Robert Rorabeck Poems

I have lost myself the starship because I am
Not marigold-
I have failed like sunbeam tainted on the rust
Of the trailer parks;
...

Cold tools making sad parks,
Dredging the beds for the censers of feet
Arching while they smoke
Repeating their flight plan under all that
...

Flamboyant childhood, I have lost you in a swamp,
And the four boys down on their cerulean lane making love
Too early to see when I come around at midnight
In a plastic boat, but where are they?
...

Pocket words,
A thimble full of fruit:

The cross is strong and well held still
...

I can carry on without you without any
After affects; You left me for his morning sickness,
And figured I should be all alone with my scars,
Most evenings to be found reading Dickinson in graveyards;
...

I.

I’m not very smart, so for you
I have to be clever,
...

I grab the crystal doorknob of your navel;
Now you are a sea-witch,
A selky, in each of your eyes inland seas;
Your body is made of deep coral or coquina,
...

Christian dogs recalculate how
Much money they brought to the rodeo;
But they don’t really know what to do with her
Beautiful eyes in the sun,
...

Now all the roads are empty,
All the ghosts have turned to salt:
I am only scarred on Fridays, but I wake up
Bright and clean for the weekend,
...