2020 poems

chicago

how many nights are we going to
keep between me and you?
this summer will seem like forever
so lets set our sights on the fall.

plan the plans
we're ready for this
chicago here i come.

lets talk
about the train tracks
that carry this love that we share
embracing state lines through the
quiet of the night.

consistent and calm
the charm of our love
chicago here i come.


carnival rides

this morning i will pare the dream from my mind,
of Truman's midlife crisis and blue sofa couches,
and i'll let loose of the town that was misplaced until it wasn't.

you'll say that i'm admirable;
just a wreck who can't sleep.
i won't believe you

and will push all of this away like wild hair in a movie set breeze.

but in the movies this seems less like a chapter.
because when my eyelids seal off like elevator doors
they'll occasionally still force
a slight drip of that
chilling summer rain to gather up -

it collects and pours out like the music
we missed lying beneath the church of carnival rides.


just look at the stars

folded hands cramped from prayer
answered only when you wake
up with balloons, filling this room
fanned by hospital haste.

swollen eyes, a heart wide open
pulsing cadence set to machines
struggle to disassemble,
attempt to comprehend
perfection in this plan.

we all saw christmas just in time
beneath blankets, within whispers
hushed voices can climb
like loving hands extended
to your sleeping side.

a way to track that pathway of light.

all you wanted to see
were stars waking the sky,
but i swear you'll feel the sunrise soon
warming your hospital room.