This time of year
the daylight fades
so fast

And cool air nips
at my skin

As I pine for
the long warm nights
of summer

(D. James)

light
air
tree
bird
put them together
and tell me what you heard

for I cannot see
or hear
what I do not know

(D. James)

Restless and motionless
frozen in malaise

Waiting for the next thing
not so much wasting time
as simply watching it go by

Motivation is a word
a grouping of letters
I know how to pronounce
the familiarity ends there

(D. James)

Skipping thoughts
like stones
across my mind

None making
much sense
or connecting
with another

They just fly by
like birds
headed south
for the winter

Some more colorful
than others

(D. James)

I was there
now I’m here

for how long
I don’t know

Ask me when
I’ve gone and
I’ll tell you
how long
I stayed

But who knows
where I’ll be
by then

(D. James)

It all started
last month
when I …

No wait
it goes back
before that
three years ago
when she …

Actually it was
when he said …
but that would have
been ten years
or more now

So it must have been
as far back as before all
that and further still
when I was just a child

Yes, of course
it all began at
the beginning
which would be
the day before
I was born

Or even before
that when my father …

(D. James)

Though there is no heaven
I have known angels

And though there is no hell
I have wrestled demons

Yet all that I know,
and all that I am
or have been
means nothing

In the face
of being
simply a man

(D. James)

And god is not listening
to you tonight

Tear-stained cheeks
knees bruised from rocking
on the hardwood floor
The words mouthed
over and over again

But god is not listening
to you tonight

He is indifferent
as the dead you
pray for

Deaf as my grandmother

So you would do
well to stand up,
wash your face
and stop asking
for absolution
from someone else

Because god is not listening
to you tonight

But don’t take it
too hard
or make it into
something else
to be miserable
about

For he is not listening
to anyone …
tonight
or any other

(D. James)

And I remember nights out
dancing well into the
next morning

A different time
another life

Waiting for the
right song to bring
freedom and elation
in motion

Now I dance
when no one
is looking
to songs
in my head
from those
days gone by

(D. James)

Tea and a cigar
on a lazy Sunday
in the city

People go by
kids and dogs
in tow

As the sun sets
and the air turns
cooler

They walk a little
faster
arms folded for
warmth

Days like this
everything is poetry

(D. James)

The girls walk by
high-heeled shoes
and tight jeans
cigarettes and perfume

Pseudo bad-boys drive
around on expensive
motorcycles that rumble
like thunder

Everyone pretends to
be somebody here
even the movie stars

And the waitresses
in miniskirts
counting tips
in their heads,
worry about their boyfriend’s
drug habit

2am and the boys
from the band
stumble out
of their van
order coffee and smoke cigarettes

watching the legs
of the waitress
who just wants
to go home

Everyone is from
somewhere else
in this city that’s really
a suburb

this place of dreams
that can quickly turn
into a nightmare

And once you wake
it’s best to slink on home

(D. James)