Sunday, July 28, 2013

Eagles are like



Eagles are like
Pigeons here
They congregate
Up on the hill
Where a flying city
Never stood
A chance to shine
For freedom's sake

Occupied
With hunting game
Now crumb squabbled
Endlessly
The beak and claw
Still sharply work
At carcasses
Upon the bank


















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Rose of Sharon



The Rose of Sharon
Grows readily here
In a reclaimed cove
A beauty of the plain
As does meadow grass
Alluvial in its way
Their relieving task
Comes naturally
Seeding this dream
Of houses

How many renovations
Root at a floating world
Borne and borne again
Loosing a mouth of pebbles



















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Friday, July 26, 2013

The low hanging branches



The low hanging branches
Hung on
By the scolded whip
Whose kin dressed
In camouflage
Thicketed
The mother tongue
Lashed  
And by anger
Parched
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Thursday, July 25, 2013

I might just make off



I might just make off
With this sarcophagus
Run around with nymphs
And satyrs
An empire is built
From such theft
But
A reefing page
Leaved by a wave
Returned to replace
My diadem
Diatomically opposed
To histories carved bereft



















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

I wouldn't pay



I wouldn't pay
Too much heed
To the sway
Of a lost cat
That can perfectly tail
The small world
In your flagging light

Without
It becomes you
In leaps and bounds
Always marking home



















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Light past noon




Light past noon
Is shy of ledges
Warmed
Unoccupied

The afternoon
Will continue
To slant desirous
Shadowing
A reaching vine

Swallows begin their circle
When the newborn rise



















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Monday, July 22, 2013

Out on the point




Out on the point
In my birthday suit
The pull at the bottom
Of these sandy hooks
And why they furrow
Has lasted at least
Since its breakwater
Has turned to slate
Interrupting a restless rake
In a bas- relief of tides

The sea grass
Cut by distant barks
Rocks in each long cradle
Baby crab nebulas 
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

What may ornament



What may ornament
Runs like centuries
Across the wall
When only a season's fancy
Makes a language
Of the leaves

Which roots embed
A memory
Full in depth
For grubs
To feed

Wanting a meal
And overturning rocks
The woody pipes
Of hidden thrushes
Swag their pan
Apartments





















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Saturday, July 20, 2013

And there it all begins


And there it all begins
Again
A tripping universal joint
A pinion of things
To turn about

Packing- taped in patterns
Various projects
Refused
A sheaf of stories
Baled of purpose
Half shadowed
In concrete concord
Thrown on the street
Lonely crowded

Stumbled there:

Find
These mismatched clothes
Mission scrubbed
And donated to
Uncharitable time

And so take in its monuments:

Mattresses lounging louche
Torn tarps sucking wind
Wrapping shrouds
Around utility masts
Puddles sunk in paving
Cast iron mouths
Oozing morning sump
Over sidewalks
Swamped
By outgrown plastic
Still dreaming
Childlike
In primary hue

And scribbled here:

In all the errands taken
To fix a meander broken
Is a wake of jetsam founding
A final trip to curb





















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Thursday, July 18, 2013

There tiger



There tiger
There there
The grass
You mat
When sleeping
Hid
Ravenous to be
Awake
Another cat 
Untracked
By muddy prints
Transparent
Through the undergrowth
Multiplied
On forking paths
Invisible

There there
You will be
Forever striped
Neither stalking figure
Nor uneven ground
The secret to your scent
Revealed

















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

It's pretty out there



It's pretty out there
Turn your head
And all the sea
Has disappeared
Coal black trees
Climb cliffs underwearing
Mud and turf overtop
Propagating
Weeds of time
Fringing
A bathtub bay
And a town called
Marshy Hope


















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Cranking up a generator




Cranking up a generator
Unmaking the morning piece
Public works
Lift the grates
Of night sump
In lieu of going fishing
Which practice
Has a more aspiring
Catch
But is less a trade
At civil hours
Whose job
Hunting is not
But occupies
Coffee and donut
Seconds



















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Gathering an audience




Gathering an audience
Round
Beyond containing
Applause
The flayed man
Justifies
His plane
A bloody curtain
Drawn


















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Considering the light



Considering the light
Of a rotting vision
Under a peach slice
Moon
It strikes
As natural
I scarce my will
Not at all
The same
As a daily
Pit at noon
I drag across
The sky
On purpose


















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

In a close morning




In a close morning
When already
July pulls waves
Piling clouds
Behind the city
Block
My sleep begins
To sound
Sinking in the street
Swimming in a season
A swale in trilobite time
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Saturday, July 13, 2013

There is a name



There is a name
For stalking
Murder
Called 
By a callous chorus
Justice

There is a name
Attached to the tag
And bag of hygiene
Anxious
Of a messy trail
Called
By a callous chorus
Peace

There is a name
But no number to call
To get even
A first response
To truth










Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

So big deal



So big deal
You've found a way
To second a motion
Appearing an actor
When nobody claps
A clown raising
The first question
Wrong

Don't just do something
Stand there
Explode little ticket
Unredeem

There are more things
Known
By guttersnipes
And garbage men
Whose stink
Follows their purpose
Settling what
In everybody's nose
Remains of theory















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Friday, July 12, 2013

First on errant grass



First on errant grass
Then concrete
Now asphalt
Grass again
A wider stretch
Of concrete
Then a partly painted
Section of yellow
And asphalt clods
More grass and weeds
Bouncing on rotten
Plywood
Under crushed
Smell of centipede

















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Thursday, July 11, 2013

You in your smart white shirt



You in your smart white shirt
Charge down Bleeker St.
Forsaken amidst
The blackened bubblegum
That polka-dots
Your killer walk

They built this city
After such a fashion
That would warp
Any idle moment
Attempted at random

The trees strike attitudes
The trucks resume
Their runways
As you disappear
Down the block
Taking the formerly
Naked city














Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Somewhere




Somewhere
In my search
For lost keys
A mighty building
Was abandoned
And locks orphaned
Begging to passerby
Indifferent
To any address
Not likewise
Protected

















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Walking on water




Walking on water
Was built in a day
It doesn't take
A miracle
To make
One weak
My disbelief
In suspension
Floats
At all hours
Expecting
To be overturned










Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Pretty soon



Pretty soon
The retrieval
Of specific beauty
Will come down
To a matter
Of longing
For the past perfect
Wait of things
Upon which
A place of stone
Will pile


















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

A black reflection



A black reflection
On a blue van
Spots a red shirt
On a brown man

So the conceit
Of 24th street
Catches its summer
Dresses





















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Monday, July 8, 2013

To nail a part



To nail a part
Geared up toward
The long run
Inclined to
A certain end
These arms extend
An invitation
To those
That might
Lock with
An uncertain
Opening
A terrible tale
To follow
But rife
With anecdotal tiers
And galleries for
Making chorus 
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Sunday, July 7, 2013

It is a calling




It is a calling
To some able bodies
To brace this shaft
Wood ax and maul
Fashioning a way
To pull
The down up
An up again
In plumes
Of dirty songs
Said to brace
The throats
Of able bodies
Fashioning a way
To pull the down up
And up again










Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

A clattering impatient man


A clattering impatient man
Who wouldn't note
The pit of crowd
Stepped toward center
Reeling tired

Calling squares
To spinning
Cease
Unachored 
Catched
In steep
To least

Upon the door
Look what the screen
Breezed across
To sweet release

A clattering impatient man
Who wouldn't note
The pit of crowd











Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Friday, July 5, 2013

What the bobcat forgot




What the bobcat forgot
To perform last night
A nightly strut
To steal his board
The rooster proclaims
A triumph




















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

An old and heavy




An old and heavy
Sinewed heart
Woven with care
And compromise
Scarred over
From heavy suture
Wounds easily
Without those
Cheating bones
Thrown to
The dogs
Of shepherds
Intent on
Culling the lamb
Whose young blood
Is still sacred
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

There is no longer




There is no longer
Preparation for the day
That lacks some preface
Unauthorized

Bound so
With a stranger
Story
No wonder
I can trip on
A blade of grass
















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Clustered around the yard



Clustered around the yard
A harbor of wooden boxes
Holds with sleeping heads
Uneven frame for shelter
A rolling familiar dawn

For a lodging
Witness
With baggage
For staying
Past dreaming
This postage stamp cloister
Opens
A proxy
A giving way

















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Soaking the sidewalk



Soaking the sidewalk
Half brooking
The gutter
Bully weather
Reminds the sea
Of it's prodigal sun
Fattening the land
For a warm return




















Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013

Monday, July 1, 2013

To what do I owe


To what do I owe
This attribution of vines
Overclimbing issues
Of death and dire
Housekeeping
There is a type
Meant to snap readily
For easy propagation
Hairy fingered
For more real estate
Unthrifty
But efficient










Tom McGlynn
copyright 2013