May 20, 2026

The Citadel shouldn’t exist

not morally, but physically

towers upon towers of structures in space
constantly needing rebuilding and maintenance
just the right distance from the biggest wormhole in the galaxy
that somehow makes its orbit stable
[for now]

it’s been around for a thousand years now
and some towers have more modern technology
than others, and still others have weird amalgamations
of the old and the new,
and even more feel like they’re still standing
still resistant to the vacuum of space
through a hope and a prayer
and maybe some sort of space magic
we don’t yet understand

but The Citadel still stands

and it really shouldn’t, if you think about it

but no one thinks about it too long

because once you do, you wonder if it should exist at all

and once you wonder, you wonder if you made it all up

and it actually doesn’t

May 19, 2026

a poem
like any other poem
it has words
that convey emotion
that convey a point of opinion/objection/intention
to get across
to others

a poem
like any other poem
uses letters
known by other humans
and sometimes other humans
understand the poet’s
conveyances

a poem
like any other poem
is called a poem
because a poet wrote some poetry
at one point
and put it out into the world
[even if that just means
onto a paper
no one other than the poet
would ever really read]
that poem exists
like any other
poem

May 18, 2026

urban
exploration

seeing inside of the abandoned sites
other folks’ eyes just slide on by

but i want to see
i want to know
i want to honor and pay homage
or, if i can’t do that,
maybe make up my own stories

[what kind of adventure would i write
about a hole in a church
barely covered by a pair of
unlocked double doors?]

May 17, 2026

sink deep into the couch
close your eyes while you write
and maybe, just maybe,
something beautiful will come to you
something beautiful will osmosis into you
something beautiful will meditate into your mind
from the outside
and make its way through
closed eyes
and open fingertips
to the keys on your keyboard
and, magically, digitally, technologically
appear on your [now no longer blank] computer screen

that’s how poetry works, right?

May 15, 2026

perfectionism kills

it kills creativity
it kills enthusiasm
it kills hope
and it kills souls

[if only my own words had any impact
on the chemicals in my brain that scream
‘that is true for everyone BUT you —
you are the one person for whom
perfectionism matters
MORE, it is
LIFE
OR
DEATH
and you MUST BE PERFECT
to survive…’]

May 14, 2026

we celebrated
ten years
and then we celebrated
thirteen and then we celebrated
just being married and boring together
and i love our life here
with ups and downs
and stresses and calm moments
and so many sillies —
my kip is my home
and my home is my kip
and we are kips together
on the same team
[la même équipe]
and we always will be

with love

May 13, 2026

ten years

it feels too long
and not long enough

like we just got married this morning
but also we’ve been wedded for a hundred thousand years

i know you so well
and
i’m learning you every day

and i love this adventure we’ve got going
and just started

and i cannot
cannot
cannot wait

for tomorrow
and the next ten
or ten million
years by your side

May 12, 2026

peacocks strut their stuff
opening a fan of flamboyance for
everyone’s eyes

(i often wonder if they know how fabulous they are, and if
the male peacocks actually open their tails for the purpose of finding
a mate, or if it’s a little bit egoistic and showing off for the purposes of showing off

for showing off’s sake)

May 11, 2026

this puppy
obsessed with this cheese bone

she’ll never forget
that it sits on the window sill

waiting for her
taunting her
with it’s strong smell
and stronger memories
of hours spent
gnawing
and licking
and chomping
and obsessing

why oh why can’t her humans see
just how much she
deserves
her cheese bone
back

she whines
she barks
she sighs

we do not give it back