Smells Like Tin Tinnitus

--
a discreet gap opens
and shuts in the soundtrack
to the relay of the seasons

crickets chirp in at odd hours
after Summer has grown long
in the mute cicadas' tooth

in stillness, even the busy
climbing wave of whirring
pads a perfectly sound frame

custom made for one Fall guy
played along seasons of doublecross
--

Faccsímiles de Lucidez

--(Gracias, Roberto--
el propio nombre emborronado de las cosas
más bellas del mundo
las pule, sacándoles brillo
cuando la rutina de tareas secretas
las opaca o ensombrece)

: faccsímiles de lucidez
indistintos de la auténtica claridad
iluminan o ilustran hojas de ruta
que entrenan el aliento
para su falta o agotamiento

como si tuvieran pies y tropezaran
como si el tropezón terminal diera al traste
con la imaginación y el ensayo

el ensayo que repetía los gestos indefinidamente

indefinición que sabotea
(¿desde un principio?)
su propio propósito subrepticio

propósito del entrenamiento
hecho de una y otra repetición
--

Bajo la Borrasca

--
maestra roca
descansa fija sobre corrientes de sombra
siglos de olas deshacen su azote
batiendo espuma sobre tus aristas

tu ejercicio de silencio
es mi nuevo espejo
--

Picking your Battles

--
give up on skin to wrinkle and soil
surrender your bone to splinter

end the run before it's begun
retreat into smoky dens

rekindle the last warm embers
dress up the leftovers once more

what skills are left to recover
under the gun?
--

No Faith: No Leap

--
Books and dental floss
back in the backpack in the car

Swollen gums and sharp regrets
to keep me up all night

If I jump the barrier, will I know
how long the fall
how deep the bed of the ravine?
--

Terminal Fourth

--

I can't afford LA, nor Stone Ridge, New York

ni mi Viejo San Juan ni un rincón del corazón

I can't afford these grinding U.S. of A.

ni mi terruño natal, su abusada colonia

I can't afford my toxic friends and family

Can't afford to get old, get sick

Get well or hang around the inkwell

I can't really afford to live

But I'm perversely fascinated by the dark spectacle

of crumbling capital worlds--

Full-disclosure fearful of nothingness beyond

O wimp of little faith, can't afford to kill myself

There is nothing left but indefinite lingering--

Loitering spectator malingering witness

to my own pain and that of so many others

--

Family Jewels

--
Swilling dizzy courage Dutch
I rummage 'round some foreign tunes
to toast my profane blood

Inspecting off my wounded groin
an empire calls my balls a spade
of triggerless Tao drained out loud

(To close the wrinkled pulses down
an empty burden sails up bloated
ruling axioms from the West)

The dull ache of your shadow
signals nought but shut-down shunts
in dead-end science's trackless black

Is there no stream will fill the bed
without clogging all stagnant bends?
No welcome tide to ebb against
a tidal turn in circling swells?
--

Dam Ch'i

--
a lifetime of savings
holding back
only to learn the total waste
in pushing close

nothing more
nothing else
nothing done
--

Cosecha de Señas

--
amor y deseo
debaten su espejo florecido
verde contra el fruto
podrido y prematuro

cada isquemia obstruye
la mínima gramática
de seña desesperada
que late su ruego
del corazón a su cuerpo

más y más y más gramarios
(señas que rezan)
del corazón a su cuerpo
--