It howled like a person,
It howled when it stopped.

And the rest is taps, or reveille. Maybe
he lies with dog & god

beneath the Yorba Linda pines, adrift

The great blue heron’s tinctured swerve
fires its yellow bill with the trout's alloy.
Why in place of nature cure

The room was airless and damp,
the sheets a skin of sweat.
The greasy feather pillow
curled like a postage stamp.

First appear the tiniest islands, crumbs
brushed off the mainland, each
outlined in china white, as if by a child.

Once upon a time, began the old tale,
and that's how we knew it was a tale. Shackleton's
fare-thee-well voyage, ship marooned in ice

The blonde unlocks
her daddy’s Firebird,
blood-red as a tropical fish.

We’ve received the morning post;
Royal Mail has sent a roast:
Let the ten-pound package lie

Something isn’t right with me. 
We climb in the hot July 
car three thousand feet from Laramie 

I thought (and before it was too late) 
my heart had begun to turn, that was 
shut to love, for I was adamant