breath, inspired by sarah

breath, an ocean cave
echoing inside me
and i can get a sense of the container
each bone a surface for vibration
each breath although thin and transparent
is a bivouac of memories
an old letter of roots or antanomy
with phrases
than can unbury the dead
unceal tombs
open into a field
the hollow of a bell
wind through a window
billowing up the armpit of a curtain
the edge of a pillow case
flute inside the green bottle on the nightstand
sweeping the floor like a spreading river

Hymn / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

Hymn / Poem of the Day : The Poetry Foundation

summer day

birds and leaf sieve
milk sun for the ears
(even insects that land on the skin are harps)
the blue hipped glass is dripping and making
a dark wood circle print
for us to live in

try (here) to ask what you need,
is it the tan leg that stuck out of the sheet this morning
is it to be a better person (someone who doesn't have to remind themselves)
more jam more art less art more intimacy
is it a capability for air

Studying

I want to teach like roethke
love myself like Whitman
love fish like bishop
love men like Faulkner
love lonliness like Rilke
love ambivilance like dickinson
love the day or the sea like Neruda
love desert like ondaatje
love desert like okeefe
love my family garden like kingsolver
love my wife like Oliver
be and write my dreams like Henry house/Berryman
be a dick like Lowell
become captured like muir
brave like Howe
brave like Merton
smart like chodron
sad like sexton
happy like Blake
hardy like Clifton
empty like Lao tzu
sweet like I am forever.