in the balance

do frogs transmigrate
sideways?
do cats mingle with mice
for any reason other than
family barbecues?
if a wayward word
happens out the side of my mouth
would you come gather it
for your bouquet
of nonsensical contingencies?
and when does the moon
dip below the clouds
to taste of its own reflection
in the ocean, in the lake
in the wild grass and the wine glass?
I cannot answer your simplest question
but I am certain
there is room enough
for every possible solution
in the balance of broken worlds
made whole
by droplets of our desire
to see it so

raintruthJune

when the rain is too heavy
for the earth, for the streets
for the long purple flowers
crushed against the wood chips
sorrow and struggling
against death and wetness
we may finally know
the weight of our desires
is too much for even
our children to bear

the stress test never ends

two and a half minutes, he tells me

until the end of the stress test

but it never will end

he amps up the speed and tilt of the treadmill

I am breathing through my mouth

two and a half minutes

turns to three

to another ten

stretching asymptote toward infinity

my mouth is dry, I can hear my heart

it is gonzo John Bonham, pumping the bass drum

Josh, the lab attendant, pushes at my back

holding me on the treadmill which slows, tilts downward

I am confused and drowning

in the air that surrounds me, that is inside me

there is not enough of it

water would be so good right now

but the ocean is salt

and I am heading for the door

for the water fountain

because you have to start somewhere

when the world is your oyster

and you are allergic to shellfish

certain words

an undisclosed location
in the inkwell
certain words keep cropping up
freeing neural pathways
scientific Spirits
angels measured with calipers
speaking in tongues
we are seeking an answer
finding quite another