Element

May 21, 2026 ∞

salam is a valley into the valley

and me

as (i) (they)
behold (they) (me) entering
from out of the un-

imagined

directly
from afar

they receive
they embrace
they cleave to

(an) other
(from an)
other place

// 153α

καί με

//

ancient aliens

May 20, 2026 ∞

black milk glass

i look down at the body
to see what shape its in.

earth-born son, turquoise slap
of my mother against the golden-
bangled mother. i let them come.

my dark tongues flickering, my heads
Cancerian fire. every tip would touch you.

the shoulders of a bull, eyelashes lower
over tender pools obsidian. im a cow.

a ticket to the fight. my velvet
suit. warm press of skin.
i drink, i let it come.

dragging behind its un-
translatable blade.

//

Socrates: (in Charmides, cont.)

and in that same spot
i (they) take hold altogether of many

those (on the one hand) unknown by me
those (on the other hand) the most thoroughly-known

// 153α

καὶ αὐτόθι κατέλαβον πάνυ πολλούς

τοὺς μὲν καὶ ἀγνῶτας ἐμοί
τοὺς δὲ πλείστους γνωρίμους

May 19, 2026 ∞

animal event (at the school of Taureos)

into the animal event
i have been dragged and well
indeed

every year the same, i guess, except
this time
its me

and like the bull, whos horn, whos unbroken
rage
your hand anointed

when they seize the bodied, lashed and harnessed
nerve by muscle to
the craters edge

as trampled roses bruised into the pass
will grind in
to mud by mountain makers hooves

in magenta-black menstrual blood
my terror
my appetite

//

Socrates: (in Charmides, cont.)

and well indeed into the wrestling-
school of Taureos (where bulls are offerings)

straight down from the temple
of the Queen (of whom nothing is known)

// 153α

καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ταυρέου παλαίστραν
τὴν καταντικρὺ τοῦ τῆς Βασίλης ἱεροῦ εἰσῆλθον

May 17, 2026 ∞

underneath a circle

the face of the moon
sheds her shimmering veils
until the night sky
goes quiet again

to give the charm or bite the leaf
a river coursing swift or deep
through horn or through ivory

at around noon
grey eyes toward the ground
in swastikasana underneath
a circle of blue

(from a prison cell)

//

Phaedrus:

how (ti) does it shine (phainetai)
by you

O Socrates

the logos?

234ξ

τί σοι φαίνεται
ὦ Σώκρατες
ὁ λόγος

//

🌑

May 16, 2026 ∞

commandment

photo at the beach where waves have made contoured patterns in beige and black sand, with foamy sea water moving around a volcanic rock in the upper left, and bright warm sunlight reflecting off of water in the upper right corner of the image.

the clay was in your hand. life turned

onto the skin. a fountain was desire.
i dipped my fingers in, day after day

to taste this young and yearning body.
you didnt have to tell me even once

until my garden was creased and crinkled.
as later fell, we were unfolding it all

together. the sweet milk of a whisper.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

(love) (ask) (erota)

// 234ξ

ἐρώτα

May 15, 2026 ∞

to cross the Rubicon, where left meets right,
we found a body. being unrecognized,
we hold it side-by-side her photograph.
the printed animal in black and white
was captive to the scene: how Bettie used
the furniture, her pose and what it meant
to her, her legs and what they wore for us.
stilettos pointed out the stars. surely
they were not hours in bondage to a fault.
the leather business never skins enough,
as keys to pleasure play the vault betrayed,
and suits around her salivate like wolves.
the burlesque empire folds itself around the twain:
a missing woman tangled in the pin-up queen.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but if
(on the other hand)
you still long for (potheein)
anything

leading (the way) and holding (it) (hegoumenos)
to have been left aside (para-lepein)

// 234ξ

εἰ δ᾽ ἔτι τι σὺ ποθεῖς

ἡγούμενος παραλελεῖφθαι

May 14, 2026 ∞

finish fingertrap

photo at the beach of water pulling away from sand almost out of the frame, into the upper right-hand corner of the image, suffused with luminescent golden-beige

finger
finger
finger
finger
thumb

Rachmaninov

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

i
(one the one hand)
really
enough (ikana)
by me
practice (nomizo)
the (things) having been spoken (eiremena)

// 234ξ

ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ἱκανά μοι νομίζω τὰ εἰρημένα

May 13, 2026 ∞

axios

a dramatic black and white photo taken at the beach of black volcanic boulders sitting at the shoreline, at low tide, with nearly still water and dead coral reef in the distance.

my monsoon, in decline, lets run again. the cocks
roll thunder. high on this island, cloud-blind, some soft
grey ankle socks deliver me. wherever

cast ironies become a blanket feast. the cold,
like snow, but i belong to it. and where i sit,
i am not alone. i am the least

interesting thing about me. morning is a word
upon blue lips. change comes from a beast behind
the oracle. meaning takes a midnight train

to hear the tightropes hum. like details falling down
a face, like curtains swaying in a drift. if
i fail, then i forget. and being neither of these.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but there must be (dei)

not even one (medemian)
harm (blaben)
from itself

and help (opheleia)
born (gignesthai)
by both (amphoin)

// 234ξ

δεῖ δὲ

βλάβην μὲν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ μηδεμίαν

ὠφελίαν δὲ ἀμφοῖν γίγνεσθαι

//

previously

no post again tomorrow
for routine medical & traffic.
enjoy infrastructure. x

🌘

May 12, 2026 ∞

tasty vs stinky

photo taken at the beach of a frothy swirl of greenish seawater over beige-brownish sand

if the (un)father(ing) flew
a pulpy, creamy poem
to feather they were not
a man, what then would

i eat for dessert?

being care-
ful of the spikes —
and mind-
ful of the blast radius —

a durian

released by my small hands,
to share between my friends.
frozen, blended custard; topped
with darkness (chocolate) crackling.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

nor
for you wishing (boulomai)
to be unnoticed (lanthanein) by others
(is it) similarly (homoios)
powerful (dunatos)

// 234ξ

οὔτε σοὶ βουλομένῳ τοὺς ἄλλους λανθάνειν ὁμοίως δυνατόν

//

feet

May 11, 2026 ∞

and her funny expression

photo at the beach of the edge of the water, with small streams of water trickling back through the beige and grey sand down into the low tide, which is in the upper left corner of the image; with water carving many feathered and contoured ways into the clear water, reflecting pale and silvery sunlight, studded with occasional black and grey volcanic rocks or chunks of coral, and smaller stones and pieces of shells.

the way is borne between
two virgin sisters:
a line for little kings,
a line for little beggars.

if the way feels very long,
sometimes the truth
is this: turn yourself
around to see her face.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

for neither
for the taker (lambanein)
(is) the balance (axios)
of equal grace (charitos ises)

// 234ξ

οὔτε γὰρ τῷ λαμβάνοντι χάριτος ἴσης ἄξιον

May 10, 2026 ∞

myth of a hermit crab

photo of detritus at the beach including stones, coral fragments polished down by waves, and other small things, among which there may be a hermit crab, on black-ish sand speckled with beige.

when, among strewn stones, the roar, sea-rubbled
coral, drubbed-featureless bones, by the vast
intelligence of salt-lung-water, currents, swells
and cycles of one planet to another
precious, semi-circle moon

when, of intertidal spine or ladder, a rambler up
and down the baking sand, the beach, which burns
my feet, the purge of undertows, the surging rips
and sneaker waves
behind, above, on wind a hunting wing

when, a shadow moving in, to halt
the camera, home, returns me to my knees
knuckled, imprints of gravel on red skin
engraved by seashell shards, held-back, worked-in
to kneeling, as if eons, there, to wait

for when, if ever, the sun can
be still enough to catch
the nestled-in extend
a tentative feeler, a tiny
bristled limb

when those barely let
light breathe or gills retreat
between the lens and
a shuttered eye-
stem

the how-less
greet

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

but the loving (one)
would not urge (keleuein) you
toward all the loving (ones)

to hold (echein) this thinking-through (dianoia)

// 234β

οὐδ᾽ ἂν τὸν ἐρῶντα
πρὸς ἅπαντάς σε κελεύειν τοὺς ἐρῶντας

ταύτην ἔχειν τὴν διάνοιαν

//

🌗

May 9, 2026 ∞

rude wisdom

photo at the beach of frothy and foamy water washing over and across sand in blended and contoured waves of brown, tan, and blue-black.

true story, when i was nine or ten
my father, at the time, sat me down
as fathers do, to read Plato’s Apology.
there had been a situation at school.

it was a public school and i was new.
it had to do with bullying and needing
to choose a side. well i guess a child
encounters force beside deliberation.

after i finished reading, he asked me
what Socrates would do. it was not
really a question. and i was no fool.
i said, but papa, i am not Socrates.

this morning, i woke up from a dream
about an oil spill. well the sign put forth.
it grew like coltsfoot in the broken step
where id removed an unbelonging one.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

well i guess (oimai)

// 234β

ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι

//

previously

May 8, 2026 ∞

the daddys issue

some days like i become your magazine
some days like i become your loaded gun
these days it makes no difference which oil( one )spill

yes i read your letter yesterday and all
the days before, your hollow men, your dump
truck spat into my bed, and im not sure

it got there but i wrote you on the third
to say, how dare you write me when you never
learn to read a single fucking word

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

whether id recommend (para-aineein)
for you
to gratify
all
the not-loving (ones) (me erosi)

// 234β

εἰ ἅπασίν σοι παραινῶ τοῖς μὴ ἐρῶσι χαρίζεσθαι

//

oil spill

May 6, 2026 ∞

photo at the beach of frothy water washing up on rose-colored sand, with one chunk of coral catching a little foam, and streaks of darker blackish sand streaked around the bottom edges of the image.

rose-colored filtration //

May 5, 2026 ∞

myth of sea urchins

oh protecting self of fire, oh siren song
of dragon scales; by glass, a flashing wheel,
honed steel, and feathers through the scapula;
so eager grows her guardian of tears.

so cells divide an urchin by its need
for spine, for swimmers heart, for art. cut us

in half, and each retains their whole of holes.
consistency is pluripotency in love.

so ocean breathes, with grave authority.
and armor makes, re-wakes itself; fossils
desire; marine in-vertebrates our queer
anthropocene; our deeper keys, in blastomere.

//

Phaedrus: (as Lysias, cont.)

and not those who
ceasing from desire (pauomenoi tes epi-thumias)
will seek a pretext (prophasin)
for hatred (echthra)

but those who
of ceased season (pausamenou tes horas)

will then display (epi-deiknumi)
excellence (arete)
of their own

// 234α

οὐδὲ οἵτινες παυόμενοι τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἔχθρας πρόφασιν ζητήσουσιν

ἀλλ᾽ οἳ παυσαμένου τῆς ὥρας

τότε τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδείξονται

//

(plz dont miss
kate & tori references)

🌖

May 4, 2026 ∞