GARDEN

the world is
stretched tight
like a drum

ready
for beating

war is
in the air, smell
its heady, rancid perfume

and I am here
seeking shelter
in your exotic garden

to die and live
die
and live

find the sacred joy in
that primal poetic pun
forever and ever

AS PUCK

Quirky quarks

looking for one

that quacks
like a duck

onomatopoeic
as Puck.

SEXY MADAME MADDEN

come at me
like a linebacker or
free safety

hit me
hard
and drag
me down

whereupon
you should take it
upon yourself

to become my
quarterback
running back

and,
above all,

wide receiver

LIKE TRUE DEMOCRACY

I do not rush
head over heels

though you
have

a very smart head
and lovely heels

especially when you
dance and it
catches the
light
that gold
chain around one

so I
shall be circumspect

move slowly
from heel to calf etc etc
a bottom up approach
devolved, decentred
like
true democracy.

PUNS PLURALIZE

puns pluralize

punk up my speech

a river of words
turning my
mouth into
a delta

a joy beyond the
pregnant pause

stork-birthed
whilst (safety-pin
and bin liners
by design)
I was
winging it

IN TIME

I am
glad that
in the poem
you sent me

you eschewed easy rhyme
— a good sign! —
perhaps we
can discuss its/your
finer points
in time.

THERESA, I LIKE YOUR GRAMMAR

Theresa
(as in
may leads
to
might)
I like your
grammar

it is thing
right out of
the pages of
Barthes
or Saussure

such careful care
along the axis of
selection

to Hell with
the combinations
that might ensue.

BY ELISION

If you cannot
at lest think
seduction

do not
venture close

especially not speaking
breathy words of touch

for they
are the worst

point to
happiest
equation by
elision

SHAKESPEAREAN LOVERS

let us be
true Shakespearean lovers

quaint quibblers
reveling in the joy
of punning banter

in the scrabble of tight foreplay
sating need

SO YOU ARE HERE

so you are here
to attack my poem
from the margins

see if there
is any glitch in
the program

will get it to
repeat a word

repeat a word