fiction 

cantos

blacktar baby feels the pain of 10,000 doves
10,000 doves unzip their heartskins for him
10,000 infant doves spin on a spit
10,000 dove hearts bleed into black plastic


spread-eagled like the savior
fleecy clouds that gather
on the horizon before rain

frigid, the dying child
finds solace in their down
sips warm dove's
milk from porcelain

please, he says

be with me always.
carry me through
these slime-ridden & toxic streets


a diabetic with swollen, oozing calves
lifts a pants leg
seeps pus on public transit
take him, man. this is no place for kids
no ointment, no salv(ation
no dime for the dying


corpulent & sweaty, the trash-humper

zips grimy & massive pants.
peels himself from the putrid heap
take him, man. this is no place for kids
no counsel here for the crazy
no love here for the ugly


Veterans with lost limbs die, mutely.
in motion. Pulaski to Washington all-night.
the sun rises & Business Boys in rolled pants pant,
brisk from a jog up the L stairs.
Trixies instagram & blend lipstick in mini-mirrors.

an ethereal poet clutches
the roof-rail and sways, wide-eyed;
stares through semitransparent windows.
hypnotized by the 9-5 tides.

FORTUNE draws straws and says





-- ok,



blacktar baby reaches out
silently
with the gentle heart
of a soul fading out for good

the final kindness
with which God concludes each day

with a sunset;
 

warming cascade of pinks,

quartzy rose fields layered

with arcs of soothing

saffron & aqua.


blacktar baby reaches out
with pigment-powdered fingers

& paints quietly over raw sores.
offers his last best.

walks nude & new-born

into new wings
walks, shielded
with the armour of 10,000 doves
to be carried to the sea of milk.

what strange alchemies we share.


Blacktar Baby says Please.

please dont go.
please stay.
please take me with you.
please braid my hair.
please wash
my heart
my hands
my feet
please love me.
please let me love you.
please.
take me with you.

10,000 doves form a feathered galleon;

a marine vessel, angelic

as any winged cherub of Botticelli or Michelangelo-

an arc, with sails soft-tipped as dew-kissed

dandelions or Farrah Fawcett tresses


let me be
lost in you


    (a chain is unloosed from the dock)

    (missives in winged hands fly)


no goodbyes.


wide eyes meet
a blackwhite horizon & say
take me away.


use kind vocabulary, please-


say "yes"
"always"
"truth"
"love"
"beauty"
"gentle"
"released wholly in gentle rays"

ok?

              yes ok


(the radiant heart sings)


the sea of quilted memories envelops;
welcoming and un-strange.
first light made liquid.
buttery & rich;
sweet-savory & warm-cool.
salty as a slow tear,
and gentle as soft breasts.
unloose all pain;
be still, child.


be borne softly

into the known unknown.