sweet tooth

when i was 12 years old and in the 6th grade

i made a cassette copy from a compact 

of portrait of an american family

by the band Marilyn Manson

inside the plastic case of the cassette

i listed the title of each track 

using a blue pen

kerry hall who was in the 8th grade at the time

was the recipient of the cassette

and when i handed it to her she immediately

studied the track list i had tried to write carefully

she said “sweat tooth?” 

her short hair would hang in front of half her face
like claire danes in my so-called life

as she bent her head towards the globby ink

new reefer

plywood foot paths around
the freezer truck
lauren and miles trailer

stained with mud
make a right every house
gutted sitting abandoned

i flicked the joint in the grass
and in the morning can't find it

not a big deal but i still have
a few more days here

please leave the key

grandpa rarely cooked for my brother and i
though i remember the many times grandma
said grandpa was a better cook than her

grandma only never cooks unless
a different obligation restricts her from cooking
at least once grandpa cooked in her stead

he cooked elbow pasta
with salt and butter with some parmesan cheese
it was good and maybe even better

since he let us have a little more butter
but what i saw happen to him before
he boiled the water

i never saw happen when grandma cooked
he pulled down a box of the elbow pasta
from the cabinet and found tiny worms

crawling in the edges of the box
and cooked only half the pound

melanoma

Rocky thought the singer at the service was terrible and that you could hardly hear the words. The funeral seemed less sad because grandpa had Alzheimer's for so long.

Every time I went to the bar for wine Benny said something about me having GPS for wine.

Cousin Al timed the Cloud City scene in Empire because the website stream was buffering, he said. 

Grandma doesn't like or is not interested in the excitement of football. She also thinks women should not report on sporting events because they don't know what they are talking about.

march 2016

biked home. showered. drank fiber mix. read about historical landmarks in bushwick. meserole st and near english kills properties. colored school on union. took melatonin before shower. woke up to sound of skateboarders on ramp to rail downstairs. dinging the rail. skateboard deck bouncing off the sidewalk. wheels rolling up the run-up, uphill, to launch off the ramp. put on pants and fleece and black hat to buy bagel from bagel brothers. also yellow vitamin water. never went back to sleep. group text w/ mike, ben, isaac. mike changed number and ben at nova / ND second round ncaa men's bball tourney at barclays. watched king of the hill via playlist. watched crackle, Sunset Park. had a headache. read some of Desert Solitaire while in bed. Abbey critiques the national parks system. provides his own automobile-less vision for parks. Friended Ranger vanLear on FB. talked to Chris on FB chat. Overheard old roommate moving out and new roommate helping him move in. when new roommate left I went out to make a salad. made salad and then went downstairs to buy coffee at 7:45pm before Cup closed at 8pm. awarded a free scone. watched Maryland / Hawai'i and some other game. Hot shower, listened to Amy Winehouse. Practiced Battle Hymn on banjo. Saw a scooter on the subway platform. Lightly snowing when I left for work. Listened to Untitled Unmastered on subway. Transferred at 14th to N train, Northbound. Walked against traffic of Knick fans, just getting out of the game. Talked to Andrew on Gchat at work. Went to pizza Suprema. a girl in front of me at the counter had rolling luggage. Xavier lost.

freeze the cake

beach chair locks

you know the kind

there's forward position

there's recline

there is the no position

the anticline

sun rays fall

down the alleys

a gummy substance

oozes over the roof

a clump of snow

in the corner

a strand of string

shredded

a few inches

from a knot

with loops

like dead rabbit

ears somehow

hanging on

history bookmarks tools help

in mid october we shortcut through the parking garage

and squeeze in a narrow bar where the game is muted

the drinks are cheap and no one feeds the jukebox

a shot glass falls off the bar and doesn't break

the yankees mount a six-run comeback

matt says something to make the whole place laugh

then while he's in the bathroom a woman

points her dslr at someone's draught beer 

quickly snaps the shutter and walks out 

elderly woman with small brown hands in a china shop

cyber stones
girl-tall grass
dry palms
stink chicken
junk mail
cellophane address window
cereal boxes
fruit cores and kitty litter
cold steel youth
walnut shell

the swallows from normandy are coming, the british

a spike drives through cheese
bone
skin
sheet
duvet

rust collects under iron bridges
frequently on his phone
he stacks free books outside
the public library

finally leaving his plate of cornbread, beans
and lettuce

swallows fear him
he's not going to stop you
from taking those books

a counter weight
rocks over the dish pit

he wants to collect your chopped head
off

he's got no tv
the swallows are his family
the books are for the swallows

in spring the house shifts
while i pee the door opens

behind me just got that feeling
i don't know how i know it