I stand barefoot in hot sand,
breathing in through the soles of my feet,
breathing out through the back of my head,
gravity pulls at my obligations,
chi spirals up my leg.
I ask myself, what would it feel like to flow like heat,
to live without effort,
know nothing at all?
Before me lies the coffered sea, open to a cloudless sky,
its […]
I phone home daily
to see if there’s any improvement,
that swelling has thinned,
that the pain is ethereal,
that pill bottles are shaken in a celebratory song.
there is hope, but
I gave up
a job across the country because
duties of parent and child have reversed
Now I use words, questions, laughter
to build memories and create
something to hold onto.
~ Allan Boss
Allan Boss […]
His hands
hot pink rheumatoid balloons
float to carroty plastic containers:
1, 2, 3, 4 filled
with charcoal, chartreuse, cinnamon, chamomile
bubbles of hope.
Bloated fingers clumsily grip pill bottles,
dump a few globes onto the counter
and sweep the proper mound into a reddened palm,
slowly growing toward the mouth and
slipping down the throat slick
with spit and swallow.
Then lay on the couch and
sleep […]
In winter
you did donuts on the frozen pond with the skidoo
hear that you said
waiting for the ice to crack
before revving up the hill
then in summer
on your mini-scooter in the wheat fields
grasshoppers leaped at my legs
left red marks like chickenpox
I had asked to see the boys at the next farm
It was worth it
In your green army […]
No matter what you dotake it upon yourself to travelcatch a train and jump off wheneverit stopsquickly you might not have muchtime to enter every cathedral […]
