nine years old, crossing a floor filled with hipsters

bradley — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:00:20 +0000

a duckling,
having fallen too far
behind,
heaves out of the water
with rigid wings
to join
what it knows.

strike

bradley — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:22:08 +0000

you sit down beside me
in the bowling ally
your pants are tired
from office work
you say: my time is precious
it’s a sinking stone.
the sound of pins dropping
rattle my follicles
my limbs stir as they would
while i sleep.
i look over
to children maneuvering
mechanical claws around
stuffed toys
and back,
you are probably right.

or bust

bradley — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:07:41 +0000

barrels of dried salted fish
in a store that smells
tight with aisles

watched over
by a statue of buddha
for whom incense burns

and koi in an aquarium
for whom the dried fish
is a constant

bradley — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:58:05 +0000

sometimes,
after a day of sex
i see myself in the mirror
and recognize the posture
of an animal going
extinct.

april comes and goes

bradley — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:52:58 +0000

april was skinny and pale,
slowly dying of loss.
she wanted to be a lady with money
and she had some designs.

inhibition is the same as fate,
they are songs from cliffs.
they sound at night,
they sound alone,
they sound when one
is desperate, careless or free.

april was a prostitute.
she would come in
without knocking,
to call her mom from our phone.

losing a bedroom

bradley — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:36:58 +0000

in the bottom drawer of my childhood dresser
beneath some stuff wrapped in tissue paper
i found my yellow sony walkman;
an artifact like those dug up in farmer’s fields.

during high school i strung it up
on my headboard with elastic bands
and fell asleep listening
to albums like “psalm 69″ or “bleach”.

….

my parents are in the next room
getting ready for bed;
whispering about michael jackson specials
river rocks, shrubs and mango ice cream.

the case snaps together, music plays.
tonight i will stuff it under a pillow
and listen
to suppress sounds of lumbering movement

bradley — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:57:07 +0000

things exist, if only
in our minds,
for as long as our minds
can hold them.

a maintained path is easier to walk;
a pair of worn shoes is more comfortable.

venn diagrams

bradley — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:53:55 +0000

analogies remind me of things i would rather be doing.

the kamasutra is like instructions for assembling a desk.

apples and oranges can be compared it just takes a bit of thought.

the colour blue confuses me. i don’t know if i like it for who i am or what i am.

a semi-colon, when placed well, makes a sentence more emotional.

eggs and cheese and bread; the sum of their parts.

i am not sure which came first but it doesn’t really matter.

i don’t mind that cherries have pits, it just seems fair.

during high school i always wore a purple acrylic sweater

now i wear a green wool one; not much changes.

now i only hear your voice on the radio

bradley — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:29:09 +0000

we spent so much time drinking
and throwing knives at the wall

when i wake up on a couch
i expect you in the rocking chair.

a black board, a suitcase; a curtain for your liver.

bradley — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:43:18 +0000

we all went for sundaes
and milkshakes.
some of us thought
we would die drunk,
some thought
we would never
die at all.

after words
is only ever
just
that.
this is all I have ever known.