Virtue
1.
Inside the mouth
of the alligator
a nameless bird
pecks away carelessly
pleasure abound
as if to call this danger
mine
to make a flirtation
with its newly found
protecting itself
against the sun
burning away at feathers
2.
Alone in the fall
a doomed rottweiler
scurries off
deeper and deeper
into the rust color
that still holds tight
to its coat
struggling to die somewhere
in an unknown corner
far beyond territorial markings
where others will sniff
and decide its appropriateness
for a leg-lifting
Adolescent
All day I checked my pockets
a re-wrapped lollipop,
fifty-five cents in change,
a prayer card to St. Anthony.
These small things an honor
for a nine-year-old.
Laying down after exhaustion
of summer heat
of all of the backyards shuffled through
I’d collapse on the floor,
let the mind guide me off into
someplace even warmer.
World, wait for me,
don’t do a thing
until I wake back up.
