Bill's Official Thirty-third Birthday (poem)

They say you only turn thirty-three once
but for Bill, we celebrated twice.
Here's this leftover keg from Saturday --
let's kick it on a Tuesday.
Full shots of tequila chase our plastic cups
of Bud Light and knives are tested,
not thrown. While we wait for pizza dough
to rise, dogs, mostly domesticated, slide
across hardwood and end
in a growl. Tommy walks among those
beasts, in graying degrees of drunk,
while the rest of us find holds
on couches and floors, beer in one hand,
pizza in the other, watching parallel universes
exist obliviously to each other on the final season
of Lost, pausing now and then for patchless smoke
breaks, trips down shared history lane, and an ice
cream cake scripting "Your Bear Hat is Awesome,"
a phrase only a slice of us understand. The candles
are beer steins and Kelly has to set them on fire
because Tommy is making a video including me
failing with the lighter. The night idles
away to quiet two a.m. chit chat
about fake boobs and hairy asses and one last
hit before we drift apart to a house asleep
on the first day of Bill's thirty-third year.

Poet's Reunion Supper (poem)

He says even we
are mediocre, at best,
students, always, crafting
away on a useless course,
so all the better
we lack brilliance.
He is brightly phrased,
rarely making eye contact,
bringing up my past
lovers with casual nostalgia.
I am patient and I am open
to his suggestion, disagreeing
only occasionally.
I see how much this means
to him and how much it means
to me and I am already learning
about this revision process.

Taco Haiku (poem)

for Bill, by request

Tacos bring such joy
Meat, cheese, lettuce, and salsa
Crunch between my teeth

When Harry Met Sally (poem)

Twist of fate and suddenly
here we are -- alive inside
our vision of this
mess called limbo life.
Admit it. We mean more
somehow to each other than
anybody else but we still fail.
Navigating around our undeclared pitfalls,
thoughtful pauses where we try
honestly to be our best selves --
only we rely on our most subtle
nuances, those moments where
you say something with a million meanings
lacking the inflection to clarify the point --
and I'm no better.
Day in and day out, we build each other up
and let each other down.

for you (poem)

Tonight I want you
to talk about you.
I'm here. I'm in it.
I'm ready for this phase.
You are on the tilt,
close to a mechanical teeter,
so apt to sway on this fulcrum,
this pivotal point.
Both sides require you to fall.
I am here, though, here
for you -- standing, flat footed
on rock hard solid ground.
Look into my eyes
like you have so many times
and let yourself go.
I am here, I am here,
paced and leveled and anticipating.

Alive (poem)

Something sneaks
alive in me
right when you come
around the corner into view.
How you effect me.
Horrible gratitude floods
all the cavities inside,
right up to the point of drowning.
Rally point: level ground where
I can hide behind drunken
estimations of who you are
to me. To me,
who knows this love.
Oh, what rabid joy.
Leave me never, boy.
Feel my pulse of life.

Sun Salutation A (poem)

Sand is welcome between my toes
today and every day otherwise.
Emptying my mind of convention,
vinyasas drive me forward,
energizing my prana upwards
drawing stability in this flexible ground.
Another flip to updog,
vying for a spot in the soon-peaking sun,
every pose with purpose on this beach.