Freezer

We found corpses hoisted on metal hooks,
throats slashed, eyes, genitals missing.
We shuddered at the biting cold,
the blood-stained floor, Death's appearance
in a place more remote than we thought.
The door opened, showing darkness outside,
silhouetting a once-familiar figure, bringing
a lonely question that echoed off the vast night:
"Mother, how long have these been here?"

Transference: A Short Stanza on My Dog and My Mother

I found my puppy bludgeoned and bleeding.
My mother found me bloody and eating
the entrails of a young, tired, beaten cur.
She was happy it wasn't her.

(From a work in progress...)

There was a time
when I thought
words could carry me,
strongmen of the circus
that is my life.
But I was wrong:
I watched
the big top cave in
without any reason or rhyme,
the tightrope snapped,
a slow fall
falling
fell.
I reached up for air,
but nobody could hear me yell.

(From a work in progress...)

In the annals of Time
men have fallen before gods
they couldn't see
but in rocks, rivers, and trees,
bashing their heads
and gnashing their teeth
against the pull of eternity.

For Dennis

Rainbows
Unicorns
Raped Boys
Puffy Clouds
I'll stand on a mountaintop
and scream your name out loud.

If I caused you pain, I’m sorry
It wasn’t more.
Your duplicity deserves
To be splayed out on the floor,
A dry cock in its ass,
Every breath a dying gasp.
As usual, you would like it,
But that’s something you’d never admit.

When Matthew Arnold wrote
about the sweetness and light,
he wasn't talking about us.
So flick the switch
and get in bed.