they release into the stream

they release into the stream
past the pearls
past the red petal
a vessel
engulfed and muscled
low to where it's broken

a million seeds burst into bloom
quickened by blood and oxygen
evanescent fruit bubbles
being
showing
the mind a cornucopia
before thought recedes
and the tree relaxes with the fall
of dead and drying leaves

freedom is only dreaming
the skull but a cave
the eyes just lanterns waving
over roots to soil chained

Tasting sawdust traveling backwards
You're spitting into the barnyard
You're standing near the water trough
Brimming with water and swimming Spanish moss

One of the horses tangled herself
Snorting bloody wild in the barbed-wire
Bringing grandfather near
Whistling gentle low

Hands that knew the heart of horses
Reined in the day then
Hallowed the dew left from
The breath of the pasture

Though spared a cruel death on jagged sea rocks
With only a hint of a pitiful splash
I was swallowed by the water and sank for an age,
A breathless epoch, before I slipped free of the chains and stones,
To grateful lungfuls of air and a blooming, unnoticed birth
On the churning surface, below a single gull and the sun.

A day passed away there or wherever I washed to.
The moon was a only a mirror of solitude,
Stars in fusion burned aloof, and the clouds shaped themselves into nightmares.
Sharks swimming near me were compelled to hunt elsewhere,
Seeking waves more free of ghosts.

shamble forth and squint at squirrels in the yard

i consider that they might be mocking me before i hop in the car.

the speakers melted so i listen for horns and sirens

with the window that works down

driving past ed's house

the smell of cut grass is like a note from a friend that says "i'm always here"

but ed's dad comes out and scowls.

i toss out a lit cigarette a few lawns on and swerve to miss a turtle.