PREEMPTIVE

Hand me that grenade,
will you, Rose?
I want to drop it
down a hippo's throat
to see what else can happen.

EVERYWHERE

Forgive me
in advance
if I die in your house.

I have tried
not to be
inconvenient.

But we all
have to die
somewhere,
here, there,

everywhere.

Or So It Would Seem

Roussel's accidentally surrealistic writings remind me of the way rain sometimes falls without seeming to mean to.

Zhora Drif by Asad Faulwell 2010

BIRTHDAY POEM FOR SAID

Because you are so much more
than you seem to see
in the mirror we call "you",
we'd like to take this opportunity

to remind you of yourself.
Look! There you are again
being brighter than April
in all its glory is. And

there you stand where only
you can be. Because we're not
you (since only you are), we'd
like to invite you to a

party we throw in your
honor every time we think of you.