gel
by t. zoEy benally

feeble “$5?”
don’t look! don’t turn around!
pyramid divided, you & me

electric trolley cars
roll, crash into midnight circuits
up legs & down arms

shadows touch
wander asbestos & lead streets
sunlight abandoned

tumble through glass openings
24-hour rigatoni & fry diner
waiter laughs

hug pillars
lion eat Christian coliseum
jell-o kisses stick

Las Vegas marquee lights
fringe & blink cosmic beats
distracted by cold hands

biggest liar on earth-->ME
unidentified aliens park at Alpha prime
pick me out of a line up

squish nemeses army
by t. zoEy benally

wicked crickets, tubeless tire black
lurch & lumber down hallways
randomly lunge at innocent humans
gleefully chirp deadly psalms
hearken & herald delicious demons
conjure dark secretarial forces
hairspray & nail polish fumes
waft from deep Hades fingers

reality outside your reality
by t. zoEy benally

today a can
label pulled off
shiny tin ribs run halo to halo
mysterious cylinder fallen from
Lazy Susan’s shoulders
rolled to a far corner

i exist outside your reality, dimension
forced to concern myself
with cobweb structure
applaud ominous suspension bridges
spider engineered
urge insect prey to stick around

silvery tin conceals
japanese gardens guarded by superstition
koi swim, feather fins
fan music made by tickled rocks
my seams intact, there will be
no nibbles to mandarin whorls
tender smiles remain untouched

tomorrow a shower curtain,
a lamp, then tomorrow’s tomorrow
will incarnate me as the tv remote
then maybe a book referenced once
back on the shelf, then cool sheets
warmed 98.6 degrees F

moment of silence
by t. zoEy benally

i want to be
spring after hollow dried winter reeds blow
a hazy cloud that drifts across
obscures you from UV’s searing eyes

let me be
sips of water
to dilute crusted salt
cornered on points of your smile

touch these water smoothed sandbars
cradled in river’s arms
bury your fingers in wet sand

i am the unmuffled smirk, embodied
i will be engineered raptor wing tips
deep green pine needle silence
my range from sunlight licks to
first crunch through frozen snow crust

90 degrees where three planes converge
ladybug slurping sticky lime aphids

my hands stretch out
ache for the moment
our fingers intertwine.