Long Gutting Poems

"Sick Art"



I walk the streets
still and quiet
I do not lie
I do not betray
what the heart belies
pickled kidneys 

I am a ghost
of my former self

ears lent to hear 
the sweet music
of the sounds so fraught
caught up...

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The last time you felt good, you played along with them, and they were fooled
The feeling inside was blue and you always considered the suicide rendezvous
It’s when you can’t laugh or cry, and feel it’s...

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by sun-kissed shoreline 
patiently I cast my line
waiting for a catch


Fishing was my family’s go-to, inexpensive recreational sport.  Many weekends were spent at the lake checking trout lines for fish or standing on the...

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My deplorable emotional collapse. 

Lucky for me, she happened to be in her many hour siestas!

My dear sister amelie came over (previously arranged to pick up some rocks that z mama rolled in a pile)...

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Bands of sunlight
Streamed through the curtains
Woke up to a glorious spring day
In Lowndes County Georgia 1918
Little Sara and Clint jumped in our bed
For morning hugs around
A day to remember
Filled with love, legacy
Our people

Slipped on my...

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Dawn broke  fiercely in my proud  face
forcing me quickly through the broken gate
Everything was so still  but I kept walking 
until I reach the bottom of the hill
curious cars passed by honking...

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DEATH OF A PARISIENNE HOUSEMATE--Monsieur L'Vampyre
The death of me lay waiting in the dark
down candle lighted steps, before mine eyes
as my love held the blade, to leave the mark
upon my neck before I'd realize

yes I...

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SILVER TIPS FOR MY LOVE--Monsieur L'Vampyre
The death of me lay waiting in the dark
down candle lighted steps, before mine eyes
as my love held the blade, to leave the mark
upon my neck before I'd realize

yes I...

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Charlotte and the bear came out of hibernation at exactly the same time.
The bear was irritable and hungry, and she looked tasty.
Don’t even think about it, I’ve killed bigger people than you before breakfast.
The bear...

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Bring them a cup of sea for lighted candles
Tell them taste and tell, and tell, and tell
The ancient salt, the bitterness it kindles
While creation groans at the brink of hell.
     ...

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My father hauled a dead sea turtle
     from a beach in the Florida Keys
          he coveted that shell.

I was not allowed to...

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Blood money isn’t paid in silver these days,
just transferred to your account
with a sheet of computerised data
to tell you their proffered amount.
I’m standing over the fish sheds,
to my front near empty docks,
to my rear swift...

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Lonely and alone, single now with the children my only comfort and yet a reminder.
The divorce a tug of war between me and her for what once was mine, I thought.
My heart lies languid and...

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Can you ever turn back?
................ the words that
whirl from your lips harsh
and wicked they lurk
aiming to cut, leaving dust 
in your throat.

Can you ever turn back?
................  the grip of fear baring 
its teeth, spit...

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GO   GENTLE  INTO   THAT   GOODNIGHT


Crunch of gravel - and a boat grounds its prow:
Cloud and wind hide its arrest
From the small cottage near the dark forest
With its candle...

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Burly men hauled her onto a fishing village beach.
She was rotund, impressively pump,
                      ...

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“What do you care what other people think?” 
Is a posed question with attempted answer in ink, 
And Feynman did fine, but there are thoughts of mine, 
That when I’m drunk on wine, they both...

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now that Chavez is dead,
the american oil companies
chomping at the bit
begin to salivate & lick their lips,
seething
with the foam
of potent country-gutting
rabies---
for while he was alive,
Venezuela was one of the only
countries left, 
who resisted the empire’s...

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I gave you my soul, I trusted you.
You inspire the things I do.
You made me feel warm with emotion
I gave you my life, I gave you devotion.

You know better than the rest.
I love you, I...

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Reading diaries of different discussion blots is considered to be akin to perusing the top shelf of a historical library section. Each label once worn drops like stones sinking into the carpet and creases of...

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My Last Day

The morning light it had lifted my soul
 In these early hours, as I left my home.
 I was unaware he was following me
 He had patience he waited until I was alone.

I...

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emperors run empires
kingdoms are for royalty
religion owned by paedophiles 
and numpties run the countries 

democracy is a mockery
communists and conning tricks 
socialists are emotionalists 
and dictators are just total pricks 

people need controlling
but never trust...

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Is there a place in heaven
Where old deckies muster
A sheltered safe haven away
From any wild storm's bluster
From sail to steam to diesel
United one and all
By the harvesting of the sea 
And the handling of the...

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And you will know me by the trail of dead,
the whistle of wind in cutthroat pipes,
the jolly japes and spring heeled capers
in the sepia pulp of the Sunday papers
and in all the Jack Tar bilge...

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It sits on the ground
Running, but not cutting
Ready for gutting
Violent with sound.

It reminds me of a race-horse
Jittery in the gate
Looking much like fate
And strong in the force.

I imagine that I see
In its calculating eyes
We cannot...

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