God, I hate the children's department
With their stupid kids books and their
stupid activities. . .

After an Ice Storm

The ice is killing the trees,
I told my boyfriend.
He drove on slick streets.
They're fine.
They're bending and breaking
under the pressure;
The heaviness.
Sometimes heaviness is good
Sometimes it's nice having
something on top of you;
let's you know you're not alone.

Dear Lover:

"Will have hard
time without you
will miss
will write and call
please don't worry
do have a good time
will return
will see you again
until then
love you much."

Two old men
sit and stare
and smile like smoke
one is toothless
one is on his way
the toothless mumbles
and sinks within
his body
he picks up his hands,
it take work

Stroking the skin
of a smooth forehead
for hours
Fingertips back and forth
on the river's edge
The line of thicket is
my riotous curl

I want to give you something I made, it comes from the heart, it comes from someone's heart, it's made specially for you. I want to wrap it, I want to tie a ribbon on it, I want to doll up for you, I've made this specially for you. I want to give you something I made, please let me know when you'd like me to drop it off. I'd like to put it in the car, I'd like to swing by your home, I'd like to leave it with you. I could drop it off if you like. Are you home? I would like to call you to tell you about something I made. Please pick up. I'd like to give you something I made. It comes from a heart. From someone's heart.

Only now will I exploit my feelings in form
I will confess like the children do and pander
to accolades and it will be fine:
"Where have you been? And why weren't
you around?"
This could go on
for as long as we've all got paper

In a computer lab and Smokey is singing
I think the white boy in front of me
is rocking to Tears of a Clown
I don't feel so alone because I think he knows
He's feeling something
I can tell in his nod

I have seen you somewhere before
last week, we say next to
one another
without words; with many glances
I can tell you what you wore
I know I have seen you before

I have been waiting for you
since this morning
since last month
since that time I fell out of my
crib when I was two
That's how long I have been waiting for you

You have said, "I love you," to me
in the middle of the night
when our faces are dark
sometimes when we're outside
while it's snowing; while under a tree
You have said, "I love you," to me.

In the Window of the Coffeehound

People are passing
cars are getting tickets
some woman slipped on ice
I am hesitant to join them

A man stares at all of the mailboxes
before settling on the middle
Teryn just walked by
wearing a hat similar to mine
I don't want to leave to see her

It's going to snow today
I am reluctant to leave my seat
because I am waiting for you

Going with the Fro

The seventies called,
They said, "Right on!"
You're nervous about being
a passive Angie Davis
Your rebellion is limited to
"Look mom, I'm nappy!"
You've been goaded, inspired
and trapped
into returned to your roots
and every time you pass
a mirror
you groan
or you're in awe
"Did it get bigger?"
You found it takes
a lot of work to look
this black
You never thought it took
this much work to be
yourself.

Voltaire was a Bad-ass

"I want to know,"
said Voltaire.
"What were the steps
by which men passed
from barberism to civilization."
An iron tool was made
plumbing was installed
a roof was raised
and then---
things took a turn
for the worst
armies flanked Wal-marts
fights broke out at
kiddie soccer games
we tried to make the valleys
run black with blood
and priced it 20$ a gallon.
The steps casually stepped
backwards
back to civilization.

Diseased Arts

Chopin was a pianist
who died of TB
Alexander Graham Bell
picked up the phone
and caught it
Mozart touched Chopin's
keys years earlier
and got it
Gauguin painted a yellow christ
and was struck too
Lord Byron wrote a poem
about a mistress
and that might be how
he got it
Chekov and Dostyevsky
were both Russian
and they caught it
Kafka changed, Keats
was friends with Shelley
They were infected---
not Shelley, just Kafka and Keats
All five Bronte sisters
but not their lesser known
brother Branwell,
he got opium
Emerson transended
and got it
Thoreau lived in a cabin
and got it
Poe cried over Annabell Lee
and got it
Chopin was a pianist
a virtuoso with hellish fingers
and he got it

Touching arms on the bus
is not like cricket talk
pay no mind
to fleeting glances
we're further away
than we believe
fuck-faces on laptops
looking over shoulders
whispering,
"Please, touch my arm,"
they are cricket talk
I rub my legs together
with them

Rosehips

Rosehips
wind along
a brown road
your eyes travel
slow and cautious
your hands follow
the same
We watch the curves
and smile at the
signs posted:
"Blushed skin!"
We talk of longevity
our strong blood
our hot skin
as my hips rose
beneath your touch,
we paused as a courtesy---
mind the speed
mind the lines

November 29th,2008

While sipping Yerbe,
I thought about snow
and harmonicas
and all things that get old,
except you.
Snow circled us
while it was black
you read to me
and I wanted to play
for you
something "soulful"
I had nothing
but the usual, but
that doesn't get old, does it?

History of You

for Noah


French fancy way of serving
with carafe of water
dark chocolate
cube of sugar
66 known species
Robusta
there are cherries
discovered by a goat herder
caused a ruckus
whole monastary wanted some
Treat the sick,
Sheik Gemaleddin of Aden
Travel with the muslims
to india on a donkey/camel caravan
ahh venice
P. Clem VIII said, "It's heaven"
mixes the espresso based beverages
it's for the smart ones.