The bishop says heaven has a language
his children can’t speak

And what would you pay to fill a fresh quiet?  

$2,000, $5,000
Or, less:
Please.

Because tortoises, parrots, dogs, and daughters
aren’t where they are supposed to be  

qadisha 

Or: POSSIBLY BEING HELD WITH STRANGER

Held

in chant
hung in silver
remiges
holding free,  

afloat like
a lone lime parakeet
in a flock of lovebirds
south of the 60, east of College

If they had not fled, how could I have heard

            qadisha

Listen: I do not have a translation. 

HELP ME GET HOME

Left
on Bell east towards
17/Superstitions/Assyria/Christ
coming again
invisible
like Eden.

Thy kingdom come
cruel like salt
gazing
at Sodom-Tigris-Mosul  

burning
on earth as it is in heaven.

Let us behold, dearly beloved, the resurrection which happeneth at
its proper season:

What was, and is and is MUCH LOVED AND MISSED —
a Dutchman’s gold
left

On earth  

As it is  

Day and night show unto us the resurrection
with a song,
horizon spills down four peaks,
lit with a molten fortune lost in the dawn

As it is

You got a dollar sweetie

Between the asking
and the giving                        
Yeah, a dollar             

Here we go round,
thick and dark and
chatty like a goldfinch

Got saved today born again just this morning found Jesus 

Got another 18 cents?           

Here we go round

Between the giving                
dollar

and the taking                        
Pepsi, Snickers
is the leaving                            

As it is

the day departeth, and night cometh on

I’m just hollow
like a dead man walking around

Gave blood twice
in 48 hours, passed out

JUST TRYNA EAT MAN

Pile it on

Between the giving
and the taking                        
Pile it on

deliberately, like
You got a dollar, sweetie

Between the asking
and the giving                        
Yeah, a dollar             

Here we go round

Here,
even cactuses
bend fleshy palms,
supplicate thank yous
brittle as a breeze through spines.