immunity head

sittin' heavy in

a monarch's seat of fear.

like 1918,

this flu is pandemic

and my heart is contagious.

can't sleep

knowing bugs bite

no matter the smile.

grew up beyond death

in the land of never

and damn, i love you

more than dreams allow.

being a parent is hard.

and sometimes harder.

love you my belle.

"miss immunity head."

scorpio's prophecy

i hung up the phone to

a chest full of drawers:

letters, wishes,

drawings and bottles -

wine, musk,

and your peanut sauce

all labeled by year and vintage.

i know:

love is freedom,

love is pain,

love is your hand on my ass,

and my wishful thinking.

be.

and know that this too will pass.

and be again.

i sculpt lines under my eyes

to recall learnings

and to forget the losses -

only to wonder

when scorpio's moon

will be a good vintage.

zoo

belle and i went to the zoo.

as we were driving south,

i thought about that writer vegetarian

protesting the "tao of zoo."

i recall late 90's punk shows

lined with animal activists

(gory chicken pamphlets ring a bell?)

preaching passionately against

animal captivity and cruelty

and i wonder

why the gutter punks

never rallied against

the mass incarceration of kids,

you know, public school.

at least zoos try

to create habitat resembling "the wild"

and i ain't ever seen

a classroom

built in the trees.

have you?