al hounds along Gretal trees,
there will come the realization
another day is thru
with another night to pilot away
fresh brush & rubble
before emerging, at night's end,
from the clearing that is
the trees.

HUMBOLDT'S CURRENT

Cresta roja wine
--colour of
arterial blood,
vena cava of
the alcoholic soul.

And seeing bottles bob
in mainstreams of men's blood
to pistol whip their reddened eyes,
Humboldt's current becomes a rash of drinking,
a map that charts more bloody lies.

The thirst that passeth
all human understanding,
(an alternate Biblical rendering)
certainly body heat surpasses
Vulcan's bellows
adding new faces to Delirium Tremens.

THE GINGHAM DREAM UTTERANCE

As I watch the clouds assemble, steam-ship fashion, with funnels to
alert passersby, I realize the Romanovs tore silk & riches from
every bazaar leaving the bright spot of this evening studded with
emerald marks.
A dot in the ocean is a spark upon which minnows play, their silver
bellies upturned to imitate the moon's white shawl.

I am wanting in the delights of the reef narrowly hauled from
rambunctious depths, the tiniest splashes of green, yellow, blue darting
in an upturned fish's tail.
An octopus rock commands squadrons of fingerlings while the eisel
fish decorates a steeper, coral garden.

Jet black sand crowns the lagoon volcanic ages' past the innocence
of this spurting palm while mounds of pitch dark ants deposit slivers
of rich eggs.

After a fashion, onyx enamours pearl and pearl ivory as cays and
atolls are swept to the wiggle of sun's dance on white sand. Eel-like
islands are only pomegranates undigested by the moon.

The amber breath of growing leaves is rich dark coffee stolen as in
a smile.

Almond drink is refreshing as the tips of cloven hooves to the dried
earth.

One might hesitate to watch firm nipples being given as broaches to
a king but the sandpiper is a river barge commanding slow access to
the next water.

Near barely lit lamps alongside make-shift beds, a woman with olive
skin prepares her toilet.

Hatchet brown birds beseech her with brittle songs stolen from
one wing.

A cathedral bowl lies overturned in the warm twilight of lovers
kneeling before the growing strength of day.

Stone stars are flattened by the glare of sun and shell encrusted
beaches bear a passing resemb