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8/5/13
6/26/13
The Last Poem is a Bitch
The last poem arrives with a
Primordial belch
Exhausted on arrival
Falling to the ground
Wheezes at the finish line
Pulls a deep breath through a straw
Raises its hands in triumph
Basks in absent anticipated glory
The last poem evaporates home
Sits at the table alone
Sucks down a power drink
Wonders if it was worth it
If it ever was
If even looking back at the firing squad
Makes a difference
The last poem
Tired
Reflective
Swallows the year and three Advil
Wondering what its 364 siblings are doing
Decides it doesn't matter
Fixes a drink
Something tasty on ice
Now appreciates the fuss
The last poem is a bitch
Shredded
Absent of defense, pretense
Grows old with the spider
Hatches another plot
Waits for discovery
If only, the poem thinks
If only for righteousness
If only for love
6/25/13
Amy
Overlooking the world, the pines, the bird feeders, the town, relaxing in an Adirondack chair, ruby red wine and IOS device at hand, chimes playing on the wind, canine sons at her feet, plants growing with her care, angry hummingbird whistling at a brave intruder, she contemplates the world and wonders how it can get much better than this.
6/24/13
Rayna
A sweet slice of a miracle, she embodies discovery, on wheels, dropped iPhones, the hopes and dreams of so many, a heavy burden borne with grace and beauty, the last of a line, ready to take her own place in the world though there is no rush. She is saturated with a warm spiritualness and equal competitiveness, a mixture thoughtful and scary, warm and infuriating, a smile that swallows the day. Growing up too fast, nature observes, but there will be time for nostalgia another day.
6/23/13
Brian
He looks toward Colorado, the mansion on the hill, the next step, a joyous sacrifice, donning the white jacket and animal infiltration, of independence and days ensconced in classrooms and libraries, of lectures and books, to be the smartest one in the room so that, one day, he can be the man in the room with non-speaking patients who will rely on him for salvation and love, scalded by the brightness and certainty of a future mapped out, its branches and options ready, willing, able.
6/22/13
Mara
She edges into Chicago, its broad welcoming shoulders bowing, already conquered, a feeding frenzy, the U-Haul bouncing against intruding vehicles. Out of the way! A life awaits, sparkling and bright, blinding, daring her to discover every level of richness, noise, plurality, satisfaction. I'm here, she shouts, and the curtain rises, offering oh so many promises and fortune, excuses for to unending toasts.
6/21/13
Road
The shortest route
From here to there
Is a road with four turns
Three for each ambition
One for obligatory regret
It's a highway of love
Of fear
Of trepidation
Of not knowing what destination will be found
A trail of tears
Pies
Abandoned mining towers
Radar speed traps
Endless voices on the wind
Calling, singing, sighing
6/20/13
Steps
I did not get my steps in yesterday. They exist somewhere. Other people more committed than me must be walking, taking the steps that were to meant be mine, now absent from my Fitbit wristband. Where are those steps? Who has taken them? They are elsewhere, walking away without me, experiencing exotic locals, pushing into foreign territories, exercising, getting into shape, smelling roses. Those stolen steps, fleeting, are taken away in furtive glory.
6/19/13
Robert Glaston
Robert Glaston rakes the sand
The sun threatening to rise
His personal public zen rock garden
Spoiled by cleats and golf balls
Stands aside
Watches wayward swings
Disrupting his lines
Ruining designs
Always another round
Another morning of grooming
Athletes looking through him
6/18/13
One Day
One day
Something else will go right
One of those dreams
Hovering there in the distance
Brass ring
Just out of reach
The promises of youth
Snapped up by dragons and folly
Even Phil Mickelson finished second in the US Open six times
6/17/13
Yellow Flowers
It's as big as a baseball but you can swallow it whole, gulping it down raw, tearing through your esophagus, taking with it soft tissue, the last remnants of ego, and anything remotely resembling strength. It tastes bitter but fills the emptiness in your gut, challenging you to suppress everything rank and base. Perhaps there will be consolation--a rain of tiny yellow flowers suffocating the soul, leaving a blanket of soft sponginess throughout the city. That's someone else's tale, but still.
6/16/13
Marie Johnson
Marie Johnson shelves another book
Finds three out of order
Stalks the punks who have
No Respect
For Melvil Dewey
She fears for dogeared copies
Cries because no one checks out her favorites
Laments the rise of ebooks
Curses Amazon
Hunts for tomes that spew the F word
Spies on handsome middle-aged men who pay her
No Attention
Lonely, despondent, withered
She hides in her apartment and secretly reads Anne Rice
6/15/13
Silence is a Dagger
Silence is a dagger
An El Salvador machete
Sliced air between two points
As final as a period
As finite as blood on sandpaper
It falls heavy
Dropping hot lead into water
Throwing blisters
Heaving insults
Trying to settle on love
Coming up empty with pride and empty intelligence
6/14/13
Bitch Slapped
I kinda like you
As I admire bacteria
Your hair becomes pasta
In my eyes
Your breasts poke at my brain
My junk says
Come here
Who else writes you a poem?
I could be picking my feet
Which makes me think of you
And all your autumn armpit hair
Captures my attention
I love you
Kinda
6/13/13
Den
Early this morning I sat on the edge of my cold steel bed and waited for the Red Guard to take me to the public square where I would be executed for love. Tired and sore, I pulled myself up. I would not miss this prison and its reeking sewer hole that delivered roaches and slime rats at night. It was always dark down here except for a tiny thick glass window that allowed in an occasional sliver of gray light from somewhere above.
6/12/13
Squillo
Squillo splashes the tongue
Coming alive
Driving toward the throat with
Rapture
Thirst quenching
Refreshing in its dehydration
Muddle the cucumber with wooden bat
Pulverize the tissue into thick bloodied goop
Equal parts Absolute Mango and sour mix
Mound of ice
Shaken until atoms combine
Exploding
Needing another
Behold: Advil
6/11/13
Quail of the Valley
Quail of the Valley
Travel in twos
Nervous
Darting
Searching for clues
Tentative to the bush
Glancing everywhere at once
Scared
Cautious
Feckless and dunce
Cackling, flustered, neurotic
Beware the shotgun
6/10/13
Elephant
Watching out
For those who are watching out
Oversight of oversight
Double checking the double checking
Resting weary mind
Waking up in perspired sheets
Writing down items to
Free the mind
Unrecognized scribbles in the morning
What does it mean to reference a half-dead elephant?
6/9/13
Cosmo Dreams of Flies
Cosmo dreams of flies
Plump, slow, juicy ones
Bursting with blood and guts
Easy to catch
A morsel protein treat
He steps into a cool brook
Laps at the water striders
Lowers his belly to refresh
He steals a bone
Rolls on his back
Positions himself over his master's foot
Wishes it was 4 p.m.
6/8/13
Julio Lechuga
Julio Lechuga stands down the street from the DES, huddled with others waiting for day work. He will do anything within reason and as far as his strength will carry him, forced into labor servitude to earn money he'll send across the border to his sweetheart. A man pulls up in a van and points at three men who climb in. Julio, unchosen, walks to the curb and kicks a rock, certain he has missed his chance today. He recalls his father, a large big-handed man who should have lived forever, who would tell him about large mountains and the jewels they carried. Be smarter than I am, he told him. Julio shrugs off the heat and turns his back on the sun. Tomorrow will be better, he thinks, another day, another chance.
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