NOTHING.

I am not the woman

I have been, 

Nor am I fool enough 

to think about the woman I've become.

My flesh rests against the stones of the river floor.

But it is not my flesh, 

it is just skin.

My breath 

exits over the top of my jaw.

but it is not my breath,

it is the wind

that shakes loose

the Cedar's leaves.

I am nothing,

but everything...

When I am not the Woman I used to be.

DOORWAYS.

cracked skin,

cracked scars.

cracked doorways,

portals to their ponder

conversation of 

affirmation & criticism 

bounce about the light

Vulnerable notions  

vanish like rabbits in top hats,

My darling witches,

 Magicians to their own hearts.

"Always & Forever My Adelaide's & Laveau's"

RED SIXTEEN.

HWY 80 HEADED WEST TO RENO

Sky scraper lights, 

escalators

baby boomers on coke

rich testoseron on gin.

Cheap cigars, 

ACID

slots

Diamonds & 7s

Shrieks of laughter

excitement 

When we win 

big

Defeat.

Roulette,

free champagne 

Lucky #

Red Sixteen

Big Win 

*Break*

All on black?

another cigar

lost it all 

the ball falls on 

RED SIXTEEN 

5 AM

NO money to show for shit

gambling lesson 

from Reno hell,

Johnny Cash

sings us to sleep
the sun rises. 

"I shot a man in Reno

Just to watch him die"

SARDINES.

Sao Miguel, Portugal

We pulled off a dirt road following our sixth sense  

To the the Gray Sea

Tessa strummed imperfect notes on her Eukalale,

fading fast

 as we ran down the labyrinth stone staircase

to meet the water face to face.

the waves shook  

the shore, 

Also shaking the five barrels of emotions 

we each hid in the holsters at our hips.

Sea salt tears,

 a can of sardines, a brick of brie  & a shoe 

 to open a corner store bottle

 of red we had thrown our coins together for.

I

we  fell into conversation,

the same way the rocks had fallen from the hepatic covered cliffs above us

to the seats beneath us

Sharing in growth with the moss 

&

crack creatures

at our feet.

Tessa's Birthday 

THE DESERT.

THE DESERT.
"A Palette of Color"

It looks like God
placed a few extra stars in the sky..
scattered a bunch of boulders,
then placed them carefully for the gazers.

...

He must have covered it in sharp things,

in spite of its beauty.

JOSHUA TREE, CA