The strong one here

Hey New York
sixteen days left
til I head to Boston
and you know,
that’ll basically
be the end
of us

I mean
there’s a chance
that I’ll be back
in a few years
but long-distance
just isn’t my speed

I’d prefer it
if we didn’t let
the me leaving thing
affect our relationship
for the next two weeks

let’s make sure
to get some froyo
and hang out with
your buddies
and go out dancing
and stay up late

remind me
what was
your favorite movie?

let’s watch it tonight

…

There are a few
weekends this summer
where I’ll be around
so I should ask
how do you feel
about the whole
friends with benefits thing

but let’s be careful
because I don’t want
to hurt you and
any affection I show
from here on out
shouldn’t get your hopes up

maybe we should set
boundaries, like no overnights
or walks along the Hudson
although knowing me
I’ll have some trouble
not crossing those lines

cuz even though this
breaking up thing
was my decision
that doesn’t mean
I don’t want you

so you’re gonna hafta be
the strong one here

Packing poem

I didn't realize
that belongings
are called so not
because they belong
to you but because
they make you feel
like you
belong

at least
that's what it feels
like from within my shell
of glow in the dark stars
and wall-prayers and drawings
and a blue paisley comforter

turtles get to take it all
with them in one fell swoop
never living in the empty space

maybe insects feel differently?

Rose-tinted plastic

I wonder if the message
is that I don’t cry enough

or maybe I need to confront
the crying that others do

Either way, water won't stop leaking
into the bottom of my left goggle lens

Bashert

First attempt at a CD cover for my friend Joshua's band.

Bashert on Myspace
Bashert at Asheville Street Music

Cleaning #2

My floor feels dusty
even though I just swept

I cast about in anger
before realizing the dust
is on my own feet

and I wasn’t feeling the floor at all

I muse upon “Resentment”
and “Transference” and
“The Feelings We Carry With Us
After We Thought We’d Taken Care Of Them”

Cleaning

I’m no longer
in love with you

at the same time
this Starbucks receipt
that I keep on my desk

tells me I’m over you but

Tornadoes in Oklahoma

My mother tells me
that I should be judicious
about what I take to Boston

I make piles on my bed
of the books I want with me

and head to the wine store
for cardboard boxes

That Tingly Feeling

Shavuot

I

I tell my teacher
that I’ve figured it out!

I can blame my lack
of awareness of doubt
on my Quaker schooling!

For a belief in continuous revelation
is sort of predicated on the assumption
that there is revelation to begin with!

Don’t worry,
I’m fixed now

II

It’s amazing that the whole thing
didn’t come crashing down on me
when a teacher flicked the lightswitch

and I realized that the brightnesses
and darknesses in the Meeting House coves
were created and managed by humans

Go on, keep pointing at the outlets and wires
my stage was set and I’m’a keep on dancing

"Radical amazement"

My walking partner and I run into a friend of his
and I make myself busy examining the clovers
in a wooden half-barrel on the side of the road

While they talk about India I squat down
searching for a plant with four leaves
before realizing that I could instead

be marveling at three, three, three,
three, three