no names / we all dance
naturally when you turn off the lights

words arrive by candlelight
flickering their multi-colored tongues

still sits alone in a corner
wondering how

the ailing bearded dragon is
feeling this year

no one wants to play with her
as she plays hard to get

with another dictionary
words seeping through the tattered cover

in the shape of a lovely lion
or pretty penguin

warnings sound in sudden bursts
of vaporized knells

don’t let the cut and paste fool
you into believing

the results of water tested
for invasive eyes

don’t cut the pasty fool
out of your life

before you’ve tested how well
your eyes adjust to the dark

a memory won’t hold still
it will only hurt a bit

fog hides the boat
you thought was lonely

you really don’t know
anything about the port side

or how to identify tule
in the marsh

your right foot
always faces east