From Niagara Falls, NY is co-editor of Slipstream Magazine and press. Cars, broken guitar strings, and coffee beans have often made their way into his poetry. Pudding House Publications released two of his chapbooks, Pagan Supper (2002) the allegories (2004). Other poems have appeared in Concrete Wolf, Whirligig, Re)verb, Barbaric Yawp, Maelstrom, Rockzilla, Tokens: Contemporary Poetry for the Subway, and numerous litmags anthologies. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, he performs his work regularly, often in collaboration with other writers.

you spun between fear of life
and a parlor sweet of
petal’s seduction

what ever you chased always returned
what ever you dipped in
    there was a plan
    there was someone to blame

now jailed
your fortune told by
recovering orderlies in county general

with bony arms made useless
your leg no longer indigenous
    infected beyond science
as you became too well-practiced
with spear and antidote
to deserve a quiet night

"take my leg," you mutter under breath
    a once luxurious bravado now limp
    as a downed power line
"dammit, i had to drag it along anyway--
but tell them to grant satan amnesty”
rehearsing your role

even bedridden
you’re compelled to race
and breathe the smoke of
fiery flowers
and pollinate
and pollinate

more powerful than a locomotive
for herman "junior" parker

we breathe invisibility
   and the train is a radio is a wave
and all around us is all around us
   and the train is a radio is a wave
light enters through a cusp of the heart
antibody anti-shadow
   and ties are frets for lean guitars
immune light ray fingers climb
   and ties are frets for iron horse guitars
new spectrums
   permeating ears
   shaking pockets
   stirring bodies
         all along county lines
to the very commonality of
shoes and roots
nickels and dimes
electrons and protons
   forever sharing partners of the elusive dance
sparking the notion of assimilation
as the sun bruises the business of sky
and a woman's summer dress
unveils beauty
in the economizing of gods

(First Appeared: Rockzilla)

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Copyright © 2004 Dan Sicoli