we inspect each bug
the blue magnifying glass
makes us scientists
by James Brush
we inspect each bug
the blue magnifying glass
makes us scientists
the fossil sky is a thick blanket
fog rolled in from the bay
the trees have disappeared
muffled birdsong drifts in waves
the sea is so close
other continents just a stone’s
throw away skip away
I’m invisible until that stone
thunks into the tide and sinks
down to the seafloor down
///
we spent twenty bucks and two
hours to see a movie that showed
only things
we already knew about
urban blight dark corners
love magic and the way
popcorn smells after it’s
been stepped on by
two hundred shuffling feet
black birds land
on a chainlink fence rattling
so faint it could be your failing
heart
the ambulances were so far away
they couldn’t come in time
lone cirrus wisp
a temporary arrow
pointing back toward home
and she said the waves would come
the way she said the stars were gone
beyond/beneath were synonyms
and for once I listened and believed
how was it that we found our way
in imaginary boats
across this sun-flecked sea
where she said sharks once lived
beyond horizons and beneath the waves
ocean curls waves foam
sand toes sunk deeper down
lifeguard flags snap warnings of sharks
and wind and high concentrations
of bacteria washed down from floods
two days drive north of here
how was it that we found our way
how was it that we found this sea
how was it that we knew the stars
how was it that they led us home
///
sulphur butterfly
stone skipping across the sky
wind and highway noise
my yard work helper
throws mud, laughing
high forties
running through sprinklers
in filthy pj’s
like Guthrie his
guitar screams
this machine
kills fascists
this guitar
is an animal’s bite
imperfect neck gripped
tight to sparse
applause for a
street busker
trying to change
the world
each measure
a fool’s gamble
might as well
ask the planets
change orbits
for a few coins?
a loose needle
some matches
a few bucks
in the guitar case
open like a mouth
in mid-phrase
///
a chickadee clings
to the birdhouse entrance hole
nestling chorus