.71

what do you feel
when the earth quakes
when the foundation shakes
when outside it's only
grotesque and moody
and unnatural
and frightening

do you feel all alone?
do you want to go home?
do you even have
somewhere to go?
do you know?
do you know?
do you know?

.70

She knelt on the other side
of the canvas tarp —advertising
a budweiser sponsored
volleyball competition
down on the beach—
and was sucking on a bamboo reed
with the flat of her slightly
exposed pink tongue,
in preparation for playing
her wooden ebony clarinet.

"nice embouchure"
I smirked,
while forcing
myself to finish
a mint ice tea, I ordered specifically
for the caffeine…
"Thankth! Cahn I buy you anuthza?"
she lisped, reed still in place,
"I haven't even finished with this,
and I might not finish it at all—
I don't really like mint"
She removed the reed and
offered to blow me.
Nice embouchure, indeed.

.69

these women never cease
whether or not you pay them
whether or not you're good to them
they never give you what you really want
not their body-
for bodies always get old.
not their mind-
for minds often grow feeble.
not their spirit-
for their spirit can be weak.
but their respect-
everlasting
in response
for your honesty
for your love
for your patience
for your humor
for your effort
for your success
these women never cease

.68

it's not my fault
that
she couldn't handle it—
my business
my politics
my cowboy spirit
my eazy-e sincerity

her karma
hit a brick wall
at ferocious speed-
becoming broken, warped
in need of
replacing
like her own pricey Vuitton

her time is running out
her story
is old and uninteresting
her flame flickers—
i got burned
by simply standing
too close