Friday, February 20, 2015

The Man Stood

The man stood
In the doorway
Insolence on his jowl
Eyes hooded
Shoulders slouched

Waiting
And not caring
But really just pretending
Not to care
That his lover was late

Why should he care?
The hours he spent
Waiting
Why should he wait?
He could walk away
Be free
Or not

Love is a trap
Or maybe it wasn’t love
More like need

The slouch became a bend
And a kneel
And a sit

He resisted lying down
The pavement both called to him
And threatened him
With its promise of rest and cold chill

Waiting
A dog approaches
Hello there
Company in the waiting
Feeling canine attention
A welcome break

Letting doggy wander on
Wonder if doggy is
Waiting too
Maybe they should set up
A life together.

Vigil continuing
Why here?
A corner
Not a cafe

Outside with the wind
The leaves
The birds
The birdshit
The bugs
Who buzz around his ears
Saying
No one cares
No one.

And then his lover appears
Excuses on the wind
Hugs and kisses
All is forgiven
The circle is full
To begin again.

Monday, February 02, 2015

Poetry Smokes

Because there’s no money in poetry
She sits on the back deck
Smoking a cigarette that
Can not kill her.

Wondering what bit jobs
Her sister Exposition
Will throw her way.

Exposition tries to be kind to her
Saying how she appreciates
Her insightfulness
That she knows
Exactly how to say
Something

But she doesn’t think that
Exposition really groks
What goes on in
Her own self.

That willingness to follow the smoke
Up into the sky and not be
Earthbound and not have to have
Subject, Verb, Object and not have to worry about
Mixed metaphors

She liked mixing metaphors
She liked swimming with the fish in the ocean
And then climbing a tree
With gusto and bravery.

And then falling into the sky
Winding up on Mars
And then flying
Into the earth
And digging
Her own grave

But she can’t stay in her grave
She can dig it
She can dig down
Commune with the worms
The bugs, the microbes, the dirt
Talk with the rocks

But then she will emerge
With the grass
With the people, with the horses, the dogs, the cats
The wildebeests
And run with the wolves
Because she can use cliche
Exposition can’t