twin systems

i.
here is Mercury and here is Mars,
and between and around are all the tiny stars,
shining like shards of sparkling glass.

here is the moon and here is the sun,
rising and falling, falling and rising as one.

here is a gleam and here is a spark,
shining bright as dreams in your eyes, to light the dark.

ii.
here you are and here am i,
reflected in those eyes,
and walking alongside
the tide which is pulled by the moon up high,
and you're from Mercury
and i'm from Mars,
and all I see when you're with me
is stars, two shining stars,
above your smile which is straight
with upturned ends, and below
your hair which is wild but not
half as wild as your wild, wild eyes,
each of which contains a solar system,
spinning this way and that and pinning
me down to the Earth while lifting me up
to the Heavens.

the ride

i will search for god on the back of a Harley,
with two wheels chewing up asphalt and the wind
blowing through the empty tunnels in my brain.
i will find my place in the world, or find
that i have no place in the world. i will find
my god on the back of a Harley, or i will die trying.

i will find myself on the back of a Harley,
some indistinct day in the future. the first phase
of my life is nearing completion, a quarter century
down the highway of my life. i will have no use
for walls, putting myself out in the open air
for the first time ever, and letting my voice
be heard. for the first time ever, my engine
will be heard.

i will find my love while perched upon my seat
on the back of a Harley. she will be a tan
Mexican girl, with bright eyes and long, black,
flowing hair. she will have the sweetest smile,
and she will smell like the ocean at low tide,
with the sun sinking down over the watery
horizon line. together we will ride out,
under a moon which is full of nothing
but promise.

i will teach myself everything that nobody
managed to get through my thick head,
sitting serenely like a leather-clad Buddha
on the back of a Harley. i will teach myself
a new religion, a new kind of physics, a new
kind of thermodynamics. i will finally be able
to align all the planets in my favor, for
fortune smiles on those who fend
for themselves.

this is a promise to myself, and this is
a promise to my maker. i will not remain
tamed, not forever. i will not
walk in the same circles, not forever.
i will scream, i will love, i will live
and when i am ready, i will die.

i will do it all, on the back of my Harley.

Vitamin People

We are the Vitamin People:
we come in yellow, red, green, purple,
and pink. We are addicted to many
things, including but not limited to

ourselves. We love to speak
about said selves: how are you,
how am I, how are we, how
'bout thee? We love to drink
each other up. Sometimes we

walk in lines and other times
we fall to the floor amidst
the clutter. We wear funny
slogans and try to act them

out. We act ourselves,
having truly become
yellow, red, green, purple,
and pink.

tender (take two)

i.
beauty has black hair.

beauty has black hair and a dark smile.

beauty has black hair, a dark smile,
full lips, a fleshed-out face, and
a cartilage piercing in her left ear.

beauty has hair, smile, lips, face, and piercing,
and caramel skin,
and perky little Hershey's Kiss
nipples.

ii.
hair, smile, lips, and face
talk to you when you're all
alone, and other times they
surround you in silence.

cartilage, skin, piercing, and nipples
notice your t-shirt
but do not speak, only
awaiting.

iii.
you want beauty:
you want hair,
smile,
lips,
nose, ears, eyes, cheeks,
you want cartilage between your teeth,
you want to taste that caramel,
to part those lips,
you want those kisses pressing down
into your mouth,
you want it so much you can almost taste the
coppery caramel burning a blessed hole
through your tongue, those legs pressed
together around your cheeks:

you want
beauty, you want it, the singular and
the plural, the parts and the whole,
every inch of it, every ounce of it.

tender

i.
beauty has black hair
and a dark smile, slipping
soundlessly in the shadows,
back and forth behind the bar.

beauty has full lips, a fleshed-out
face, and a cartilage piercing
in her left ear, with a thick ponytail
tucked back behind.

beauty has caramel skin
and perky little Hershey's Kiss
nipples.

ii.
beauty smiles at you
and says a few words,
and oftentimes you'll find
her in front of you
when the room is relatively
empty.

beauty will notice
what your t-shirt says,
but she won't say anything
until you bring it up.

iii.
beauty will always
conquer non-beauty,
as spring conquers winter,
until the seasons roll around again
and winter is on top.

every little thing that you do

i've watched you
through the windows of your third floor
apartment, and i know you've got
a whole closet full of replacement appendages,
an arm and a leg for each season. i've seen you
in front of your mirror, giving yourself looks,
lifting a foot, deciding which limb is right
for each given night. i know all your secrets already,
but i can't stop watching. and i know you know
i'm here; your mirror games have grown
more elaborate and you linger longer each night,
each move measured, weighed, calculated
for the eye of the observer.

our unspoken agreement is beginning to chafe;
the flowers which show up at your apartment door,
which now guild the edges of that cursed mirror:
they are the first sign that i am slipping.
these shoes that i am holding; i think they fit
the size of one or two of your sets of feet.
they came from a little girl who was almost
as beautiful as you. i came out from my hole
the other day; it had been ages. the red will
match the most recent roses i have sent you,
which will certainly be arriving soon.

sometimes i turn my gaze away,
to the security guard in your lobby, just to see
how big a breach would be needed to break through
the barrier between us. i'd like to hold up a hand
for you to fasten on, or tell you which fingers are the most
appropriate for an occasion. i'd like to take you apart,
limb by limb, and help you decide the way in which to put
yourself back together again. oh my detachable bride,
in my mind we will order the parts to piece you together,
and wait for the mailman to arrive. i will give you
my foot, if you give me your hand. i will be sending you
these shoes shortly.