Imagined Geography 6: Limes Song

tell Olivia 

the view from this wall

it is beautiful

this river ever flowing

it is beautiful

the distant green-grey hills

all are beautiful

tell Olivia

if you get back to Rome

she is beautiful

tell Olivia

if you get back to Rome

I wish I were there

here is her picture

a lock of her hair

when you get back to Rome

say I wish I were there

Imagined Geography 5: Vienna Song

this is Vienna

beneath this dome

under the car park

this is my home

hopping the turnstiles

dodging the landlord

looking for something

hidden here before

under Vienna

city in ruins

city of ghosts

all up in smoke

you take the fast train

nightime from Linz

something seen once

never seen since

not since Vienna

Imagined Geography 4: Texas Song

Texas is its own religion

Texas is the belle of the ball

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Everything is big in Texas

Texas is a thousand miles tall

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

They cross the big river,

listening to Jesus,

but finding the devil

in a counterfeit star.

Everyone is welcome in Texas

Texas doesn't need a wall

Everyone is born in Texas

Texas can bear it all

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

They cross the big river,

listening to Jesus,

but finding the devil

in a counterfeit star.

Texas is as big as all Texas [[ x times ]]

Imagined Geography 3: Oklahoma Song

Have you seen the sky 

open over the plain?

One minute, soft moonlight,

then thunder and rain.

Have you seen the sky 

come to swallow you whole?

I have seen a town vanish

soul by soul by soul.

Have you seen what God thinks
of an Oklahoma town?

I have heard God roar

and then swat one down.

Have you seen the sky 

open over the plain?

One minute of dying,

then clear sky again.

Imagined Geography 2: New England Song

a stolen Volvo

of all things

rolled on the dunes 

kids all hanging 

upside down

still listening to tunes

out to covered bridges

out to the beaches 

out to summer cottages

out past our reaches

summer homes 

full of nothing

bric-à-brac, 

knick-knacks.

ruck sacks, 

kayaks,

quick snacks

nut sacks,

racken-fracks,

six packs,

a fishing shack

out back

bring back

a stickleback

bring back

the click track

the click track

the click track

drunken college girlfriends run together in my memory
drunken college girlfriends run together into the sea

Imagined Geography 1: Montana Song

bounded by perfect

four solid walls

north south east west

one good window

bounded by perfect

one endless road

nowhere each way

but away, away

here in our place between

zero and one

love me from here 

to the end of that sun

here in our place between

before we die

love me from here

to the end of that sky

if you ever leave me

but you will never leave me

but if you ever leave me

I will be in every reflection

I will be the ghost in your night 

I will be in every direction

I will be, I will be, I will be

but you will never leave me

bounded by perfect

surveyor lines

fences and rails

the horizon

bounded by perfect

circular sun

hard solid earth
plain hard sky

Are you picturing distance?

Are you picturing distance,
perhaps some other hills,
and the hint of water there?
This is what I thought.

This landscape is
photons, vibrations,
the inhalable molecules
of life on the air.

This landscape is
brochures and other ephemera
your mother received from
chambers of commerce.

This landscape is
the 'grey' and the 'white'
I have written on a plain
sheet of white paper.

This landscape grows
more distinct now, rolling
over the hills of the
thing in your skull.

Are you picturing distance,
perhaps some other hills,
and the hint of water there?
This is what I thought.

Parcheesi Variation

across the central square

a diagonal walk

from orange to black

from tile to tile to tile

from new moon to full moon

from full moon to sun