Nocturne

night doesn’t fall
it happens at all once
from pink to blue to black
all of sudden, all around

it gets noisier
no birds
but crickets and cicadas
the dissonant hum of a generator
and distant cars

it gets brighter
street-lights blind, they blend with the stars
silhouettes in the windows lit from the inside
and smoke that joins the clouds.

it’s clean
nothing in excess, nothing to distract
the air is cool and calm
a single note solo echoing down the street

I get up to follow the sound
improvising my way until morning
blazing my own trail with no destination
since I got nowhere to be, I can take my sweet time
and soak it in
the damp sensations
of an evening after a misty rain
like a tall glass of sparkling water with
a slice of lemon on the rim, no ice

I’m walking over fallen leaves
and under flickering street-lights
and I bend with the trees
and move with the wind
and feel the rotation of the earth
on its axis and along its
journey around the sun

what is it like to be 1,000 feet tall?
I’m stepping over shining city skylines
and under rain-clouds and airplanes

I reach up and feel
the curve of the moon
under my arm and
hold my breath as I
dive into the Milky Way and
blink the stars from my eyes

on a gentle breeze
I float back down to earth and
follow an empty road to a
bench with a view
to wait for the silent sunrise.

Freewrite (10/8/18)

you said to me:
a day of Frictionless Photography
echoing down the street illuminated by
eyes that blink and stare
a radio playing backwards
a memory over vhs
a torn flannel shirt
a siren shakes the walls
and dust falls from the ceiling
through sunbeams this sunday morning
after the flood, just mist now
ice cold water, condensing on the window
blood rush to the head
a crowded room full of roots
and branches and knots
and fallen leaves turned brown
soaked in my soul
full to the brim
of emptiness
(depending on your perspective)

I am a monday morning

I am a Monday morning
sleep late, cold shower
forgot to shave, mismatched socks
rush to get to class late
wrong notebook, no pencil
have to ask, misspeak, repeat myself

I am earbuds, but one ear broken
shoes untied, spilled drink, stained shirt
a word misspelled in spray paint
covered up the next day
a joke that didn’t land
a bulb burned out
a door held open just a little too long
a message unread, a message on “read”
no response or reciprocation
not unexpected, just poor communication
a messy misunderstanding
a poorly worded apology
and an apocalyptic poem

Moment

do you remember that place?
that spot in time
a frozen image of
sunbeams and dust bunnies
with cigarette butts soaking in
your rain-flooded room
filled to the brim with the
sound of your smile
a mirror image waveform
an echo of the memory of
that singular, Surreal Moment

that singular, Surreal Moment
was an echo of the memory of
a mirror image waveform
the sound of your smile
filled to the brim
your rain-flooded room
with cigarette butts soaking in
sunbeams and dust bunnies
frozen in an image of
that spot in time
do you remember that place?

Autumn is set to music

Honestly, I can’t remember
the last time I felt like this

it’s the sound of fallen leaves
brittle, decaying guitars
with chords that sing
in red and orange
the last desperate expression of color
before the snow falls

it’s in each breeze that shakes free
unread poems and unsent letters
from loose-leaf trees
and the wind through
their shadow-puppet branches
harmonizes with the song in my ears
and they wave in time
with my changing colors

let’s both dance to the tune of
our own tangible nostalgia
surrounded by fading sunsets
sinking into horizon sooner each night
wrapped up in the leftover
summer-green melancholy

I don’t know how much longer it’ll last
maybe another week or two
or just a few days
before the grass is frosted gray
and we fall out of sync

for now, the ground is cluttered with natural debris
my mind is scattered with superfluous memories
remnants and reminders caught in the wind
to be scooped up by the handful
before they’re forgotten

for now, let’s go through the motions,
reenact our shared deja vu
and wade into fiery trees.