and on dirt roads

in locker rooms

in your mother’s home

atop her piano

more for holding up

photographs

than stirring chords

or sweet songs

sing along

   sing

alone

none of this

and none of you

see

the sunset

was not meant for you

nor was it meant for

everyone else

stone stuck

staring at it

without the words

to make a stand

only word enough

to meet demands

of consumer culture

that coffee colored vulture

with a shaker to the right

a stolen glockenspiel in the center

                                                          its silver bars glimmering in the middle

   of it all

the glimmer

   is something you hear

and if you hear it well

   you can see it too

you can make it through the

   hoop

through the roof

   even

and if that’s not enough

to get you to stop calling me

      steven

   then i don’t know what else

i can do for you

                         friendo

   defend it

make a case

tell me why

you ended up in this place

and why you feel such a strong want

   to heal the hate

to set it straight

   from out of state

the harm’s long gone

don’t you know that son

don’t you forget what we told

you when we said that

we know what the color yellow

   is

what the color yellow

   was

what the worth of work depends upon

when we sat on the back bumpers of fords

      always more than one

and just wanted to play golf

before we went back to work

before we came home

from the moon

or from utah

where god only knows what happened

and what that meant

the port in the storm

called itself arthur

but you always said

   ‘author’ like it was writing

our story

from the gulf coast

   ankle deep in crude

            strike broke

didn’t seem right to me

at the time

doesn’t seem any more right

now

despite my red subaru

and three green semesters

for the contrarian

the septuagenarian

   who tricked me

every day of the week

 *leaf cutting by Hillary Waters Fayle

http://hillaryfayle.wordpress.com/

the simpler life

lucy cured lonelieness

         in the sand

        with a branch

she had to

what’s changed

age

      forgiveness

that virtuous luxury

honor

is an only child

it’s foolish

              but fine

         and

looks mean everything

         the simpler life

cotton wool

      cement

eitzel

      recompense

a sacred charge

from the lord

      a binding contract

where

      half is never half

unless

         it has to be

                                                                                             

sounds like laughing

                                                                 from a distance

we didn’t get along when she was alive

but things are different

                        when you die

i know what a woman at the top of a staircase means

      toeing worn wood

staring at saving grace

      the last line

the seized ships

      ruby      red      lips

hedgehog on a wheel

brown noise+

oscillating fan+

wind=

a long night made not so long

    laughter

by bobby hill

                 remembering who was wrong

      where they come from

what needs to be done

milton

pushing

coasting

just past the two story wendy's

just into kate's place

the smile

is on kate's face

intermittent

no charge

on the reset

you

take your first left

drive on out to west jeff

sloane waits there

black bear inn

turns to heaven    dirt road

up hill

both ways   and    just enough snow

should i stay

                           or

should i go
’later’   lied

in two replies

and neither really

will suffice

but the time that came

passed     me     by

and left me sinking

 into

christ

m a s

past

the call

never came

sleep never left

i dreamt i was pregnant

and drunk the whole time

what have i done to the baby is it mine?

‘the walls we build up stone by stone’

you are almost alone

but the good is gone

so    why are you three hanging on?

playing tired country songs

from kingdom come to kingdom kong

                  my girl

                                    the fat girl

                                                      drew me once     in a blue swirl

didn't use it

change     read    plan

are you tired boy?

are you re-ran?

gorgeous into

non

sequitur

place in cold earth

hear your             heart work

take a t shirt

make it hard

make it                 hurt

c for calvin c for clifford

c for calvin c for clifford

            they broke the record

mensch

         cut what makes sense

what makes me nervous 

    recompense

       shut it down

 turn around

   least of all

common ground

     this is your favorite movie

no wonder you’re depressed

       don’t tell me he did it

did it sound like he did it

he did it    he did it

      could it

would it

no        of course not

did that sound like a gunshot

          okay  it did   the harm was his

so here i sit

and there is no tangerine slice

it’s one hundred and twenty percent black and white

   it’s an ode

an homage

to a different time

made by a different man

who didn’t need spotlights

he did need starlets and circus nights

     but words on the page

had to suffice

 until the celluloid soon made everything right

left siobhán and the shy one

         to i a l diamond

under cover of the california night

these boys

      made it so that the sun wouldn’t shine

unless it happened to ask

and if it was wearing a mask

          then what’s rising would last

into the into the into the    past

with a look   and a laugh

honor intact

   never pander to anyone that’s just a fact

he told the truth like a magazine

               centerfold    beauty queen

it’s just that no one is listening

    to him    or

to me

          anymore