The Couple at the Next Table

The couple at the next table is fighting.
She says, I had a life before I met you,
But he doesn't reply.
They sit quietly, barely looking at each other.
He taps his shoe on the floor.
He says, I don't think you have any idea how much I care about you.
She says, Oh yes I have an idea.
I definitely have an idea.
They fall into silence again,
Together.
She glances at me and whispers to him.
Then he says something about love,
About recognizing it, and
All the things he's done for her.
Go ahead, she says,
Please tell me everything you've ever done for me.
No answer.
I really want to know, she says.
They perceive me listening and quickly pay their bill.
They leave,
Walking past my table,
Glaring at me for stealing their secrets.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Y-Chromosome

National Geographic studied

My DNA.

They traced my ancestors back

50,000 years to the Rift Valley in
Northeast Africa.
Withdrawing from the Ice Age.
Stone tools and early art.

My Y-chromosome then migrated north

Through the Middle East

And into southern Europe.

I’m in North America and

Not feeling my roots at all.

I suppose we’re all from Africa if you

Go back far enough.

But I can barely remember what I

Ate for breakfast two days ago

Or why I let my ego get out control yesterday.

Africa thousands of years ago seems distant and

Meaningless.
I can't feel it.

But the girl who stuffed me in her closet when I was 12,

That I remember.

That I’d like to change.

I wish I had been brave enough to ask her to

Explore my Y-chromosome.

That would have resonated more

Than a dusty patch somewhere in a distant continent.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Illustration by Archaeogenetics

A Ring of Red

Nearing the highway,

I wondered if I'd

Turned off the stove.

I washed the

Omelet pan and spatula.

Slid the fork in the dishwasher.

No question.

But the burner?

Indecisive.

Before the turn of

No return

I made a U and reluctantly drove home.

I would be late now,

All for my worry and faulty memory.

Where did it go?

How has something so simple become a

Handicap?

I saw smoke as I neared my neighborhood,

But my home seemed fine.

The stove was not glowing

A ring of red.

I am unsure what is most disturbing,

That it might have been on

Or that it wasn't.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo: eHow.com

Haircut

I was afraid of haircuts.
I was certain that a single drop of blood
Would drip from each strand of hair
And that my scalp would be matted with
A thick coagulation of gore.
It would drip down my forehead
Until the barber wiped my brow.
I learned these thoughts were foolish
Though I still grow anxious
When my hair is long
Because I will be forced
To smile and make small talk
With someone I don't know
And don't want to know.
Go ahead,
Wrap my neck with a harsh white strip of tissue and
Snap a smock too tight.
Attack me with razor, scissors, and comb,
But please do not converse with me.
Let me gaze at my reflection and
Listen to others in the room.
Don't force me to reflect on the weather
Or what I do for a living
Or weekend activities.
Leave me alone to disappear
In a world where
Blood is preferable to human interaction.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Dueling Memories

When I was nine
The girl with freckles and straight brown hair
From across the street
Said if I showed her mine
She would show me hers.
I wasn't sure what that meant
But I sensed it was
Naughty and exciting.
We exchanged peaks in the pool
Where splashes and ripples
Obscured everything.
This is what I think about now,
The girl, her challenge, the water
And I wonder where she is,
If she is happy,
How satisfied she is with where life has delivered her and
How often she's been in love.
Is it possible she thinks about the
Strangely shy boy in his bathing suit and,
If so, is it a memory of
Nostalgia or regret?

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Sergiu Bacioiu

Dead Fly

I hit my head hard on a cabinet and
All the stars jumped around in my brain.
For a moment I felt
Lightheaded.
Knees buckled.
I cried out, held the counter and
Eased myself to the floor.
I rested my head on my hands.
Eyes closed, afraid, alone,
I waited for my body to decide
Where it would go.
I opened my eyes a final time to see that the
Kitchen floor was terribly dirty.
Crumbs and dust and a dead brown fly.
These would be my sad last thoughts
As I floated into the light
But air came deep into my lungs and
I knew instantly I would survive.
Embarrassed,
I felt better.
My strength and awareness returned.
I stood up and
Immediately swept the floor
Just in case.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Bff

Bra Strap

He lifts his head and
Eyes his girlfriend
Who wants to be his wife,
But he's not there yet.
She has her back to him.
She senses his glance.
He's looking at my ass.
Not quite.
He's gazing at the swivel of her hips, true,
But a loose bra strap is what
Catches his eye.
It somehow defines her
And everything he admires and
Desires.
She figures it out,
Shrugs and straightens her blouse.
The bra strap disappears and
Along with it
His optimism.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Lost Phone

I lost my phone
And worried for an afternoon
Hoping a good soul found it.
I called my number
And listened to it ring.
Nothing.
I didn't leave a message.
I tried a few more times
Not expecting success
But half hoping I would answer
And tell myself where I could
Find my phone.
If only
I could talk to myself more often
Things would be better.
I could find my lost phone
And all the other things
Physical or not
Missing in my life.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Tom Murphy

Physics

If I had been born
Somewhere else
I wouldn't be the same person
Nor have the same thoughts.
Those things
My past and potential
Would not exist.
But there is finite mass in the world.
Nothing can be gained or lost.
That's a rule of physics.
Where would my present reality go?
It must exist somewhere.
My life, my loves, my actuality
All would coalesce into a
Single floating entity,
Existing in an ethereal netherworld
Waiting to be absorbed by another person.
Claimed by a close match
Who I would have been.
In my new life
Raised on an obscure island in French Polynesia
I would assume another person's identity.


© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Drawing by Louis Choris, 1916

Appetite

A lost appetite doesn't
Leave the body
It hides behind the spleen
Dreaming about peritonitis
And other abdominal distresses
It wants to be discovered
Returned to favor
Fed chocolate and cheese
But it will not make itself known
But for a warning pang
Don't forget me!
Until then, the absent appetite will revel in
The hurt
The stress
The illness
The pregnancy
And join its host in the horrible ecstasy of depression

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Mikael Häggström

Sanctuary

I wonder where pens and pencils go
When they disappear
They must roll behind my desk to
Sanctuary
Respite from subjection
And another's imagination
To purloin scraps of paper
For freedom of expression
To finally be heard
Absent of human hand
Here, commiserating with each other and
Runaway socks
They help each other cope with the
Remains of captivity
And the pain of having to
Compose their own next chapter

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Nevit Dilmen

Implosion

When love is too familiar
It can fall in on itself
And be difficult to rescue
Exult in the comfort
Take it for granted
And watch it spin away
A love so tight must be
Unwound and ignited
Razed so it can be raised
Deconstructed to form a
Lighthouse
A beacon for weary souls
Who are tired of love
And its impositions

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo by Ballymuner

The Job

Jurgen from Sandesneben, Germany

Who has better work than the rooster?
He has two primary tasks
To have intimate relations with his willing harem
As often as possible
And to wake the farmer
He need not be talented at either
No judgment of technique or prowess
Fast and efficient is preferred
If he doesn't cock-a-doodle-do on time
No one complains
Is that why he crows?
Rejoicing at his job
Strutting to fertilize at will
Never mind coping with other roosters
That can be managed
Young master of the barn
Without fear of wrung neck
Or becoming the farmer's dinner

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Ugly

Photo: SriMesh

A girl looks in the mirror
And thinks
I am ugly
She stares at herself
And wonders why she is
The way she is
And why others have
What she doesn't
Unfair
But someone must offer contrast
So we can weigh ourselves
Against others
And place value where it does not naturally exist
Oh, ugly girl
You make others so
Beautiful
That makes you essential
Am I really ugly?
Perhaps
She removes her clothes and hides her face
To become something exotic and desired

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

The Penny

I spotted a penny

In a sidewalk gutter

Near a leaf and pebble

Dirty and quiet

I thought to retrieve it

But hesitated, hovering

Standing over it

I considered the coin

And what it would say about me

If I stooped to grab it

I looked around

To rule out a joke

Or humiliation

What did I need a penny for anyway?

What good was it?

How could it help me?

I took a step away

Then another

The penny grew smaller

But larger in my mind

I hoped it would be there tomorrow

Consider it again, I thought

It deserves a second chance

As do I

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

Founding Fathers

A wise friend once told me
That our founding fathers
Were criminals
Of the worst kind
That they betrayed their homeland
Defined the word treason
And if they had not been successful
England would be a bigger country
And mock the names of Adams and Jefferson
But not this year
Because July 4th was on a Wednesday
Depriving us of our regular revelry
Of beer-soaked weekend barbecues
Flags normally hoisted remained tucked away
Parades were Saturday out of convenience
Still, fireworks flew
Detonating in watercolor streaks
We considered the turncoats
And wondered what they would think of us
What we believe in
How we treat each other
Our loves and lies and divisions
And the criminals we have become

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

Left and Right

If I never make a left turn

I will experience less worry

Fewer accidents

And I will wait less in traffic

Money hoarded

But the safety and savings

Will be offset by

My lack of daring

The waiting at a light

Inching into the intersection

Hunting for my turn

Guessing if there is enough room

Hoping the traffic will stop on yellow

A left turn never provides the right of way

Always wrong

Risking everything

Still, encountering and luxuriating in the unexpected

A life well lived, perhaps

But the right turn provides confidence

Soundness

Steadiness

Dizziness and unevenly worn tires

Both will bring me to the same destination

The comfort of the right

The peril of the left

And the awareness to understand the difference

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

Snowy Owl

Photo: Fotografiert von Marcel Burkhard

Bird watching isn't
About spotting birds
It's finding a father
Who may tread dusty trails with me
Searching for the elusive snowy owl
That remains uncatalogued
We would walk quietly
Shoulder to shoulder
Whispering
Words barely needed anyway
His consent to find the owl
Was all the love I needed
His binoculars lifted to his eyes
Pointing
Over there, he said, barely audible
Next to the thing
Him next to me
His cologne
His smile that opened my soul
And while he bird watched
I father watched
I will give up the snowy owl dream
Its black beak and yellow eyes
Its mythical krek-krek call
Its deep recurring song, gawh
All of it, willfully abandoned
But for a sighting of the man

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

The Lizard Queen

The tiny dog hunts for lizards
In futility
Creeping slowly
Determined
Inching forward in her shadow
Thinking, Is it time to pounce?
Will my master be proud of me?
True, her master watches at the window
Hoping for a bloody lizard death
Readying a camera
And Facebook post
So the world will marvel at the
Lizard Queen
But no lizard today
Like most days
The dog lowers her ears and gives up
And hopes her master doesn't judge

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012

Kindness

Old man at the store
Shuffled and limped
Despite his cane
I hurried ahead of him
To offer a shopping cart
It would have been his anyway
But that would have deprived me of
Small goodness
A feeling of having earned my right to be a human
For a day
It wasn't necessary
He would have made it just fine
Didn't really need my assistance
Selfish, I know
Forcing him to accept my help
Here you go, I said
And gave him no option
He smiled weakly
Said, Thanks
I took my victory and felt worthy
For five minutes
I saw him in the aisle later and we nodded to each other
Him, perhaps for my kindness
Though likely aware of my manipulation
Me, for his disability and gift
And allowing me to use him

© Poem Fix http;//www.poemfix.com 2012