March | 2017

Hands around that slender goose
Her hands I’d take a liken to
My ugly mug shot starin’ from a locket
On a velvet noose

As I watched that wooden ceiling,
The pulley nailed up on the rafters
And I heard that varnish-peeling,
Alkeelhaulic laughter and I said
“Pull it tight and hitch the knot,
We’ll draw upon what’s gone before,
Hoist me up so I can soar.”

Hey I’m down here and it’s waist deep,
I’m looking up that tunnel well,
The only light that’s starin’ down
Is sucked in by your shadow.
This is a sunken hole, if you throw me a line
I’ll tie it twice around, and it hangs
From your neck down to mine.

Pull it tight and hitch the knot,
We’ll draw upon what’s gone before,
Hoist me up so I can soar.

Pull the ribbon off your throat;
You’re standing naked on the stones.
Heaven tears as it’s unraveled,
To reveal its bitter truth:
The clouds hang in rags and tatters,
No angelic light shows through.
All that shown was all that mattered,
A conscious absence — nothing there.
Shaming me for ever wanting,
Spring is over, winter’s here.