A Sailboat Off the Coast of Manhattan

A gull carrying an olive branch
perches on a bow
of sterling silver
and polished maple

looking up from
bottled noses
rimmed in Chanel
creased like the grains of hardwood
that surround them

2 Mitte bitches
in a bobbing vessel
sans message
consider its patronage
to the call of tweets

drinking central perks
of bubbly brunch
in pre mid day afternoons
in crisp white denim

amidst the scraping
of skylines
and Highlines

from late night openings
to afterhour doormen
shelling ten bucks a beer

looking out from the meeting
of Hudson and East
onto a concrete jungle
of asphalt skid marks

floating in between somewhere
and nowhere
looking for escape,
but not to stray too far

The Rocky Mountains

3 girls watch
a cascading expanse
of stone age times
and glacier speeds
landscapes chiseled
from tuff dirt

bottled in a tetra pack
sipping goji and pom
sharing the quench
of mountainous thirst,
gazing at the moon
through a Lunabar
onto the forest for the trees

catching red burns
across shoulder blades
cut with spaghetti straps
and lycra undershirts
carrying backpacks
over booties
in cappuccino
cut offs

running up hills
with fawn and fowl
to the sound of the colours
of the wind

painting silhouettes across
powder blue skies
and perfect photo-ops
captured by handy
GPSes

The Eyjafjallajökull Volcano

in a state of emergency
how beautiful to be
cuddled up next to
fjords of geometric gravel
polygon pebbles abating
the fire below

oh natural hot springs
flooded with water
mixed liked an all inclusive
fuelled by the underworld's
spicy whips and dinner forks

entropy breeds
idle hands of devil's feet
working the mines
stoking the furnaces
help for the impending release

fog like a veil
catching on lids carrying ashes
vignetting smoky eyes
blur the edges into
fuzzy reliefs

axe in hand
2 friends snap at dark
brittle flanks
scaling a tower
hiding molten steel

warnings of missed connections
and unstable footing
dreaming of Pompeii
from frozen global villages

isolated beneath
quiet skies screaming
through muffled cloaks
and matching parkas

hot air rushing out
of a melting lead zeppelin
gaseous fumes send dusty hair
across sulphured lips
in the heat of the sun

from the core of the earth
powering saunas
turning quickly into mars
on the dark side of the moon

The Alberta Tar Sands

up north in the prairie
shucking oysters
at the beach
of oil slicks and
petrol sands

rivers cut like a flame
a vein for 5 cents
pointing to Mordor
across the river Styx

drifting down the run offs
in streams of steaming sulphur
ugly swans sustain their puberties
into permanent grease

strapping on waders
pushing through molasses
Oral b in one hand
Palmolive in lavender
heading to scrub away
the toilet geese

in a pre-post industrial kinda way
of future pasts made from
spires exhausting clouds
reaching for plumes
of thermal
internal
combustion

reaching down from
river back shores
looking out onto
excavated topsoils
getting dirty fingernails
in the exfoliating scrub
of Oreo cookie dough

The Desert Surrounding Dubai

passing over
ancient dunes
ocean floor residue
on view through a sandstorm
from a hot air balloon

carved by the winds
veiled kisses hiding
hidden tongues
cupping sand blasted teeth
bleached by sun

surfing down the piles
of million mile beaches
catching ultraviolet rays
tailgating from 4x4s

beaded skin sparkles
like a dream of oasis
of mirages in spit
quenched from a Camelbak

suffocating expanse
of oriental occidental
great spiral jetties
take the shape of palms
reaching the crumbling islands of The World

taking a sneak peak
from a picture window
through the blinds of the Burj
from the top of the world
to the bottom of the sea

hitching rides on a magic carpet
through a whole new world
of polished steel
and topiary
lining boardwalks
mirroring anywhere
but here

The Bay of Fundy

Cutting down the coast line
stepped in red sand
staining whites
into burgundies
and spray tan
carotenes

from sharp dry grasses
flanking ocean floors
dried up from the ebb
and flow
of tidal bores

strapped in a kayak
slicing through bridges
carrying blueberries
Safeway from fox
and fin

docking boat the setting sail
to climb into tiny perches
of little pines
crouched and
lifted by the ocean tide

skipping rocks across
barnacles and peepholes
arched in causeways
reaching a thousand mile clams

like diving on dry land
without the fear
of seaweed tentacles
and mermaid testicles
pulling down the
undertow

tunnels etched like giants
wading in tub water
of epsom salts in mineral baths

slowly receding
leaving a
sedimentary
Paleolithic
ring

A Freshly Detached Iceberg off the Coast of Antarctica

like a penguin farting
and splitting into halves
from shore to island
satellite set a sail
onto an abyss of Antarctic brine

catching glimpses of
grinding ice melts
white washing landslides
pouring off little tuxedos
into the slush below

to the cracking
of frozen artillery
rapidly puncturing
from a bag of spilled marbles

taking up an ice pick
to chisel away brittle footing
to fill a glass of Grey Goose
to follow barnacled dorsals
to humpbacks

pounding out ice wine schorles
Big Gulp to wash it down
as the waters rise
turning quickly into saline
rinsing out contacts
of ice cap blue

strapping on tire grips
over top of soggy sheep skins
to consider in unison
the shore line
receding like a hairline
off the cliff of an iceberg

Floating down the Rhine

picking up plastic totes
passionate poissons
bubble down on
inflated bin bags
in engorged pace

tossing off Bally pumps
shrink wrapping Swatches
along up shore down
carrying last nights
table dancing dinner
of ruff snacks
for a pool noodle

of the snaking grey green
found in Picasso's eyes
pondering plastic pilasters
to schools of Swiss
cheese bob up down
like ducks
chasing apples in a barrel

listening to the sound
of rain water raising runoff
pounding through medieval
bends in bridges

of whirlpools touching bottom
to suck up savouries
of fondue
in a white wine spritzer

snatching looks
from muscle beaches
of cobble stones
carrying tall cans
on the way to a tan

of cruising back forth
as the sunset falls beating
out last breaths of
friends bar
to screech out ballads
fresh from the breakwater

The Mexico / US Boarder

upon the moment
when spring breaks
to flood the levies
stretching ocean shores

cruising down desert highway
cut line in gstring
heading through the Wild West
for an Arizona dream

six buds for chaperones
sparkle with hints of lime
whip their hair back and forth
'nsync to the wind

reaching a Great Wall
cutting at the waistband
a girdle in rusted steel
and barbed wire
for a chastity belt

stepping over tunnels
of an underground rail
burrowed by worm and mole
quietly shuttle cargos
like the traffic flow

four friends find
a vantage point
tip toeing over
sleeping peyotes
dreaming of spirit coyotes

taking quick sips
to cool the tips
of hot lips while
gazing through the bars
from one side
to the other
onto one another

Illustration by Skye Chamberlain, 2012

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