America The Beautiful (Haiku for Ahmaud Arbery)

Blank Slate

here I am today

beach on the Caribbean

control/alt/delete

I Could

I could 
leap tall office buildings 
in just a single bound
fight corruption 
wherever it may be found
move so fast
eclipsing the speed of sound

I could
press a secret button 
and slide down that bat pole
a wave of my hand 
would save every wayward soul
collect all the broken pieces 
and make them again all whole

I could 
sing like the Temptations 
perfect five part harmony
give the world new spectacles
so everyone could clearly see
turn division into multiplication
and less would become plenty

I could
because during the night
the candle light dwindled
the moon shook its head
having quite enough of us
and went about its business elsewhere
we weren't paying attention to it
while she whispered words in a language I didn't understand
an...

Let It Be Me

let it be me
Teddy on the turntable
calling out to you 
to come hither and close the door behind you

let it be me
the blue of oxygen within the candle
burning brightly on the nightstand
to illuminate your nocturnal pathway

let it be me
the softness of silk sheets and pillowcases
against your silk skin 
flowing like waves on Caribbean beaches

let it be me
the crescendo of escalated breathing
a slow and careful departure from the driveway
entering the freeway zero to sixty

let it be me
the one who deep dives into the flood
aftermath of the sudden torrential downpour
which is you

let it be me
the absence and consideration of time 
the absence of everything 
except you

who allowed me
to be
me

For Rent

court order 
signed
sealed
delivered
I'm no longer yours
eviction notice served
uniformed personnel came
removed your belongings from the premises
locks were changed to protect

me 

the innocent

from you

to bar you from ever entering again
your key
will never again gain entrance to this 
domicile
as they call it
spent the weekend doing nothing but 
scrubbing
resting
scrubbing
resting
rinse
repeat 
so by Monday morning
traces of you would be remembered only
as the past week's trash to be put out on the curb

looked at my copy of the
eviction notice
officially should have been a
ctrl/alt/delete 
situation
a factory reset
emerging from the shadows a
blank hard drive
ready for a new operating syste...

Tales Of Old Men

he told me
the allure
the aphrodisiac 
was all in the chase
the pursuit of the object
the plan of attack
the blueprint etched in the beginnings
and the happy endings

he told me
the moments that made him sweat
the sleepless nights 
the imagination running wild
the things he would do
once he had the prey in his possession
not mounting it on the wall
or
maybe he might just do that
whispering to it
how long he desired it
and
how difficult
yet
unquenchably desirous he was of it

he told me
that nothing short of death would keep him from it
not owning it
in a sense
but having it in his possession
to admire it
salivating during the length of the hunt
and watching it salivate 
as it watched him transport it home

yeah
he told me
it was st...

Voyeurisms

I like to sit and watch
ticket purchased in advance
always choosing the back row mezzanine
dark attire
so nobody knows I been in the building

I am over 21
heard about it
seen it all on channels I had to pay for
'cause this stuff can't be on prime time 
youngsters ain't suppose to see and hear
too young to be voyeurs
or
maybe they should be
depending on strict or loose upbringings

air conditioning blasts
but I am so hot
my voyeurism hormones in overdrive
personal summer
as she once told me she had
but 
I don't know about that stuff
ditching the dark hoodie 
velvet crimson curtains separate
bare wooden planks of the stage 
an older bar stool front and center
silver mic
hold steady in its holster

voyeurism
I wanna see it stripped down
layers
peeling away...

Totally

it is
the voice of Phyllis Hyman
or whoever you got on your Bluetooth playlist
while you buzz around the house
doing this
or doing that
or efficient efforts in doing absolutely nothing
so angelic in your accomplishments
or not
 
it is
the heads secretly nodding at the supermarket
behind the backs of their own wives
checking out the honey ham on sale for the kid’s school lunches
and you
just wearing my old college hoodie and jeans
choosing this 
or choosing that
or bypassing it altogether
we already got too many at home
and don't really need to have it all
 
it is
you walking through the church doors
the preacher man suspends his holy dance in midair
quite sure 
the holy ghost done sent their best angel to grace the aisle seat
third pew to the left
and them f...

Look But Don't Touch

(Dusted this old one from the 90's attic...")

you've got a face like an angel 
built like a Nubian queen
your pair of eyes shine the brightest 
like no one else's I’ve seen
we've been together for a long while 
and I just can’t understand
why you won't let me get close enough 
to even touch your hand

I know this is the nineties 
and things ain't what they were before
you've got me praying and wishing
for some hugging and kissing
I wanna get close to you
but what else can I do?

but then you tell me
you can look but don't touch
but if you ask me
I say you're asking too much...
you tell me
you can look but don't touch
but if you ask me
I say you're asking too much

oh, the things that you wear 
not a wrinkle can I fin...

Sacred Room

before I entered the sacred room
sounds of symphony strings
harps
violins
Brazilian guitars strumming
before I entered the sacred room
pedals of roses strewn across my path
leading to the great door 
slightly ajar the end of the archway 
torches flicker along both sides of the hallway
portraits of you
masterpieces all
beckon
entreating me to hasten my steps
before I entered the sacred room
sounds of angels
sacred hymns in languages I couldn’t translate
sopranos
their high notes running through me
awakening my senses
tingle every nerve as I hastened my steps
before I entered the sacred room
just a few feet before me
door ajar
trembling hands reaching for the latch
the gods summoned
provide me the strength
for the weight of the great ancient wooden door
would take all that ...

Arrival In Greece

when I came to
time passed
seasons changed 
storms turned into rainbows
and
rainbows turned into storms
that I didn't remember hearing this morning
when I came to
my tongue spoke languages  
unfamiliar to me
subtitles unnecessary 
I thought it was my native tongue
no translation necessary
she understood every utterance
when I came to
Ovidean script written in Greek pen
crawls slowly against the ceiling
like a Hollywood marquis
wrinkled white toga
seen strewn across the other side of the room
when I came to
swimming in the waters of myself
perspiration
floating backwards 
morning sun shining down upon me
no
that was your eyes 
peering into the present state of helplessness
when I came to
I heard her say something
whisper something
barely ...