HOUSE OF MIRRORS
			


			are these the bones of some strange
			indecipherable animal
			or merely memory
			surfacing once again?
			environmental claws & genetic flaws
			not to mention doomsday prophecies
			spell out
			the same old transation
			black pearls
			rolled across collective lonliness
			retracing resurrection
			from the smallest snatch of conversation
			well rounded riddles
			that ache to be uttered
			absolutely nothing is built to last
			that's why repetition
			has an almost holy connotation
			it's all done with mirrors
			these so called transcendental leaps
			are narcissistic peaking
			or simple biological wave
			& we call it light
			for want of a better term


			
			
			UNFORTUNATE SON
			


			i am coughing up vows
			& other worthless artifacts
			semi-spiritual slugs
			with no ring whatsoever
			how many cracked ribs
			until it's validated
			or at least
			hammered to the surface
			take these untranslatable ashes 
			& rub them in good
			then talk to me about burning words
			or form
			take these tinhorn upanishads
			& see what
			they fetch on the open market
			see how quick
			you get laughed out of town
			take these apocryphal fragments
			& tax-exempt mutterings
			& stereotype me a bestseller
			take these off-handed gestures
			& paint your own glittering future
			i'm tired of being understood


			
			
			FLY
			
			        "flip flop & fly/i don't care if i die"
			

			Big Joe Turner

			
			finally loosening at the joints
			learning to trust my mechanics
			maybe the hallelujah ride
			is more than handy metaphor
			more than leggy model of inconsistancy
			more than rubber-necking
			at the crash site
			more than abstract chalkmark testifying
			more than magnetic gospel pull
			at superstition
			more than terminal spotlight
			lurking on every corner
			more than guarded flame
			or unguarded death bed confession
			more than constant testing of symbol
			for degree of resonance
			don't rush your mantra
			& don't dwell on way down yonder
			low-tech geronimo
			crashes through horizonal hold
			one wave at a time
			winging the human experience


	
	
			GIANT STEPS
	

		
			there's no mistaking fate
			for preferential treatment
			another mangy animal clips at heels
			of lesser beings
			motivated by muddy self-image
			perverse sense of humor
			& realization
			that every fathead must pass
			through needle eye
			even candied buddha
			& blessed chameleon
			have gravity,will travel
			one man's rude awakening
			is another's asylum
			wave of wand
			& all it's magical implications
			is only another
			unemployed melodramatic mime
			lookig to be discovered
			all the angels have gone hollywood
			three thousand miles
			& two thousand years away
			the next greatest attraction
			slithers on shore
			to polite applause