Abrupt » nature

The spawning of the coral at Palau

abrupt — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:00:08 +0000

communist sperm storm consommé-ting
soup rite seed time action

moon pull polyp tide pink slick mucus
micro tube contraction

farmland maximize bleach beach fading
gland knot future fraction

Tree

abrupt — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 07:04:41 +0000

Great green stalk of life
Kindly deigns to coexist
With us pink humans

Analysandum

abrupt — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:08:13 +0000

Part
the
leaves a
little, grasp
the hanging
pod. The seed
inside comes loose
with a wiggle. Roll the
seed around and squeeze.
Squeeze until the tree’s
shy juices lie fragrant
on your summer
fingers.

Out of Work

abrupt — Thu, 14 Feb 2002 02:12:15 +0000

Out! Out of work –
The workers leave their folds
Into the spacious chaos of
a Texas evening
Bittersweet at the turn of another day

Breathe the blueing sky
its aroma cold
a nocturne of feral cats
slinks in the thicket
Quiet sky, host
to the legions
of an aching beyond
wheeling on and on and on

My car starts with a shudder

Centipede II

abrupt — Tue, 01 Aug 2000 22:25:22 +0000

across the deserts of the floor
up the walls, down the hall
in diligent segments proceed
a carnivore of the very small,
the vagrant centipede

not a watcher, not a waiter
proactive insect
both a leader and the led
he crawls the sands to find that promised land
where he can rest all hundred peds.

the morning light steals stories
out of night’s linty folds
another centipede curls dying near the wall
its thought complete, its slow race run
it dies, and dries, and crumbles into all

Centipede I

abrupt — Sat, 15 Jul 2000 22:23:38 +0000

diligent segmented process
gliding across
turning
like thought in the early morning
a wanderer
curling up when threatened
trundling across the deserts of our floor

(some species are highly toxic)

Ginkgo

abrupt — Tue, 14 Apr 1998 08:42:49 +0000

It is easy,
in the season of renewal,
to take a greening twig for a sign
that life is not a losing
proposition,

That we aren’t just
a pinch of food
hanging uneaten on the lip of God,

When
past the hemline,
flesh leaps in dolphin curves,
tracing warm trajectories
beneath synthetic seas.

A swish, a dimple,
Spring’s message is simple:
Bifurcate and beat the curve

Which is why
the oldest phylum tree
still blossoms
in the shadow of cities.

Report from Cutler, Maine, October 1997

abrupt — Fri, 31 Oct 1997 02:30:21 +0000

Salt shore,
where the seaweed grows,
and the tide kneads life
slow.

Evening gulls’
squawking fades and falters,
and the gulping crows
revise their last oration.

Little mussels nestle
into curves of soft
green mud,
borrowing space
from some stones.

And a lobster laughs
and a cormorant
follows his fish
alone.

***

City, scrape, truck.
Sick surplus.
Rush return to restless wait.
Back again in nexus.

This desert, flesh
rehearsing sermons,
pockmarked shield of mirrors.

Inside, the roaring
tide is pounding, pulling,
pounding at the future.
Unless…
Unless…
Remember something
calming, mussels,
still.

Southampton, L.I., September 1997

abrupt — Sat, 06 Sep 1997 23:06:13 +0000

This bird’s grating squawk
predates the rusting of springs
and the slamming of screen doors
Yet on porches across America
its metal cry is echoed.

Where do we, in nature’s swelling plan,
find our mirror?

Ode to an Apple

abrupt — Sun, 26 Dec 1993 09:24:28 +0000

Thanks to the Mother
For her sweet red gift
The answer to every compulsion
Whether chewed on the avenue
Or downed as wine
The apple offers up its service
To pass time and satisfy
The hungry soul
In a hungry world