"Three Chambers of the Hippo," "Into Further Temptation," and "A Patient Path by Subtle Degree"

Three Chambers of the Hippo

A song, of a sudden,
      rang out from the belfry
  on a Saturday morning
                   in Frederick
 
A chaotic design
         that sounded as if
    it had been spliced together
                 by an eagerly ambitious
                          yet still overly
                impressionable generation
           of AI
 
& who else hears
       this mad sound
                  of clanging/conspiring
            mechanical dissonance?
 
The park is popping
    with life
       on an otherwise calm &
               cloudy scene
 
but I bet
      (my last wishing penny)
   the first sign of the sun
           will awaken
              & welcome
     twelve prodigal gods
              back to the table
          to bargain
                  for antique discounts
 
The greatest show/simulation/con
                on earth
 
fit to form
with bread,
butter, & wine
 
all the seductive
accoutrements & appetizers
blueprinted in the code
to fatten your flesh
for the feast of the beast
 
& soften your mind
      the same as marrow
                  dissolving
          in a
              stew

Into Further Temptation

demon &/or
    daemon
 
              &/or
 
      just another voice
                 in Plato’s head
          screaming from the rafters
                           while the rest
               of the mad choir
      screws around in the cheap seats
 
                  gather about
               & behold
                       the great undoing/becoming
 
             that’s the way
                                the cookie
                                           always cracks up
 
                       leaving (leavened) breadcrumbs
                                             strewn along the path

A Patient Path by Subtle Degree

Four white swans
melancholic in the shallows
 
little unicorn souls
neon snowflake tincture
 
for the sum
of five lost ages
in the sun
 
six spent sirens
and seven spirals careening empty
 
The assimilation
of life’s seemingly
discordant aspects
into a cohesive whole
is like unto
brewing a medicinal spell
to release on the new moon
 
and when the cards are turned
to reveal a peaceful moment
 
hark!
 
spark your spirit
to the rhythm
of an orderly vibration
humming electric
from magnetic spheres
 
dancing geometric patterns
swirling in shapes, manifesting form
 
All the mushrooms and flowers
and herbs and trees that I
have no names for
 
hold my imagination
in the life grip of hope
 
but if chaos remains
your favorite tonic
then carry your piece to the stars
and howl by night in lamentation
 
I listen instead
to the song of the whales
ringing sacred
at the yawning abyss
 
music’s inside aquatic source
mouth stuffed with salted pearls
 
pink fish and red eyes
Wim Hof secures deep breaths in place
 
my silver thread untethered
lucid along the path of turtles