“Protest Anthology ( Read more... )

“About Dad Dying #10”

I had expected dad to die
suddenly for more than a decade:

but, do not look at that
thought directly, or it will

twist and
become the whole empty world.

(This exercise has become self-aware:
and thus, academic at best and toxic at worst.

So then,
abandon it: let it  be orphaned.)

Photos from the Carnival Season so far ( Read more... )

About Dad Dying #9

And this is exactly what I mean:

I’ve been dark the last couple days-
real dark. But it was broken

by this band: Vampire Weekend.

This sunny perfect little record-
As much of a marvel as can be thrown
by white kids.

Will it always make me think of dad?

This is what I mean: nothing
escapes. Everything after
is After.

Apology #8 ( Read more... )

“About Dad Dying #8”

The titles of these
writings are swallowed
by the world outside their
scope: now that my
father has died,

everything is about
his dying. The walls
of these poems
may form a closed
cell,

but the in and the out
are indistinguishable.

“About Dad Dying #7 ( Read more... )

This is what I said at my dad’s memorial service. The 5th of February, 2008 ( Read more... )

“About Dad Dying #6”

When one is held against the
the other, the benefit of having

spent up life across so many
places becomes apparent.

While hours certainly
blend, whir, and settle in my
mind. Days and years do not-

I almost never forget, where

I was. And now this great
line laid down- all before,
all after.

“About Dad Dying #5”

I can see some little bird
(I do not know bird names)
rising off the asphalt
and firing into traffic.

I can imagine that tiny thing
very close to my face-
smelling like an attic-
like hot dust. Its warm

body. Its tiny chest holding
a tiny clock. Its tiny mouth
loaded with a clock’s word. Or,
trapping what a clock eats.