July 4th, Two Years
July 4th, Two Years
Poems collected from this year and last year, side by side
2023
Hey, man
You should have
Seen the sky tonight
Humid in July. The
Fog was here first, then
Old mauve, all across
The way. We saw it from
The hill, showed up just
In time, sat in a row
Like children. We
Walked through
The city, fools on
Earth, looking for
Center.
We found the
Street they were
Lighting them off
From, wider out
Back but street
Block, ya know?
Just right
Here. And more
Across the water
In conversation,
More across the
Water when we could
Still see water. Now,
A fog painted onto
The wind and the
Sun finally set. The
Stadium was on
Fire, the stadium
Looked like it was
On fire, impossible
Milky cloud
When we drove
By, highway home
And moving slow -
How it sat in Hadlock
Field like an ice
Cream cone, how
It choked everyone
Out.
We named off single
Use wastes, fireworks
Our favorite, fireworks
In reds and blues, sizzles
And pops - all the things
Lana sings - everyone
Brought something
To share, the rain just
Now burning off - it is
Morning at 6 PM.
We are with our friends,
Unafraid, only here unafraid.
We are watching the pieces
Of the submersible rise
Up to the surface and we
Are moved to laughter.
We are small as ants
In this story, small as
Ants and we are with
Our friends, celebrating
In the hot throat
Of this soiled,
Stolen body
Of land.
I can lay my
Head down in
The sun! I can
Sweat for her!
I can touch
Skin to skin
Earth to earth
Life to life, feel
All the way to
Center! The
Way my heart
Beat travels
Through my
Body! The way
The ground
Gives out! The
Way she is
Coughing!
The way we
Are coughing!
The truth is
A drum and
Getting closer!
We know the
Words but have
Never sang
Them ourselves!
We start
Practicing
Now!
We start
Practicing
Now!
2024
Hey man, are
You slipping into
Silt? Does the
Current carry
You or do you
Cling to rocks,
To clay, as you
Slide, as you
Dissolve? The
•
Holiday rang
In sirens, in
Smashed glass,
In flies - Being born
Somewhere in our
Kitchen too hot &
Humid for clarity.
We swam in
•
American waters
Under free skies
While the monarch
Butterflies wafted
Through, smelling
Sweetness in our
Hair. We smoked
& joked & rose
Under the sun
•
Like dough in the
Oven. Our stingy
Country, our
Selfish recess - I am
Wholly here regardless,
Grateful to be green,
To be brown, to be
Dying eventually,
To be made from
The land of you.
Al tells me of collecting
Butterfly wings. J tells me
Of failed plans. T tells me
How everything gets
Trapped in our spinal
Cords, forever &
Forever.
On the drive up North,
I spit cherry pits
From the passenger
Side. Paris for the
Night. Log cabin in
The White
Mountains, party
Crashing, contained
Fires, tearing meat
From bone. I can
•
Stretch out wide and
Restless on the picnic
Table by the fire. I am
Fuzzy and alive on a
Starry American night.
Fearful of the Future.
•
There is popping, popping,
Up above and far away.
See nothing. This year,
See nothing. I, something
The size of a grain of
Sand, road of aggregate,
Something in my spine
Keeping me crooked.
I don't know, some
Things I believed in youth, like
life is short and forever goes on & on.
My lover is here, doing
Most of the talking. I am
Listening to what the
Tips of trees are telling
Me like, if you're not
Living, you're dying.
I am in the hot tub
Alone w/ the jets on.
Hot water holds me
Up off of this world,
Floating on a sustained
Exhale. T is telling the one
•
About the Brooklyn Bridge,
Discovering the bends, sacrifice
And eternity for all. I am hazy
Under the stars and satellites.
Bobbing slow, incubating
Bliss. Lucky in my
Aloneness, lucky w/
That slow drip
•
Of desertion. I hear the conversation
Shift to ancient infrastructure, over
Told stories. Do you know why the
Colosseum is still standing like that?
I hear, they just figured it out - something
•
About the limestone being lucky,
Bonding w/ water over time, getting
Stronger. T makes sure to say this
Was accidental, a mistake, couldn't
Have known. We only know so much
About the Romans because they
Bothered to keep records. History,
Funny like that. I imagine
Limestone embedded in mud,
Erected into homes, temples,
Monuments, bonded w/ love
While empires fell again again,
fall again again. In a moment of
Obvious luxury, I bathe filthy
•
Dreaming of longevity. History
Cradled in accidents & money
(money money money money
Money money) grabs, mythologized
Power games under blue skies.
•
We are small
And alive in
This story, an
Infestation
Compulsive
& Growing
Telling stories /
World on fire
And again,
Popping
Popping,
Off in
Distant
Skies.
On the drive home, I am
Half asleep on mountain
Roads. I trust my lover. I
Trust the machine. I trust
My closed eyes still open
To possibility. The tips of
•
My fingers find love if
I stretch them out like
The tips of green brushing
Illusory night, rustled
In the breeze that finds
Us from the other side
•
Of the world. Touch
W/out impact, how a
Soul finds home. All
Of us growing around
Each other, up towards
The sun while fireworks
•
Pop pop and ash
Falls from the sky
•
While wars decimate &
Bobbleheads argue &
•
We feed what's left of
Humanity to the cold
•
And easily controlled.
(Draining power to
Gain power, am I
Missing something?
Did I wake in a
World that wants
To crush me?) I am
•
Obvious luxury in the belly
The belly round and red and aching
The belly deformed and growing
Wrong, the belly feeding though full
And bursting, the belly digesting digesting digesting, the belly
Of the beast shot to hell w/
Holes and leaking. My blood, slow &
•
Late, seeps
When I am happy
On slanting rocks
By the river and
Loved. All night
I smell iron. My
Country red
Inflamed,
Feigning
Untouched,
Feigning
Untouchable.
Thank you for reading some poetry today xoxo G