Here has a hump, not a heart, but by the end might
set a net, what goes on, struggling my head does
not walk noticing movies and streets, like in the myths
and so, time with you is books, essences, all that is

In your childhood bedroom we sleep til afternoon
In my steps, try to regain a strained upright gait
summer marble stairs, more secret than thought is
I'm obsessed in what I don't believe – times

August undressing in the kitchen is grimy and smooth
it eases the noise, it pleases my feet
who climb this way, with love, by steps, into you
fully, in me, rawly we, almost musical – almost the point

Could your cat help? fine lines through the sky, our face
forgets days, a cat can pass months without serious hope

grew up among farmers in Oklahoma. He was a student, teacher, and book vender in Austin TX for many years, and now lives on the outskirts of Silver City NM. His novella, Not caring about Louisa, is forthcoming with Keith LLC Press (2025), and his essay about small press poetics, If they are not to freeze us to death, will be published as a chapbook by Spiral Editions in October. He has published poetry and essays with The Quarterless Review, Luigi Ten Co, The Brooklyn Rail, Poetry Project Newsletter, Los Angeles Review of Books, Peach Fuzz Magazine, Cuneiform Press, Hobart Pulp, and various art galleries. With the help of friends, he also runs a very small press called Happy Apples, which most recently published Pure Paragraphs (2023), a collection of "paragraphs" by about 130 artists and writers.