Isaac

Aquatic voice stirs off the coast of West Africa,
murmured across the Atlas,
met a beetle in the desert,
hugged the Leeward Islands,
chugged up the Gulf passing Tampa,
reached inland where from Katrina left us.

History is similar

Fear of Heights

I imagine myself standing on the head of a pin,
the antenna of the Empire State Building.
My heart races, the palms of my hands sweat.

If it breezes just a little,
my dress will sail, so will I.
"Oh God, send me a blimp."

I fear, God does not dispatch blimps in these New Testament times.
If one really believes in God, one should not fear any thing,
but I do.

If I really believed in God,
would I do the naughty things I do?
I'll move on .

Maybe, it's heaven that scares me, maybe it's  deportation,
It's tough living illegal in Gringolandia
where your Spanish accent flags you everywhere you go.

Back in Peru, under the comforting jungle canopy,
Rosario Rincon had no fear of heights.
I did have apprehension concerning an Amazonian creature,

called the bachaco bird ---chicken shit
compared to the complexities
of living in The Bronx.

Love Peculiar

I love the Lord with all my being
The Lord commands; Love thy neighbor as thyself
Problem is:  More often than not, I loathe me.

If I so little love myself,
what is left to love others?
Still I try. Still we try.

Angela's Gift

My eye lids droop
My nose is soup spoon-shaped
Only my lips are not distorted

I'm hunchback and have the hairiest arms
of any man and woman I've ever seen
My toe nails are claws, literally.

Born humble and raised course
I'm wanting in social graces
I dropped out of school in the third grade

Still, I am endowed with an unique gift
I can murder without so much as lifting a finger
I kill slowly but surely by thought transmission

In my defense (not that the law can arrest me
nor any court in the land indict me)
I never execute a bastard without ample justification.

Nor do I mean to boast in stating the following: From age 11 to the present
my victims could fill a medium size church cemetery.
Again, in my defense: I drink only vodka straight and  am a vegetarian.

Happy Death Day

I should like to die today
I really would
Don't think I'm kidding

The day is spectacular and to boot
(for purposes of kicking the bucket)
I've never felt more fit

By dying today,
I might be spared dying decrepit
on a grey and dismal morning.

Additionally, today's my birthday.
What then's more fitting than to celebrate
a happy birthday on a happy death day?

In Suicides

In suicides, I see one thing
someone's gonna pay for my hurt
someone's got to hurt for my leap off the bridge
which sure as hell ain't no leap of faith...

or maybe it is!

Drawings

Inspiration is a tease.
Jot it down before it gallops distant.
Saddle up the Mongolian pony.

Poetry is wishful thinking, mainly.
Its risks associated with senility,
give pause to us to reconsider.

Draw, therefore, your blanks. When before a writer's block,
sledgehammer it to pieces or dig a moat around it.
Minimum force is almost always preferable.

Friends and  fellow poets, I leave you now to find
the odds and ends of perfect timing, to wander,
the right at birth of restless souls.