Selected Poems

They Say It’s Your Birthday
       --the Beatles

My black ceramic elephant
lets out his trunk. In my window
the sun prays, my yucca plant
points to itself, and grows.
They say it’s your birthday.

The elephant says to the jay,
“Let’s take Rosy Toes for a ride, give her
balloons a big squeeze.” You play
hard to get, climbing higher.
For you, my blood croons.

The jay accompanies with a tune
from Don Giovanni. What you hear is
absurd, a beak stitching up my wounds
in blue borders. You blow me just one kiss,
when it’s every breath I crave.

(published in Intro)