enveloped in fog

a restless city
sleeps
as danger lurks
on corners
filled with bar rooms
and whores

squadrols break
the quiet
with the sing-song
sound of sirens
like those heard in

i nvr sw a prpl cw
i nvr hp 2 c 1
bt il tl u
rit her n nw
id rthr c thn b 1

sometimes a
cigar
is just
a cigar

a
banana
a sweet piece
of fruit

usually come
means
please
approach

a gash is
a
terrible
wound

but when these
words
intentions
are

faith
so deep
abiding
unshakeable

mother

carols warmly
sung
cookies
lovingly
baked
and
modest gifts
bound with
curly ribbon
and
transparent tape

to frank
from santa

desperately seeking
closeness

from a
distance

desire
a
stranger's
touch

no photos
or
statistics
please

shallow
unimportant
details

nsa
and
serious only
inquire

cuddle

en route from
reno
nevada
to cathedral city
california
i fell into
a fearful state
full of painful
memory

i was on my way
to see
my
father
after one score
and five years
apart

pacing wildly
to and fro

instinctively
seeking a
crack
or
open door

gazing into
the
curious eyes
of
onlookers
delighted
by my
neutered
majesty

i seethe
and
rage

her last word
was
Allah

then she slipped
from
this world
to
the next

no more
war
no more
death
reunited with her
father

the hero
who fathered
a
martyr

what makes them
tick

a jagged crack
spreads
over a
pulsing crimson
surface
as
new life
seeks to
break through
and
enter
a hostile
world

beating heart
wrapped in
cold
barbed wire
struggling to

she said
to
her friend

i don't like
walking
over this
bridge

seeing
the water
through the
grates
scares me

better than
boiling lava
and
fire breathing dragons
feasting on

what is a
hero
after all

an accident of
circumstance
and
coincidence

being in the wrong
place
at a very
wrong time

this does not
diminish the
act
but rather
defines it

another life
another love
and a million
tears ago

she
of
sparkling smile
and
shimmering
brown eyes
strode past
with
a friend

laughing
while openly
glancing back
over her
gently

seemingly innocuous

a young man
standing outside
the
80th avenue
train station
sneezes

followed quickly
by the
blessing
of a
passerby

a
stranger

seconds later

i am
more like them
than i
knew

de bergerac and quixote

always dreaming
impossible
dreams
of
better places

jousting with
windmills
and struggling to say
love
just right

same news
different places
different times

fallujah
kabul
peshawar

supplanting

danang
khe sanh
saigon

in the
lexicon
of
this generation's
war

for the
kids
just