walking, walking
smell a flower
shower it with love

sitting, waiting
for the rain
to pull it up towards god

in its eye the
storm surrenders
rage upon her grace

but out of sight
and out of mind
her beauty is erased

"What are you?"

Jupiter turns
"That depends. Some say a god.
Some say a planet."

"Both?"

"I doubt it."

"Don't you know?"

"Only once you've decided."

"But why? I'm not god."

"Neither am I."

"So I decided you aren't?"

"Unless you change your mind."

"But it's not made up."

"Then I suppose I'm both."

"But you said you weren't."

"Because you never made up your mind."

"Then I decide you're a planet."

"Perhaps, but you still haven't made up your mind."

The boy took his eye off the telescope
Astronomy was confusing

She takes his hand
not the whole thing
just the last *******
in  her  cradling fist

"she says something"
it doesn't matter

"He says something"
it matters even less

his fingers slide
through hers;
she grasps air

but she walks away
and he looks back

It's colder these days
not the weather
two weeks into June is
August in sharp focus

But it is colder
on the walks
each night before bed

meandering walks that were
periodically broken up
are short now
and the breaks
seem
much
longer

but it will not be long
before the break
is indefinite
the walks will
be solitary
until the last break
is unbroken

"That," they say
"is when you will
finally catch a break."

That is their system
it is broken

and the walks are
still cold
So I hurry on
to keep warm

A maple tree overhangs tennis courts
crisp white lines on clay
cleanly split by a barrier that is mostly holes

It sits on the edge of a small ditch dividing
the courts from a field
yawning branches over fence and grass

Each crisp delineation is smeared by
the shadow of its leaves
and the unseen reach of
each bifurcating root
sews halves into a whole

At least a few first loves
blossomed underneath its boughs
but it is enough just to
smile on its warmth

The smoke in the air
fills my breath with memories
summer fires between naked nights

The smoke in the air
The smoke fills my breath
stings my lungs and nose
burns my eyes

In autumn smoke smells like leaves
leaves me in a daze
days go up in smoke
The smoke in the air

The smoke creates myth
the smoke cremates me

Gravity doesn't make people
fall in love
but I'm caught in your orbit
lilting through space
weightless
as galaxies tangle our souls
with their arms

now and then
a shooting star
settles on your cheek
like a snowflake in autumn

you don't brush it off
you shine