All Night in Arles

As my shepherd,
    you’re afraid I’ll fall asleep,
become the late-nite snack of woolen wolves,
     invite the midnight chef’s trichinosis
          into my star-swirled dreamworld.
But that won’t happen.
     I can stay awake anytime.
Because of Van Gogh’s paintings and—
     what other reason do I need?

A Cobra in Fall

I don’t understand           why, when you Shed your skin,                     the scales remain beneath. Through           this layer and that,                     your eyes cloudy like milk,           you keep blooming. With new fangs,           with a flickering new tongue, you wind your way           through     Autumn’s     scales,                     your blood as                     cold as the Rain, blind to me           unless I move.

Cirrus

The cirrus points to god      like a unicorn’s horn           in a quiet, curling way. Through it fall      two eagles fucking           on the carcasse of a lion. Nothing like wind,      and cold,           to separate ash                from its embers.

White Hole

Eating color like bleach,   the reverse of a stain,      the release of blue         to a shirt in another dimension,            a puddle of white left behind,               rimmed with the touch                  of indigo sparkling.

The Knowledge

Only because you’re handsome—
that dark black hair of yours,
those slick metallic sides
sweeping down the sidewalk,
stopping to kneel at the neediest feet—

You know where to take me
without even asking—
you know me
better than a cabbie in London
knows his British city. The main street,
the side street.  My street, yours.

Sky Diving

Higher up           and higher up                     and higher up. I keep a knife in my belt, that           if I might fall      from this height           I can      stab fate in the back                     on my way down.