at times it seems like
you’re moving at two
vastly different speeds
but if you think about
how you’re both spinning
with the surface of this rock
hurtling around the sun
and traveling not just at
hundreds of kilometers per second
within our own galaxy
but also at the rate of
expansion of the universe
then the difference
doesn’t seem quite
so astronomical
does it?
Monthly Archives: February 2014
jigsaw puzzle
all the pieces have been placed
where they originally belonged
the chaotic bag of irregular shapes
neatly arranged into a rectangle
of pink grapefruit and blood orange
tinted fragments flowing from gold
potential fully realized in a product
that was whole before it was broken
puzzle night
there was to be no poem
no words, no paper, no pen
no ink smudged pinky
just the simple quiet of 500 pieces
forming the sunrise and shadows
of Haleakala national park
but i am so used to daily trusting
my eyes and fingers to perform
i forgot how my mind can wander
so here i am, between the borders
of smoky-purple morning haze
and blinding yellow-white sun
turning words and cardboard bits
in my mind before picking them out
and attempting to fit them together
before the alarm
i thought it would be important
to mention the sliced jalapeños
or the way your khmer
was accented by english
or how we were straddling
an old wooden bench beside
posters of stars and planets
and raven-shaped spaceships
but it’s not
the only thing that’s worth telling
is that i had you in my arms
and then i woke up
no storms rising
you’ve been
wound up
for weeks now
just waiting
for disaster
to fall
but sometimes
the calm
is just that
everything’s left
it doesn’t matter
how good we are
at pretending
to be someone
or something else
after so much time
and so many words
there are bound to be
a few truths scattered
here and there and
all that’s left
is for someone to find
and love them and
love the rest as well
smoke in my eyes
the bbqs are always his idea
he starts the fire, always with
mesquite wood, then begins
the cooking, taking care to
burn the first few batches
of whatever we’re eating
then he disappears with
his overdone skewers to
laze away the afternoon
in my hammock and
i’m left to tend the rest
of the sach ko chakak
and turn the slaap mon
and whatever else we
don’t want turned
into charcoal
harnessed in
ah darlin’, you have me
at a disadvantage
dangling from your line
all tied up in knots
maybe give me some slack
just a little at a time
until my feet are back
on solid ground
bricks in the wall
it was fifth grade
when i told a friend
a downstairs neighbor
in my apartment complex
that sometimes, sometimes
i wished that i was a boy
the next day, during recess
a friend of hers, a girl
who didn’t like me
told me that she knew
she stared into my eyes
and with a smirk, said
she knew my secret
i blanked my face
returned her stare
told her i didn’t know
what she was talking about
and walked away
and when the first girl tried
to apologize later on, i
told her i didn’t know
what she was talking about
and walked away
valentine
my valentine is coming
to town tomorrow night
i might give him a card
or even bake him a cake
definitely hug him and kiss
his no-longer-boyish face
and wish him a happy
happy sixteenth birthday
