My Tiny is a daisy, but mighty is her rowr


Aqua skies melt derision and deference in her wide wet eyes
She is framed by canary diamond silk streaks and sheets
A hollow cloud withers in her trembling hands and dies
All of this is hidden by Maybell masks for everyone she meets.

She is framed by canary diamond silk streaks and sheets
As he chips away the last shreds of innocence of eighteen
All of this is hidden by Maybell masks for everyone she meets
The tenderness he seems to give is really only mean.

As he chips away the last shreds of innocence of eighteen
She turns to face the darkness and declare battle deep within
The tenderness he seems to give is really only mean
The time has come to run away from eighteen years of sin.

She turns to face the darkness and declare battle deep within
The past no longer matters as she must cut a whole new path
The time has come to run away from eighteen years of sin
To embrace the truth of her now the word will know her wrath.

The past no longer matters as she must cut a whole new path
A hollow cloud withers in her trembling hands and dies
To embrace the truth of her now the word will know her wrath
Aqua skies melt derision and deference in her wide wet eyes.

Modified Pantoum

Amma and Appa

Every day she wakes when the moon
Falls into the slit of rising sensations.
The bell rings in the puja room for Vishnu
And the picture of her sister still stands beside the gods.

She wears an unstarched, purple cotton sari
Falls into the slit of rising sensations
And begins her daily “works” in the kitchen
And the picture of her sister still stands beside the gods.

Her sweet gestures swim into an unbearable aroma
Falls into the slit of rising sensations
And every day, he picks crimson hibiscus and offers them to the gods
And the picture of her sister still stands beside the gods.

San Francisco

Blanketed in a still grey fog,

rolling hills of ghosts,

Wrap around orange towers,

the great Golden Gate.

Rolling hills of ghosts,

Pass through our bodies.

The great Golden Gate,

Steals tourists' attention.

Pass through our bodies,

Never ending fog also,

Steals tourists attention,

coldness creeping on.

Never ending fog,

Let up your wrath.

Coldness creeping on,

The lights come out now.

Let up your wrath,

lay your blanket low.

The light come out now,

Building tops poke the sky.

Lay your blanket low,

So clouds may rest on water.

Building tops poker the sky,

Nighttime remedies.

Roots

My fingers traveled over the roots engraved in her hand
Her salt and pepper hair waved over her head like a field of curls
The youth in her eyes fell low and sunk into her skull
The wrinkles around her mouth helped curve her smile

Her salt and pepper hair waved over her head like a field of curls
We mirrored each other through a portal of generations
The wrinkles around her mouth helped curve her smile
Same olive smooth skin

We mirrored each other through a portal of generations
Honey hinted eyes glowed around the almond shapes
Same olive smooth skin
High structured cheekbones brushed off with rose petals

Honey hinted eyes glowed around the almond shapes
Black thick eyebrows arched like mountains
High structured cheekbones brushed off with rose petals
Her long glowing pearls draped over my collarbone

Black thick eyebrows arched like mountains
She tightly wrapped her wings around my youth
Her long glowing pearls draped over my collarbone
My fingers traveled over the roots engraved in her hand

Pantoum

She stalks and prowls deep
In the heart of the forest
A vile, seducing power
Leaking out her golden bulbs

In the heart of the forest
She treads lightly, her evil
Leaking out her golden bulbs
Calling our attention

She treads lightly, her evil-
Nothing but gorgeous nature
Calling our attention,
And she's licking her lips in response

Nothing but gorgeous nature
In the throbbing heart of the forest
And she's licking her lips in response
A vile, seducing power

News-Celina

They danced and shot off fireworks
Feasted in their homes
A celebration of mourning, not a celebration
It’s a conscious awakening of an entire people

Feasted in their homes
Led away, wrists bound by wires
It’s a conscious awakening of an entire people
You don’t know what’s in our hearts

Led away, wrists bound by wires
Sprawling complex of golden-eaved temples
You don’t know what’s in our hearts
A boy who had a lovely smile

Sprawling complex of golden-eaved temples
Millions of trees harvested
A boy who had a lovely smile
Large manufacturers rely on them

Millions of trees harvested
The two countries are still interwined
Large manufacturers rely on them
Bridge a chasm in perception

The two countries are still interwined
Your fingers curl over just where they should
Bridge a chasm in perception
The billions of dollars that will flow

Your fingers curl over just where they should
A celebration of mourning, not a celebration
The billions of dollars that will flow
They danced and shot off fireworks

Where I'm Writing From; For Raymond Carver

These days your name is a

phrase that tears on my ears,

and writing is like catching my foot on a nail

or stepping in broken glass someone left behind.

A phrase that tears on my ears, that

echoes, pierces the fabric of memory,

like stepping in broken glass that someone left behind;

it reminds me of objections left unvoiced.

Pierce the fabric of memory and

scream yourself to sleep without sound, without echoes.

Spring reminds me of objections left unvoiced;

of reluctant copulations and uncomfortable sweat.

Scream yourself to sleep without sound

while frontier battles rage in your breast.

Remembering the reluctant copulations and uncomfortable sweat,

my tongue trembles on the seal of the envelope I don’t know that I’ll send.

Salta

Green-dusted, meandering hills that welcome.
Pink crossed cathedrals packed with hymns,
with earthly kneelers, so sincere.
My lungs open, chest rises, eyes grin.

Pink crossed cathedrals packed with hymns
and dark uniform-clad children.
My lungs open, chest rises, eyes grin
as hot light hits the siesta-time square.

Dark uniform-clad children
with school bags, they play futbol in sandals,
as hot light hits the siesta-time square.
Jesus hunkers down from the hillside.

With school bags, they play futbol in sandals
despite crowded streets and vendors.
Jesus hunkers down from the hillside
at fat abuelas with coca, that chew, and spit, and smile.

Despite crowded streets and vendors
girls in orange panchos sneak by
fat abuelas with coca, that chew, and spit, and smile,
to reach the campo limits.

Girls in orange panchos sneak by
to their boys with horses and guitars
to reach the campo limits,
green-dusted, meandering hills that welcome.

Smiling River

We saw a violent river, from the valley rim.
You nearly lost your grip on the anxious scramble down.
We bathed in the frothing mouth and came out clean,
the dirt under our fingernails now gallops down the stream.

You nearly lost your grip on the anxious scramble down!
Fresh-cleaned limbs lack gripping power and you miss it,
the dirt under our fingernails now gallops down the stream.
It mingles with more foreign dirts in distant estuaries.

Fresh-cleaned limbs lack gripping power and you miss it,
The sharp-toothed current gnashing promised no ablution. While
it mingles with more foreign dirts in distant estuaries,
Still smiling, we bared our teeth right back at the rocks

The sharp-toothed current gnashing promised no ablution yet
we bathed in the frothing mouth and came out clean.
Still smiling, we bared our teeth right back at the rocks.
We saw a violent river, from the valley rim.