i was thinking about this great
agnostic
of the 19th century
Robert G. Ingersoll
the other day
floating above the earth

and i stopped mid sentence,
as i found myself reading another
article
about caves in pennsylvania
that you can view from a boat

well, right there
i said
is the seething tangle
of short fiction.

(placeholder for something soon)

sometimes what happens in your head late at night is a hallmark card

(A.3.1230)
When a new day breaks
even the pebbles at your feet cast a
shadow onto this world

219
There is a lot to be said
for having a pillow stuffed inside your
head

thoughts, once racing
lay down next to each other
and whisper quietly behind cupped hands

your eyes reach out with a bit of delay
the throat chuckle
a half second behind the live. studio. audience.

and you absorb things
allow time to unravel a bit in front of you
follow the pile up of snow next to the bus stop
or
pause over the sink to ponder the orange peel
and think about the
metal speedbumps
and how its funny that your nose
controls your mind.
227 (r229)

518
'as we go our separate ways'
always creates this visual in my noggin of a shadow outline of a person walking down a cold grey sidewalk next to whooshing tires in rain with the paper tear or maybe the sound of a quick zipper lopping the two down the middle droplets of white and clear reflecting the now different bits moving not in opposite directions but the opposite of opposite and one by one by one by one try to be as close to each other as they can managing the distance between and the craggles and cuts as softly and as full of pain as possible.
522

In this economy

(509)
This kickboxer
who nobody calls the
silver fox
teaches spin class
and buys boxes and banners
on the internet

and I heard that Bob Mould
was paralyzed by an in-grown hair
and couldn't perform

but hey, we eat the left over cheese
take the free mp3's
and
get free tickets to fallout boy
that we can use to make a tweens
day
(513)

keystroke

(643)
i asked
a type friend today
what the difference between
mandate and dictate might be
is this a joke? she responded
but what she meant to say
was
all the difference in the world

sometimes
while waiting for a reply
i will see the i nd ivid u a l characters come alive
gyrating like a hula girl on the dash
driving down that specific superhighway

but that's just my impatience
to ask
when i full know that to find out
means all the difference in the world.
(646)

pariah

(612)
i password locked my phone
while on vacation
its the only thing new i did

it fills me still
with danger and intrigue
as if i've chained my thoughts, texts
minutes per call
down inside a pewter and green grid

you can't see them
and my words can't get out and
saddle up next to you
with their half truths
and thoughts on how the debit card must be hard on bums

but mostly, mostly it helps me remember
that some things should have barriers and fail safe triggers and double keys turned in unison
especially those that communicate with the rest of the world.
even things that tend to lie
smooth and silent as a paper weight
because even though i can remember the password
i can't remember to charge it full

before sleep unlocks my consciousness
and it begins talking to me
of submarines and spy masks
and
(621) (631r1)