Wolverine Stew: Anatomy of a Notebook Page

The microbiome is important

All manner of mushrooms sprout

Graphite mycelium merging with

Red parallel lines of soil

Spirals bound to spiral-bound paper

Spinning further with each need to

Focus and distract oneself

And on those festive occasions

You’ll find pumpkins, snowflakes, hearts

Technically vestigial, but still enjoyed

And four corners become eight as the page is

Folded and folded and folded and folded

Until the edges are torn

Piling up, scraps of snow on a paper mountain

Oh

Right

There are some words too

Capturing Campus: February

In the garden

I searched for a flower
that reminded me of you

aster
begonias
carnations
chrysanthemums
cosmos
dahlias
daisies
hydrangeas
irises
lavender
lilacs
lilies
lotus
marigolds
orchids
peonies
poppies
roses
sunflowers
tulips
zinnias

but none were quite right
because I remember you said
you don’t like flowers

Wolverine Stew: Memories for Pete

Going below the cold

The snow churned by a hundred

Trails cut through the slush

Into the pink neon on

Black ceilings and white tiles

Taking the time to

Work as a trio, cutting the

Lights, always night and day

Count the phobias skittering across the

Screen: spider, cicada, wasp, mosquito

See how far I can stretch a

Line of paper from me to the

Machines pulling me closer

Walk the rows of pinball lights showing

Rings, monsters, castles, in every

Corner awash in their glow

Balance dragons together on plastic skateboards

In the cool of the tables behind the stairs

And just breathe

Capturing Campus: January

Beautiful
smoke stacking into stairs
billowing between the sun and the earth
star-bound and suffocating
with burning in the backs of throats
and tears in the eyes
not from memory or sunken phrases
but from particulates
and particular toxins
that stack so subtly
borrowing blue air
in an innocent display
that isn’t so innocent
the longer you linger
in the space between the sun and the earth
compelled to watch
the world dissolve
your body erode
in the beauty of it all

Smoke stacks on the University of Michigan campus.

Wolverine Stew: Hibernation Garden

To remind myself of spring

Out of the world feeling like

It is made of a single room

The lights inside and out

Blurred in the growing fog

And the cold reaching out

Hollow roots burrowing into me

There is

A bouquet of wilted amaryllis

Petals I give to myself while

A new bloom emerges from the

Bulb wrapped in wax wrapped in

Pollen coating the windowsill

And with enough homemade rain

Spread across the weeks

Leaves will keep sprouting

Wrapping round the ceramic faces

That cradle their earth

And reaching for glass-guarded sunlight

That always comes back

Capturing Campus: January

Friday on State

images of old America
glitter in Hollywood
rock bands roiling
and German beer (not so German anymore)
with patriotism and Ann Arbor trees
bright green walls, newly renovated
plants at the window (could be fake)
boba and straw in hesitant hands
your friend tells you it isn’t very good
but insists you drink it anyway
and anyway isn’t so bad, right?