• Poetry

    Saigon Rain Welcome

    city locals cheer as the rains come down their faces turned to sky arms raised dancing some cry joy after long months of sun drying making lips and land concrete parched + crack finally sea winds bring clouds streets flood into night

  • Poetry

    Dream of Freedom

    he sat in a prison cell realizing he could leave walk right out through the bars or an open door he walked right out into the hallway to the recreation area where a sudden shot of fear ran through him fear that maybe the guards would see him but they didn’t so he kept walking invisible all the way to the prison gates he walked right out on the main road realizing he was wearing a suit no longer a need he became naked and street clothes appeared he walked right out a free man

  • Poetry

    retro-migration

    retracing ancestral steps I find my signature written across the world I am the ancestor of myself inside me before I knew this name I lived in New Zealand on ancient Maori totems my eyes are carved Hindu statues of Bali laugh when I approach recognizing an old friend inside Bandelier cliff dwellings a fire burns welcoming me home in Nepalese temples the stones  call to me in dreams Indigenous Peoples cave paintings  my hands ache I look in wonder at what I created  only forgotten I cannot see until I step outside the continent of me In soil, water and blood I reflect forming a new once again renaming…

  • Poetry

    Nightlight

    Capping twenty-eight stories of brick for the pretty The nightlight for the darkened city A marker for travelers and wanderers alike This northern star–our city light Like a crown for the wealthy who live below Angelic halo of halogen glow Bats and pigeons peek on those passing by For cocktails, movies, or a room for the night An empty black canvas this view would be Without the nightlight We would see just bricks and trees

  • Poetry

    Flowers

    Flowers stained on the ceiling  From unexpected rains  Hidden rivers find new tributaries  Flowing into trains  Drips into buckets  Upon my brain do fall  Wine, gin and vodka  Are the answers to my whimper call  Cringing  Brows furrowed  Teeth slide side to side  Flattened veneers  Enamel lost  For worry and demise  As the entire sky releases  All but eternal doom  Waiting for my lover  Another sip consumed  Each room has its bucket  As a dozen flowers bloom Poem from Heirs of November (2017)

  • Poetry

    The Last Minutes

    drinks never tasted so sour poured down throats with lumps night after night winter toiling windows rattle squirrels scratch on the gutters of our brains foreheads rubbed raw from anxiety going over and over in our minds recounting how we played the game with debts of costumes, props and stage roof slates fall off past decisions drinks never so drunken sloppy mice nibbling concern on couch cushions coming soon—house auction on court steps  candlelit backed cockroaches dance  dust blows silent shame in corners Poem from Heirs of November (2017)

  • Poetry

    Bangkok Morning Reflection

    After a long night of drinking So much more than I ever do But I am determined to be different in my habits from now on — Drinks filled with pomegranate + starfruit + vodka Tasted so sweet on my jetlagged tongue smiles + laughter shared the 4 of us under the rose apple tree as bats flittered by chaotically and a toad hopped on cobblestone The glow of the light blue pool reflected the evening damp patio where we sat Under a green umbrella rain water dripped from edges upon my bare shoulders Many hours later when the rain stopped and the birds went silent We wandered out of…

  • Poetry

    Botox and Vodka

    Botox and vodka Nose jobs and chocolate Tummy tucks, brow lifts, liposuction Collagen, enemas and augmentations These are a few of the things that I’ve done   When my boobs sag When my brows droop When I am feeling sad I simply call my plastic surgeon And then I don’t feel so bad   Laser and Bailey’s Facelifts and bon bons Acid peels, butt implants, lip injections Breast enhancements, nips, tucks–stitched together with string These are a few of those little things   I want to look like Oprah No! Like the Dalai Lama Just make me not look bad Staple my forehead so I’ll look surprised And I’ll never…