A Poem

Meditation

The streets boil with blood, and in a mere moment

of meditation I notice the walls

fading into themselves like stale reflections

of the sun. The soldiers march on      fighting

shadows in the shade, depressions in the dirt,

and thoughts of milky yellow pain. I call

it color: love like a river flowing out doors

and into hallways. I call it moments

at my desk with a dark pen and no mind

trying to cut my way through a prickly line.

I call it the anti love poem     filled with roses

calling for a breath of fresh air. I notice

the world as it falls     America turning pale

in its cowardice , moral in its religion,

and left starving in the street by its father;

slowly picking leaves from its nose and falling

asleep with tequila and its hands stuck in its pants.

The lakes spread across the map, splitting towns

and streets in two     pushing families out

into boats     sails crossing the morning sky

and pushing all feeling away. I swim

through consciousness watching the green water

run over tanks and children, their shirts floating

around me like dirty rags. I call it

a flower     rising in the moonlight with no god

and nowhere to go. I call it nights walking

women home in the dark waiting for a moment.

I call it getting high with Joni Mitchell

on and feeling blue, turning the record over

and over until all that’s left is darkness.

I call it the anti war poem     dying alone

in the muddy ditch with only your rifle to hold

and to touch and to make love to in these moments

shattered by rain. I notice hipsters slinging

Jack Kerouac over their shoulders and snow

through their brains holding only moments of light

and leaving traces for doctors to test and to snort.

I see them crawl across the floor in groups

so large they can only be stomped by the dozen.

I call it connection between three fingers;

arpeggios rolling off cliffs and through valleys

until they settle in a cloud of dust – gently

pushing a baby in front of them     looking

for a soft place to lie down for the night.