United States of America

Saunasphere

It’s so hot, your brain sounds the alarm—
orders your body to pump water
from interior reserves,
hydrants in the blood, muscles, kidneys,
and brain itself—through dilated vessels
to the … Read more

Remembering the Day

Howard Stern was on the radio then, obscenity
for everyone – or was it just reality
in language we could understand? Until a plane

broke through the punchline
to a … Read more

The Old Banyan Tree

Scorched, but still standing
the media said of the massive tree
in the heart of Lahaina after fires
blazed through Maui so swiftly, the sea
offered the best chance of … Read more

Aloha I Ka Hamau

Ka’u mau keiki
Holo! Holo!
Holo i ke kai!
Aia ma luna ou ka hanu o ka deragona,
Ua hoʻolapalapa kona huhū i kou mau ʻāina kapu.
Holo! Holo!
Holo … Read more

Compass

for Scott Joplin

NPR says MTV

was a 1981 arrival
the August moon

waxing under Leo

Rap has acquired
ragtime immunity

Born in the same
barrack, bordello

no don’t think … Read more

Shocking News Latest Revelations

We can’t of course see what’s
going on in the courtroom but
our sources inside the room are
relaying everything they see.

The most-indicted ex-president
in American history has been… Read more

Scordatura

Image by David Chorlton

Another Sunday best spent
indoors with a view
of the clouds building up and putting on
a monsoon face
only to empty their pockets
and dissolve. … Read more

What She Thought

for Sinéad O’Conner after Heather McHugh

The man who is now a statue,
wore a metal clamp in his tongue
while burned in the public square
for believing If God… Read more

Trinitite

Odd Mineral, not found
in nature, not to be mined,
the name an afterthought.

Roll up light and fire,
cup it in the palms of your hands,
form it like … Read more

Mick Jagger’s Birthday

Image of the sunrise on my street by David Chorlton

A long first look
glides down the street toward Four Peaks
and the awakening sky. It’s a friendly
view; sun … Read more

Phoenix Summer 2023

My feet are burning like sausage in a skillet
with eggs, sunny side up,
I poured my coffee early, but I can’t enjoy the aroma or warmth,
so I let … Read more

What Peter Nero Said

We shall play ‘Tea for Two’ – my right hand will be playing ‘Tea for Two’ while my left hand will play Tchaikovsky’s Fifth.

Maybe Nero was right about our … Read more

Melt

The summer solstice is still within counting striking distance, but both the dice and the mice have given up. There’s no point in trying for a cool pair of eights. … Read more