wasted things

your mind, i am told
is a finite place

(that is to say, not yours precisely)

and there are only so many things
which can fit inside

so words, you see, are a tricky business

if you use them up
all at once,
as they come to you

there is a very real danger
that they will not be used properly.

footnotes

what will we have been
when this our postmodern era is at an end?

the number of unexpected endings has
slowly dwindled down to none-at-all
and the future is not what it used to be
(for one, it's shorter)

when you're young,
you dream of becoming a giant
but we stopped growing years ago
and i rather fear that
if we are to be remembered at all
it will be only in the footnotes

forgetfulness

these days,
i find it's rather nice
to be able to forget
(not forever-dwell in embellished memory)

these days, i can hardly
remember your face
and really that's okay

it's strange to think
that this forgetfulness
is what we were always afraid of
(isn't it nice to be older?)

occupants of empty rooms

what is she
to you, to me?
and what are we
to us to be?

the occupants of empty rooms
or passers-by in unmarked lanes

our roots are loose
the soil thin
and all we have
are these entangled branches

and i, for one, do not know what it means
or how to untie the knots.

ode v2.0

i want to spend my summers somewhere hot
where slow music filters the never-quite-dark
from twilit roadside stalls

but mostly,
where we (those of
us with bad timing)
can't hide what we are
under the layers of scarves
and mufflers and complaints about the snow

o chicago!
one thing i can say for you
when at a loss for conversation
we always get by
by complaining about the weather.

end of cascade

three-words-to-the-world:
1. here i am
2. what is this?
3. stop shouting, please.

six-word-novel:
1. What's that? A man? Never mind.
2. Pigs might fly. We are waiting.
3. Some words. Some rain. Run dry.
4. Please be careful. People are delicate.

attention

for one thing,
we are not the automata we appear to be
please take notice.

and stop walking backwards. i'm trying to talk to you.