C.M. JONES
with a dry, clean finish
deficient in apparatus
gift early silence
burly candle drippings
impudent white noise
this was before an owl attacked Joe on his porch
lots gowned with weeds
barns without paint, leaking roof
took sick after the hog-killing
walking overcome by the full wing effect of starlings wandering
making a dirt with the fire
day the color of slate darkening
said to keep love cooped up
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without thinking there's a water echo
jostled chasm behind me brick enclosed
trees of the orange folders and blue binders
clorox wipes perkins box shore lenovo
naples sheets and skulls painted red and blue
shore design best coast pet of the week
blue heel manifesto sharpie pen in hand
nestle pure life or sprite prime exed
curious covenant plastic gauze sponged
label maker contact us online chat support
crew schedule bankers box white wove
mac envelope paper cutter husky biohazard
spray nitrogen trash recycles meet the team
events defense against the dark arts classes
sunny aruba blinking password protection silk
baggage liner product of usa d/m fr-2 #471
learn about the plan share your ideas
take the survey report draft with service delivery
data clipboard no drugs or money kept in box
blood and urine specimens only polymetal
2 x 2 (5.1 by 5.1) and twelve upside down
battleship banner profile this sleeve
soy based ink astral desk falling apart layer
by layer makes it service requested
did they have it in the first yr or second yr
cardiovascular disease the number 1 killer
autoselect drag the joined add non-matching
repeat instrument repeat instance data access
group column should remain unchecked
update in your main table generated in part 1
El Paso
He poured himself out to me
in the chair in the living room
beneath the large tv. H= hand over his face
D= drank dusty water from a plastic tumbler.
A glassy half dream of pills, sleep-living.
A dismantled failure balanced on every stone and limb.
An almond crusted cake, wood stress and nostalgia.
Frequent unadulterated heartburn. Dilemmas.
His COPD was in full bloom, he had been
in the army but avoided Korea by proving his value
to the mechanic at the base, who was looking for
an assistant to help him run certain machines.
He had an angel wing splotched on his temple.
Kinship= "I have given up my hands to grease."
My spare, empty mind into which he clattered
was an otherwise okay tin jar, making nothing
but a hopeless, hopeless noise, an insignificant
clangor. Desperate. Alone. Words appeared
to slide out from under the white curtain.
song dst
even when held we can't collapse
a series of eight notes occupying
the interval between and including
two notes one having twice or half
the frequency vibration of the other
going silver with the years on years
all dogpiling upon themselves
but I'll love you forever
without thick hair in a tomb I made
for myself in a carpentry class
eating berries with strangers
deep gray head thunder
gun's whisper behind velour
let's make cabinets a light-blue color
o holy hell, you get my point
I can't think now with the instruments
of the state wrapped around my waist
instruments we made together
though night and day may seep out of the ground
the buttons on the children's books
will mimic sirens now through the end
Moving On
The movers moved a box of glassware
from an estate to a large truck out front
Next to the cast-stone fountain spitting water
Yessur emblazoned on the tires in italics
That's how to know this was real
Next, a polished, round, wooden table, then photos
With captions in the present tense beneath them
perhaps intended to mislead the public
Next, disheveled assertions spoken with rapid-fire
confidence, and she was in pajamas
How long my grandmother lived in the trailer
after grandpa passed, I don't remember
It would be a mistake to assert knowledge
from the dog-eared pages of her bible
Or from the open songbook displayed above
the keys, or from the photos hanging
On the wall, or from the entry in the diary
proclaiming her to be a wonderful
Human being who deserves a good life, or
from the lip marks on the mirrors
The ashes went to North Carolina, the smoke
went into the sky for a long time
There was a fat cockroach on the steps with
its legs in the air for a couple days
How to erase what was never known to begin
with? The sun smiled, it was so high
As two men were coffining heavy, hand-carved
marble dogs into the box truck
Next, tumbleweeds, tumbleweeds and wind
It's a real thing, they really do roll across
the highway, even if you're not lonely
Skipped the dialogue, went straight to weeping
And all because the gemologist was flanked
by mountains a little bit upstate with
Works of art stacked by the hundreds in the back
of an old airport hangar
Casting an esoteric shadow on the dusty lot
The signature farewell was "with respect and
gratitude" before a row of shotguns
Then the seven curves on the snake-shaped blade matched
the curve of her smile upon unsheathing it
But I'm pretty shy around swords and afraid
around guns, even at Renaissance Faires
I'm afraid meaning can't be found after lowering
one's head, applying pressure with one's
Thumb, and simply letting it fall out, like the blade
in a gravity knife
American flags tattered in unison
With old refrigerators and TVs
Rotting pianos and old mattresses
Crushed into tight waste cubes
I think the weight stayed the same, maybe
But when I die, I'd like my body to be
composted, my movements
And remaining thoughts to be put into cassette
form for people to enjoy a while longer
Until the tape deteriorates
Older tapes using chromium dioxide
as a coating may not be
As durable as other tapes using magnetite,
cobalt-absorbed iron oxide
Or ferric oxide and cobalt
Also, the felt pressure pads on lower quality
tapes may deteriorate earlier
Tapes recorded on both sides may not last
as long as single-sided recordings
Due to bleed-through of the magnetic fields
C.M. Jones lives and works in Carrboro, North Carolina.