"Them That Reap" read it here

Read "Them That Reap" in the winter issue of Strange Machines Poetry Journal.

Now on elimae !

personal history

a progression of brainstorms

What is Iceland about?

Didn't know about the autosummarize feature until I read about it at the newer metaphysicals.

My longest work, Iceland, run at 1% reduces to this:

monday
homework
sandwich
built
folds
story
Are poems democratic?
leafs
a pile of words[NEW POEM]

machines

Suduko #8 (birds)

season three, episode fifteen: face-off

a goalkeeper can protect from
long winded. Though
compressing information for
buttons or speech is part of
the game.

comparisons. across time.

to hold memories. creating a construction
for the loss.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “cannot say dime bag onTV”

spoiled & edited language.
a freeze. to mine for information.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “commanding all his time.”

a natural gift for subterfuge. a preference for
muffins. where you pull the meaning from. a setup for Koreans.
Questions. scale drawings. dissent. Freak appearances. conversation

/ gaps. Ostentatiously high flowers--reaching & breaking
narration--indoor sunflowers, eyes of fire with

tendencies repeated.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “Oh, my.”

what are you doing here. I’m hockey. a fifteen minute
break. or missing. & running. a zamboni clean of jealousy.
quote the beach boys. on timing.

"Sports = eating.”

& moving on. the treatment of a number one girl. beyond
pining.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “An intelligence gap of monumental proportions.”

not so veiled relations. or
a new daddy instead of elegy.
Purple is the man’s colour.

to be above plastic
vision. not so iced tea.

frame a flicker (a person
a moment, love, a
memory) in concrete:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “Add a library. Or a solarium.”

it would make a great Christmas story. or Thanksgiving. or
people coming together. much like a play by Moliere.

leftovers. some variation of
the truth. & another pensive fadeout.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “Two words: jogging suit.”

as if days can be contained in the lines of a calendar.

a structure that can
hold weather

in order,

a system that can
order weather

in structure,

leaving.
or left.

Response to October

silence,

is a

poem.

moveable parts

outsourced:

living by watching
glowing television screens during dinner,
conversation cooked by writers in tanks,
& an affinity for sighing

at the perfect sentimental moment:

snowfall, flakes caught in a wool sweater
& music swelling to soundtrack
the scene of a thousand glistening
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasmiles

usage:

Emotion seized in a container
to evoke a pure silence; water holding memories,
small shining stones, a paper degree proclaiming:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabecause reader’s eyes tire
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaquicker than attention spans
the transportation of bodiesaaaaamovement must be made
through seasons/states aaaaaaaanew links & methods
change in crossed borderlinesaaaaimprints of new reading styles
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahyper-explication
stealing formulas

or proving time can be
condensed, a ring in my pocket.

tanks:

containers for dreams, small snacks in zip-locked packages, or
a couplet collection of assorted pocket change

held in a model home
in the heat of summer

without conditioned air
as recorded on post it notes

following a specific blueprint aaaaaaaaaaa(dual stacked stanzas)
for love, silence, or success

a travel soundtrack documented on souvenir cups--
each time water poured a memory:

late night coffee at Luke’s dinner,
degrees of universal experience

outsourced on airwaves, familiar pattersn
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(smile kiss repeat)

connections spanning multiple pages,
television seasons, memory drinks, post cards

to be sent (relived)
after burial.

alternative usage:

Vehicles for war
deployed

just because.

change:

payment for movement on the highway, through tunnels &
toll booths,
children in the backseat snacking on sliced apple smiles

dreaming in colour because of Abbey Road

a method of mood shedding not
to be confused with outsourcing, as
change is far more drastic & far more

likely to fail in job hunting
aaaaaaa(even with the presence of a college degree).

usage:

Once a boy found a bag of his Nana’s
pocket collections; old coins &
miniature notes written in sprawling
curved cursive weather soundtracks. They recorded leafs
falling, the crinkling crunch of snow beneath feet,
sitting on a couch covered in a
brown & orange crochet network, & summer tanks

all signed with an,

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaXOXO

smiles:

sticky with spring
an energy linking soundtracks
& television programs in
a formula to ensure
the boy understands emotional gravity.

Also expressed in excursions
(outsourced adventures for a
sphere of privacy), sunsets,
daily cups of tea, satellite imagery
mapping the perfect proposal point:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabounced signals off space debris
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaspy down to detect traffic pattersn,
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapersonal change,the construction of
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaemotion holding tanks,intersection points,
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa& directions.

usage:

As recorded in the town charter
the movement must measure 35 º to be considered
truly happy.

soundtrack:

mostly Beatles mix tapes
composed by my father
magnetic vignettes rolling on plastic spools
tracing the route to Nana’s house
to a degree
aaaaaaaaaa frozen & held;
a polyphonic photograph chronicling
snow fall,aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaa, a kiss,
(whiteness to be read as “a blank space between two commas”)
an epiphany, a proposal, a change, or visits to Niagara, Newport, Monticello.

Yet somehow, one part always is less interesting;
the middle sibling holding their
tiny juice tank of behavior flavor
they will never learn,

reading only read in heads
the action of eyes outsourcing
mouth movements so the words will never
smile upon the exit of a car
with a self-chiropractic pop.

usage:

When a poet is a composer, sometimes
aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaa silence
(an anthem for Silentists).

degree:

the amount of time a single daydream can sustain
aaaaaaaaaaaaaa outside an academic vacuum

aaaaaaaaa, or the ride on 24
to Levittown

where the kids sat in the other room
during meal times outsourced
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa silent.
(still, soundtracks of late 60’s change played in the boys head)

A measure of time tanks passing
in research papers & poems.

The action of burying old papers, post cards, self-help guides
in bottom desk drawers, the soil scented with old spice
& copper. After time, something new.

usage:

In every photograph
my face a slanted Charlie Brown smile (30º)
muscular movements instead internalized
to a collection of road trips, season finales,
evening walks, breakfast & the Times
in an old tea tin
state quarters shining
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (Connecticut my favorite
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the charter oak
hiding history in aaaaaaaaaaaaaaopen limbs cradling
a parchment document aaaaaaaaspring leaves on the coin’s face,
timelines for futures aaaaaaaaaasprawling silver intricacies,
spent on employment,aaaaaaaa branches cut into metal
rings, laundry, travelaaaaaaaaa centered in Stars Hollow with
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaa plenty of small town charm)
to pass us into tomorrow.

the poetry cube

side 6

structures rooted in ground; folded memories steep between clouds

side 5

eye contact under sky pens photos blurred vanilla smiles

side 4

bridges solved cold weather patterns with cross town links

side 3

defined history, hands holding. direction following red brick road

side 2

sign’s words worn thin; incorrect metro stop stuck suburban

side 1

pigeons are gray doves adoring statues, sidewalks, steam vents

a quote

Sometimes I feel ashamed that I've written so few poems on political themes, on the causes that agitate me. But then I remind myself that to choose to live as a poet in the modern superstate is in itself a political action.

~Stanley Kunitz

Remote control smile (batteries not included)

pen pal seasons (winter)

Not a painter, but a poet.

working with abstractions

big
plans bound in
words
tied in time
seem to
fade faster, melt
mean
& stick inside
more
deeper, into tuesdays
than
outlines of
first
ideas, a drive, a walk, a place
impressions
where weathered boards were bent, wood
soft
under flip flop foot
sounds
sand, a pretzel
&
an ice cream cone
small
melting in summer heat
smiles

Steps (8-2-2007)

For Kenneth Goldsmith

10 steps from top bunk to floor 6:39 a.m.
5 steps from floor to dresser 6:40 a.m.
32 steps from dresser to kettle 6:42 a.m.
2 steps from kettle to kitchen sink 6:43 a.m.
2 steps from kitchen sink to stove (electric) 6:43 a.m.
4 steps from stove (electric) to cupboard 6:46 a.m.
5 steps from cupboard to counter 6:47 a.m.
21 steps from counter to basement computer with internet 6:48 a.m.
14 steps from basement computer with internet to train room/closet
aaaaaaaa 6:50 a.m.
12 steps from train room/closet to basement computer with internet
aaaaaaaa 6:51 a.m.
15 steps from basement computer with internet to stove (electric)
aaaaaaaa 6:53 a.m.
16 steps from stove (electric) to basement computer with internet
aaaaaaaa 6:54 a.m.
20 steps from basement computer with internet to kitchen sink
aaaaaaaa 6:59 a.m.
3 steps from kitchen sink to refrigerator 7:00 a.m.
4 steps from refrigerator to cupboard 7:01 a.m.
3 steps from cupboard to drawer 7:01 a.m.
4 steps from drawer to counter 7:02 a.m.
2 steps from counter to refrigerator 7:04 a.m.
2 steps from refrigerator to counter 7:04 a.m.
2 steps from counter to refrigerator 7:04 a.m.
2 steps from refrigerator to counter 7:05 a.m.
9 steps from counter to table 7:05 a.m.
5 steps from table to refrigerator 7:10 a.m.
4 steps from refrigerator to counter 7:11 a.m.
3 steps from counter to drawer 7:12 a.m.
9 steps from drawer to table 7:13 a.m.
6 steps from table to toaster 7:14 a.m.
4 steps from toaster to refrigerator 7:16 a.m.
3 steps from refrigerator to table 7:16 a.m.
3 steps from table to refrigerator 7:17 a.m.
3 steps from refrigerator to table 7:17 a.m.
6 steps from table to kettle 7:23 a.m.
6 steps from kettle to table 7:24 a.m.
4 steps from table to refrigerator 7:24 a.m.
3 steps from refrigerator to table 7:24 a.m.
6 steps from table to kitchen sink 7:26 a.m.
2 steps from kitchen sink to kettle 7:26 a.m.
5 steps from kettle to trashcan 7:27 a.m.
4 steps from trashcan to cupboard 7:27 a.m.
3 steps from cupboard to kettle 7:27 a.m.
3 steps from kettle to refrigerator 7:28 a.m.
43 steps from refrigerator to Greg’s room computer alcove
aaaaaaaa 7:29 a.m.
1 step recorded while sitting at Greg’s room computer alcove
aaaaaaaa 8:22 a.m.
9 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to open door 8:22 a.m.
10 steps from closed door to Greg’s room computer alcove 8:28 a.m.
3 steps recorded while sitting at Greg’s room computer alcove
aaaaaaaa 9:15 a.m.
25 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to upstairs bathroom
aaaaaaaa (sitting) 9:15 a.m.
14 steps from upstairs toilet (sitting) to upstairs bathroom sink
aaaaaaaa 9:17 a.m.
15 steps from upstairs bathroom sink to Greg’s room computer
aaaaaaaa alcove 9:17 a.m.
54 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to basement computer
aaaaaaaa with internet 9:48 a.m.
24 steps from basement computer with internet to downstairs
aaaaaaaa bathroom (standing) 10:12 a.m.
2 steps from downstairs bathroom toilet (standing) to downstairs
aaaaaaaa bathroom sink 10:12 a.m.
22 steps from downstairs bathroom sink to basement computer with
aaaaaaaa internet 10:13 a.m.
20 steps from basement computer with internet to kitchen cordless
aaaaaaaa telephone 10:37 a.m.
15 steps from kitchen cordless telephone to basement computer with
aaaaaaaa internet 10:37 a.m.
2 steps from basement computer with internet to next to basement
aaaaaaaa computer with internet 10:51 a.m.
23 steps from next to basement computer with internet to front door
aaaaaaaa 11:00 a.m.
29 steps from front door to next to basement computer with internet
aaaaaaaa 11:04 a.m.
18 steps from next to computer with internet to kitchen drawer
aaaaaaaa 11:05 a.m.
24 steps from kitchen drawer to upstairs bathroom toilet (standing)
aaaaaaaa 11:07 a.m.
4 steps from upstairs bathroom toilet (standing) to shower
aaaaaaaa 11:08 a.m.
49 steps from shower to upstairs bathroom towel rack 11:17 a.m.
12 steps from upstairs bathroom towel rack to dresser 11:18 a.m.
13 steps from dresser to right closet 11:19 a.m.
5 steps from right closet to shoes 11:20 a.m.
24 steps from shoes to upstairs bathroom towel rack 11:24 a.m.
5 steps from upstairs bathroom towel rack to Greg’s bedroom door
aaaaaaaa 11:25 a.m.
34 steps from Greg’s bedroom door to downstairs computer with
aaaaaaaa internet 11:26 a.m.
58 steps from downstairs computer with internet to Greg's room
aaaaaaaa computer alcove 11:42 a.m.
18 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to Cherylin’s room
aaaaaaaa 11:43 a.m.
95 steps from Cherylin’s room to Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift)
aaaaaaaa 11:45 a.m.
21 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to garage door
aaaaaaaa (automatic opening) 11:46 a.m.
10 steps from garage door (automatic opening) to garage
aaaaaaaa refrigerator 11:46 a.m.
29 steps from garage refrigerator to Subaru Outback Sport
aaaaaaaa (stick shift) 11:47 a.m.
39 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to Hollywood Video
aaaaaaaa movie drop box 11:59 a.m.
36 steps from Hollywood Video movie drop box to Subaru Outback
aaaaaaaa Sport (stick shift) 12:00 p.m.
23 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to Wendy’s door
aaaaaaaa 12:52 p.m.
7 steps from Wendy’s door to living room armchair 12:53 a.m.
59 steps from living room armchair to Subaru Outback Sport
aaaaaaaa (stick shift) 12:58 p.m.
400 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to Writer’s Corner
aaaaaaa back room couch 1:09 p.m.
2 steps from Writer’s Corner back room couch to filing cabinet
aaaaaaa 1:10 p.m.
2 steps from filing cabinet to Writer’s Corner back room couch
aaaaaaa 1:10 p.m.
5 steps from Writer’s Corner back room couch to medium pine desk
aaaaaaa 1:12 p.m.
7 steps from medium pine desk to Writer’s Corner back room couch
aaaaaaa 1:13 p.m.
4 steps from Writer’s Corner back room couch to medium pine desk
aaaaaaa 1:13 p.m.
2 steps from medium pine desk to next to medium pine desk
aaaaaaa 2:01 p.m.
2 steps from next to medium pine desk to medium pine desk
aaaaaaa 2:01 p.m.
14 steps from medium pine desk to bathroom toilet (standing)
aaaaaaa 2:10 p.m.
3 steps from toilet (standing) to sink 2:11 p.m.
14 steps from sink to rocking chair 2:12 p.m.
24 steps from rocking chair to Brian’s office 3:12 p.m.
384 steps from Brian’s office to Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift)
aaaaaaa 3:18 p.m.
61 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to Jenny’s broken
aaaaaaa back door 4:08 p.m.
14 steps from Jenny’s broken back door to bathroom toilet (standing)
aaaaaaa 4:09 p.m.
2 steps from bathroom toilet (standing) to bathroom sink 4:10 p.m.
20 steps from bathroom sink to wood picnic table 4:11 p.m.
55 steps from wood picnic table to stick pile 4:13 p.m.
27 steps from stick pile to deck 4:14 p.m.
29 steps from deck to kitchen sink 4:17 p.m.
2 steps from kitchen sink to stove (gas) 4:18 p.m.
3 steps from stove (gas) to wall-mounted telephone 4:18 p.m.
5 steps from wall-mounted telephone to refrigerator 4:22 p.m.
4 steps from refrigerator to cupboard 4:23 p.m.
2 steps from cupboard to kitchen sink 4:25 p.m.
9 steps from kitchen sink to refrigerator 4:25 p.m.
5 steps from refrigerator to kitchen sink 4:25 p.m.
27 steps from kitchen sink to wooden picnic table 4:26 p.m.

*all steps were recorded with a free pedometer found in a Frosted Flakes box. The device was worn on my left side.

37 steps from wooden picnic table to Jenny’s red Honda Accord
aaaaaaaa (automatic) 4:27 p.m.
68 steps from Jenny’s red Honda Accord (automatic) to Jenny’s room
aaaaaaaa 4:28 p.m.
28 steps from Jenny’s room to wooden picnic table 4:30 p.m.
40 steps from wooden picnic table to Jenny’s red Honda Accord
aaaaaaaa (automatic)4:32 p.m.
60 steps from Jenny’s red Honda Accord (automatic) to Act II Salon
aaaaaaaa 4:51 p.m.
62 steps from Act II Salon to Jenny’s red Honda Accord 5:25 p.m.
28 steps from Jenny’s red Honda Accord (automatic) to pizzeria
aaaaaaaa (beverage case 5:26 p.m.
18 steps from pizzeria beverage case to pizzeria beverage case two
aaaaaaaa 5:27 p.m.
20 steps from pizzeria beverage case two to pizzeria beverage case
aaaaaaaa 5:28 p.m.
8 steps from pizzeria beverage case to pizzeria counter 5:28 p.m.
26 steps from pizzeria counter to Jenny’s red Honda Accord
aaaaaaaa (automatic)5:30 p.m.
41 steps from Jenny’s red Honda Accord (automatic) to Jenny’s room
aaaaaaaa 5:47 p.m.
12 steps from Jenny’s room to refrigerator 5:49 p.m.
20 steps from refrigerator to basement freezer 5:50 p.m.
27 steps from basement freezer to stove (gas) 5:52 p.m.
24 steps from stove(gas) to basement freezer 5:53 p.m.
5 steps from basement freezer to metal pantry rack 5:54 p.m.
22 steps from metal pantry rack to refrigerator 5:55 p.m.
21 steps from refrigerator to basement freezer 5:56 p.m.
38 steps from basement freezer to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 5:58 p.m.
4 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 5:58 p.m.
4 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 5:59 p.m.
49 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to outdoor trash
aaaaaaaa container 6:00 p.m.
50 steps from outdoor trash container to white enamel top
aaaaaaaa kitchen table 6:00 p.m.
11 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 6:01 p.m.
77 steps from refrigerator to garden green bean patch 6:02 p.m.
17 steps from garden green bean patch to wicker basket 6:06 p.m.
18 steps from wicker basket to garden cherry tomato patch
aaaaaaaa 6:07 p.m.
70 steps from garden cherry tomato patch to counter 6:08 p.m.
15 steps from counter to hutch 6:10 p.m.
81 steps from hutch to garden blueberry patch 6:11 p.m.
23 steps from garden blueberry patch to garden raspberry
aaaaaaaa patch 6:13 p.m.
20 steps from garden raspberry patch to garden green bean patch
aaaaaaaa 6:15 p.m.
127 steps from garden green bean patch to white enamel top
aaaaaaaa kitchen table 6:22 p.m.
2 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to kitchen sink
aaaaaaaa 6:24 p.m.
3 steps from kitchen sink to cutting board 6:25 p.m.
4 steps from cutting board to kitchen sink 6:25 p.m.
26 steps from kitchen sink to metal pantry rack 6:29 p.m.
26 steps from metal pantry rack to white enamel top kitchen
aaaaaaaa table 6:30 p.m.
7 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to stove (gas) 6:32 p.m.
3 steps from stove (gas) to refrigerator 6:32 p.m.
8 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 6:33 p.m.
5 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 6:33 p.m.
4 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 6:34 p.m.
21 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to computer in
aaaaaaaa master bedroom 6:41 p.m.
24 steps from computer in master bedroom to stove (gas) 6:41 p.m.
13 steps from stove (gas) to refrigerator 6:45 p.m.
5 steps from refrigerator to stove (gas) 6:46 p.m.
22 steps from stove (gas) to refrigerator 6:49 p.m.
5 steps from refrigerator to stove (gas) 6:49 p.m.
10 steps from refrigerator to garbage 6:51 p.m.
8 steps from garbage to stove (gas) 6:52 p.m.
6 steps from stove (gas) to small wooden chair 6:54 p.m.
5 steps from small wooden chair to white enamel top kitchen
aaaaaaaa table 6:54 p.m.
2 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to highchair 6:54 p.m.
3 steps from highchair to white enamel top kitchen table 6:55 p.m.
8 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to stove (gas)
aaaaaaaa 6:55 p.m.
6 steps from stove (gas) to kitchen window 6:57 p.m.
2 steps from kitchen window to stove 6:57 p.m.
2 steps from stove to white enamel top kitchen table 6:58 p.m.
3 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to stove (gas)
aaaaaaaa 6:58 p.m.
3 steps from stove (gas) to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 6:58 p.m.
3 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to stove (gas)
aaaaaaaa 6:59 p.m.
40 steps from stove (gas) to deck 7:02 p.m.
20 steps from deck to white enamel top kitchen table 7:04 p.m.
6 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to stove (gas)
aaaaaaaa 7:04 p.m.
6 steps from stove (gas) to kitchen sink 7:08 p.m.
14 steps from kitchen sink to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 7:09 p.m.
26 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to Jenny’s room
aaaaaaaa 7:12 p.m.
22 steps from Jenny’s room to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 7:13 p.m.
7 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to garbage 7:29 p.m.
5 steps from garbage to kitchen sink 7:29 p.m.
5 steps from kitchen sink to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 7:31 p.m.
17 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 7:37 p.m.
6 steps from refrigerator to counter 7:37 p.m.
15 steps from counter to dishwashing machine 7:42 p.m.
17 steps from dishwashing machine to counter 7:42 p.m.
37 steps from counter to living room stationary floral armchair
aaaaaaaa 7:44 p.m.
18 steps from living room stationary floral armchair to center
aaaaaaaa of carpet 8:04 p.m.
15 steps from center of carpet to living room stationary floral
aaaaaaaa armchair 8:06 p.m.
46 steps from living room stationary floral armchair to computer
aaaaaaaa in master bedroom 8:08 p.m.
7 steps from computer in master bedroom to next to computer
aaaaaaaa in master bedroom 8:11 p.m.
29 steps from next to computer in master bedroom to Jenny’s iMac
aaaaaaaa 8:29 p.m.
15 steps from Jenny’s iMac to refrigerator 8:52 p.m.
8 steps from refrigerator to counter 8:55 p.m.
7 steps from counter to refrigerator 8:59 p.m.
6 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 8:59 p.m.
7 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to fruit basket
aaaaaaaa 9:01 p.m.
7 steps from fruit basket to counter 9:02 p.m.
7 from counter to refrigerator 9:03 p.m.
3 steps from refrigerator to microwave 9:04 p.m.
2 steps from microwave to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 9:05 p.m.
5 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to counter 9:05 p.m.
3 steps from counter to white enamel top kitchen table 9:08 p.m.
5 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 9:08 p.m.
9 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 9:09 p.m.
4 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to refrigerator
aaaaaaaa 9:10 p.m.
9 steps from refrigerator to counter 9:10 p.m.
12 steps from refrigerator to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 9:11 p.m.
2 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to microwave
aaaaaaaa 9:22 p.m.
7 steps from microwave to kitchen sink 9:23 p.m.
7 steps from kitchen sink to white enamel top kitchen table
aaaaaaaa 9:24 p.m.
20 steps from white enamel top kitchen table to Jenny’s room
aaaaaaaa 9:37 p.m.
110 steps from Jenny’s room to Jenny’s red Honda Accord
aaaaaaaa (automatic)9:40 p.m.
59 steps from Jenny’s red Honda Accord (automatic) to Jenny’s
aaaaaaaa room 9:41 p.m.
45 steps from Jenny’s room to kitchen sink 9:48 p.m.
33 steps from kitchen sink to Jenny’s bedroom 9:49 p.m.
29 steps from Jenny’s bedroom to bathroom toilet (standing)
aaaaaaaa 10:17 p.m.
4 steps from toilet (standing) to bathroom sink 10:18 p.m.
42 steps from bathroom sink to Jenny’s bedroom 10:20 p.m.
116 steps from Jenny’s bedroom to Subaru Outback Sport
aaaaaaaa (stick shift)11:05 p.m.
122 steps from Subaru Outback Sport (stick shift) to Greg’s room
aaaaaaaa computer alcove 11:23 p.m.
23 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to Cherylin’s room
aaaaaaaa 11:25 p.m.
12 steps from Cherylin’s room to bathroom sink 11:26 p.m.
20 steps from bathroom sink to Greg’s room computer alcove
aaaaaaaa 11:29 p.m.
30 steps from Greg’s room computer alcove to top bunk 12:28 a.m.


4853 steps total

22 Years in 132 Words

Life Story XXI

A waiting period, a transition, steeping.

Life Story XIX

Pen pal letter lines saving time.

Life Story XVIII

Inside-joke car ride sing-alongs.

lunch break warning

Life Story XVII

A typewriter heartbeat gifted to me.

Life Story XVI

Mountain top macaroni & cheese escape.

Life Story XV

Rock Island binding two into one.

Life Story XIV

February, a new winter, slow motion lapse.

Life Story XIII

Not a painter, but a poet.

Life Story XII

Graduated college. Now what to do?

Life Story XI

Trains in looping circles, hands held.

LifeStory X

Affinity for modernism & vanilla coke.

Alfredo Impersonator

According to the local paper
the tides should have been high
& the sun should have been up &
I should have made contact
with those who make changes.

instead

it was the evening of the day
we went to her favorite
restaurant from last year &
their menu had completely changed;
once a seafood place
with a view,
now an almost Italian bistro
with marble & mirrors.

She had read that
persistence will bring rewards
& a stranger’s compassionate remark
would stimulate her sympathy for an underdog.

instead

we stormed out,
& ate a picnic
of peanut butter & jelly
on the beach
while waiting for our
horoscopes to come true.

Life Story VII

A daisy, a trail, something repeating.

Life Story V

Affinity for up past bed times.

Life Story IV

A matchstick, a strawberry, something circling.

Life Story III

Noun & verb collector & organizer.

Life Story II

Remote control smile (batteries not included).

200th post extravaganza

Remember when ?

Or when?

Or even that time when.

Yes, it has really been 200 posts.

Six-Word Memoir

Found this site. Then I submitted.

Summer Oven Letter

Dear Nana,

The weather here, hot. Slow burning heat your
toaster oven door left open & set to full
blackness burning bagels, bread, tiny
imitation pizzas into dessicated cardboard
landscapes pockmarked & cratered, no hours of
clear water revival can revert post mark lost
stamp torn off, a pile of paper in your foyer
& puzzles tied with a twine string, just, stillness.
vacuumed silence aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa sliced & served
with a small plastic cup revealing your voyages to
Colonial Williamsburg, Bermuda, or Disneyland time-traveling
mementos documenting weather patterns in letters
How many squirrels did you see today?
Certainly more than me. I have 73 channels to
flip through compared to your fuzzy five
so time exploring the yard, the garage,
the basement, memories, weather, took precedent to
TV dinners fishamajigs & a sinking slow heat
seeping through storm doors vacuum packages &
your places for hiding money--plastic children's cups
I think--palmed bills warm from your hands,
I know you saw squirrels today.
........................................................ XOXO Chris

i did not see jenny

i saw a man
cleaning out

the pond

brushing
the water

pure

dropping
the everyday
slop

a cigarette butt
a fast-food cup

to find
fish &
turtles

ecosystem eyes

honey suckle
vines

french toast
flowers
enveloping

a tree

drawing from
her water.

W.E.B. Du Bois can you really stack books that high?

aaaa I am afraid of your elevator
with dings metering a breaking
building's heartbeat

its windows popping in pressure
its roots sinking in a
design that did not account

for the weight of words

squeezing bricks
from the tower walls

in an
architecture of tears

When a weatherman speaks

people sometimes listen. At the church

turned concert hall the sign said
no flash photography, no recording devices

but she snuck in a microphone for Jenny anyway,
that distinct possibility of rain

not even an option in her eyes
blue with wisps of cloud grey,

today could be perfect.

juice box, discovery!

a recyclable
cardboard carton,
corners bent
vein lines indents

gold, yellow, sweet

absorbing the spill
a history book
my parents would
have to pay for

after running bases
brick schoolyard bully
stepped on my lunch

pasteurized, concentrated

the catalogue
of knowledge
now an
autumn breeze
from Vermont.

50 Titles (of poems I would not write)

protein pills
other natural flavors
not really a doctor
whale watching in the rain
vintage contemporaries
do not install backwards
handbook of knee surgery
rejected thank you notes
a fruit with no name
eaten straight from the box
dishes done
this bag is not a toy
bound by the conditions
nexus point reentry
a tape, not an apple
the end of aquifers
operating manual for a segue
mr. clean goes to france
i've got pop-tarts
Oh, Auden said everything
sponge identity
antisocial radar
fight night at the Lenig's
a man with a glass eye
the house that was not level
a beach with mosquitos
bedpan technician
closed doors mean secret meetings
talking behind your back
hard, modern edges
new dirt
the importance of flossing
sex, interrupted
a fruit much like a beer can
complimentary copy
there are no self-serve gas stations in New Jersey.
a day at the craft fair
LOWERCASE
income tax evasion
a conversation on speakerphone with grandma
peeling second-degree sunburn
a trail of carbon footprints
on conserving electricity
that's just too bad.
the moon in full sunlight
a can opener for poetry soup
conditioned air
landfill at noon
licking letters
not valid with any other offers

delayed breakup poem

[feeling a loss of control, I
fall back on my mother’s tendency
to clean and make lists]
..........................spending June on the west coast
..........................escaping you, I replay Honey and the Moon
..........................and remember how you never called me honey
[my mother knows diligence
and anorexia, but I
lack her self-control]
.......................... spending June up north, spinning like snow
.......................... memory on repeat of you brushing your teeth
.......................... never calling me honey
[my mother teaches me
insomnia and to hold on
for the sun]
.......................... spending June in darkness, time moves
.......................... like muted moons, eclipsing me with
.......................... your silence
[one day I find
flowers, my mother’s
favorite medicine]
.......................... leaving for green orange groves down south,
.......................... I forget you and the moon
.......................... and spend June in the sun

Warm December

Sunlight flowers in winter:
one morning you brought them to me
so I could breathe
forsythia.

Yellow salve in the sky
on Christmas Eve. (The next day gray,
we suffocated in its
congested color,

longed for yesterday.)
As if sun tea on the deck,
clear cold steeps ripe red
and yesterdays become

wept pools of snow
feeding the early forsythia.

ghostblogger

blogger forgot about me
as if i were winter
and he'd already moved
on though spring and into
the sweat of summer

in my search for self
i found three other blogs
i'd never created, but all
set to my own email address:
unwritten identities

mylashes.blogspot.com,
379.blogspot.com, and
pbandme.blogspot.com,
all with empty archives and
a total of 15 profile views

in a past life i was a
ghostblogger

Competent

An Atlantic Engagement

The tide coming into shore slowly.

A rocky beach, for looking not swimming.

Careful steps onto outcroppings into the sound.

The sun a soup of reds & yellows.

Just enough light to reflect off of eyes &
a stone setting two lives to one.

an excuse

the macaroni stuck
to the red rust
black bottom
new release boilerplate
left handed, hates snow
tried to grow a moustache
& spots showed in the
stubble in the conversation
a pause, a dent, an aluminum scrape
heating away the hydrogen
perfect penne in 11-12
silent staring at the floor
at the coil of red metal
should be doing
without a timer
leftover
in the sink
two weeks later.

all those black & white photos you take

A close-up of a single
flower in a field

stems & specks of
white in the back

& an abandoned
crumbling stone house

blurry. Just the daisy
confident, certain of the sun

in love.

Jenny + Chris

Asteroids

Word Find 3

Jenny

A wordmonster by Jenny: Chris

Jen's Bio Paper

Aquifer awareness is
not a priority
in the realm of
conservation consciousness

pocket compost (poetry fusion with Erin & Emily)

snow melting, a grayscale
reduction to green, a drip
drop a stream sputtering a (seasonal)
war’s last bombshells.

ice shattering like teacups
against a wall, she picked
up a fragment to remember
where winter is real a

long, fat torpedo of ice
put in her pocket.
She came home to me melting,
the middle of school longing to

be mine & slipping love notes
into her pockets without eye contact
the folded sailboats float,
skimming over the ice

my latest invasion of space, the sailboats paper bouquets
slowly unzipping, memories
discharged; you brushing your teeth,
orange slice shadows—the half moons

glowing peeled &
I threw them away before you were
ready, so now you collect
a stream in your pocket, as not to forget

winter, oranges, & the moon.

WAL-MART REX, a word monster by Jenny

finger food

my fingers picked up
lunch from
the doorknob--double
bacon cheeseburger grease &
fries with mayo-- for
half price

bedtime

spring [fixer]

push through papers
white winter in reams
& listen

a shuffle a sorting
an arrangement made
to

put away the old
cold papers blanketing
the garden

no they aren't fertilizer
but a type of
scythe

to cut & paste a
way the waste
& peel

& bloom & whisper
the slow sound
of growing aaaaa .

spring [throwback SPINBALL FIGHT]

cultural currency update
while white computer screens
load
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa a walk in
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa crunching snow
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa white indents
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa foot prints
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa perfect for
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa packing
instant access
rolling down scrolling snowballing
screen
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa collecting
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa in drifts
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa each unique
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa crystal
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa blends to
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa pure vanilla
(democratic) society is
based on consensus, a
percentage of agreeability
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the tighter
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I pack flakes
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa between red
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mittens the
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa more time she
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa has to throw
just two sides shaping
policy & echo chambers
reinforcing ideas
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I am intentionally
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa missing her; snow
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa over shoulder
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa just
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the sound
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa slipping by
influencing events
through the exclusion
of information
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa she knows
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I am missing
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa & when I
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hit her in
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the back a
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa puff of snow
spin a ball of flattery
a snow job to
crystallize public opinion
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa leaning low
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa as she aims
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa for my head,
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waiting for
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa an icy
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa blast
a two-way flow
of snow
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa warm breath
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa from my mouth
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa to hers
or nothing at all.

spring [opening]

when the trees
wake up &
the grass smells
& the leaves
smell & the small
birds sing, sing &
feed their young
& sing & rain is warm
it smells & sings as it
drizzles in the sun
drops on the leaves
catches on blades
collecting in drops
it all sings

spring .

why Jenny doesn't go in the water

something at the seashore a stick
or a lost plastic toy shovel something at the
shore nipping the back of her leg a
bag swinging from her back swishing as
she walks something forgot a snack a carryall something
tapping her heal in uncomfort for a moment
when eyes close the flash image that remains
the unknown a clump in the sand unconscious connecting
cheap rubber plastic sandal while walking
splinters stuck in sand a stick for the umbrella
poking objects just below the surf & her
father pulling a three foot sandshark out
angles in the wake a pull sand over toes
on his fishing line just beyond where we swim
sure she will carry the brown bag & keep the sand out
we swim where we dodge a wave or put up a screen
a scream against the washing away the fading a
way something at the sore sun burnt shoulders toes
always burnt where the sandal slips between the
big toe & that unnamed next toe a space for skin
to peel a grape a juice box a novel something sticking
in the sand a stick or a lost toy shovel made of
yellow plastic where is the missing bucket buried
beneath lurking in the darkness the sand below the water
shed the moist brownie inside just below the surface
keep the sand out collecting in the bag bottom
flushed away washed away torn out a subscription
the hook remained in the spotted shark’s skin a
hermit crab carryall a grape peeled sun burnt skin
the castle that we built washed away the next morning with
the tide carrying bags a snack chairs water wears glass
dull a grape without the skin blushing nipping
fingertips while swimming putting up a screen
invisible line between hook and hand
a juice box a sandal slipping from aloevera
between the toes the ground looks brown behind
glasses dropped in surf scuttle like a crab
white on top pulled reeled like a plastic toy
a stick a shovel a castle made of sand white
underneath cloths shorelines in skin never
on a boat without a life preserver a stick
plastic probably a safety whistle to call
for help an invisible line snagged in surf footprints
one missing a sandal plastic slipping away
half a print overexposed toe red severe sun burnt purple
grape great gatsby on the beach read something
sappy something juicy candy a stick of gum with
a whistle plastic inside that you dropped in the
sand put at the top as a flag foot for the castle
a slip up a tide shift the music of a vendor in
a refrigerated truck novelty dug deep brownie
coloured to protect the eyes reuses the grains
a little cake made with the hands a foundation
glass with edges worn dull pulling the pop
dug deep from the leaking steaming cold
spritz splash the noise of a wave crash lurking refrigerated
juice box a stick with chocolate frozen to it
a drop clumped in the sand snagged the hook sunk
a bucket looks lost without a plastic shovel a toy
a tradition a snapping a roar as the shark breaks free
as the beach renews with tide tables a white shoreline
brownies near the surf near the wake a fading footprint
a scuttle a skirmish running away from a stick, a shovel
or a shark.

greg on the typewriter

so small
his fingers
could not
put enough
pressure
on the keys
to form
language.

Word Find Fun #1

The refrigerator is empty

& I stand
frozen &

waiting with
the little bulb

reflecting off
the blank

white corners
groceryless.

Class Notes: Rule #35

RT476

on my lap
over yesterday's Times
I pour,
from a silver
magic thermos
bullet container,
tea.

eighty
miles-per-hour
forty
sips-per-minute
photosynthesized &
dried leaves delivering
a fix.

two hours in a
car, the bead seat
cover becomes you,
& I forget where
I am going
if the audio book
is good.

all driving
distances
should be diluted--
a scoop of sugar
& stirred with
crème--a voice
reading to me

old bedtime stories,
a tale of a whale
the highway washing
headlights & redlights
as landfalls
in crystal blue
eyes.

Class Notes: A Communication Model

the goose at 589

Canada has covered the field
with a gaggle of goose, not geese.
Passports not valid,
vacation in the states.

Citizenship shifting,
a honking sound
traffic on 84 North shifting
to 15 North honking at the border,

What is the purpose of your visit?
What are you here to see?
Travel is more instinct, seasons change
& people must move.

How I passed the Comprehensive: Lights out at 7:30, a poem.

Top drawers no longer
mine filled with

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa socks too small
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa for my feet.

he is growing up
He is growing out
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa His space extends
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa beyond bunk beds.

The bookshelves are packed
stacked with old volumes

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Sherlock Holmes handed down
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa & blocked out by a plastic fire truck.

“I lost my first tooth today”
pressed under a pillow

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa that smells of apple juice
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa not sweat.

a first grader who wants
to be a fireman (not a writer)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa HE is growing up
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa HIS brother is growing out.

Ring around
the rim
a tea-stained
history

waking up & putting the
water on to boil

a new day viewed on old computers

coffee instead of tea

finding an escape from lines of houses

going to sleep past your bedtime

no, it was just an ordinary day
no idea of suburban choke
no way out of a street named after a
president whose name sounds
like a candy.

no, it was building in routine
the time it takes to travel to from a lab &
back & to sweep the floor of a church
for an extra hundred dollars a week.

no, it was growing up, or growing out
remodeling a railway that died in the
sixties, keeping track of hockey players stats
cards that consoled when lined up

and never running away from shadows

the track shifted &
connected to a refinery, a plant
to process the sweet particles
for children's confections

a before & after image

his model railway had
stopped running--plastic people
frozen, dust collecting on their
caps--the times tables
redrawn

nine years since the meltdown

watching time pass in piles of snow

the long weekend, enhanced by snowfall

a disruption, days change meaning, zodiac signs
2,ooo years off in the sky determine
my daily, readable mood

scooped with tea, while waiting for channels to change

a silent sky of snow falls like static, muted

Caught on my tongue, words melt.

START/END

Sugar, when five pounds piled, looks like snow but tastes sweeter.

Anniversary Extravaganza

we have been here
one year--
one hundred thirty-three
posts--

one site
grounded
in cyberspace.

a vist, a walk, a history lesson

warmups & fabric wraps to keep out the wind off the river of ice lined with unnamed statues, so that we all can be a preacher or puritan if we want, or maybe no one remembers the names of those people anymore, they are locked away in archives & literature tests, street-names & the foundations of churches & squares easy pairs like mittens or socks that match, wrap & hold together feedback upon themselves crystalizing at the right temperature to hold time.

delinquent blogger updates

I will make my home

in a southern state (a blue state,

but warm enough to burn cheeks

red)

a home where we’ll name our

hurricanes

like children

watch them go:

Kyle breaks every window on the first floor

Emily smashes the car

the next year Victor floods the basement

a foot and a half of

ocean and rain

and busted pipes

(as long as they don’t break our hearts)

we’ll hang their satellite pinwheels

on the refrigerator

and sigh

they’re only young so long

before they’re gone

taking the basketball,

the cat,

and the

sound from the wind chimes

I’ll be old here

among orange trees, fruit rats, and the smallest

geckos we’ll ever see

darting

under

Spanish moss covered trees

dying like

ballerinas

covered in silver ribbons

pirouetting off a dark stage

gentle and beautiful,

quiet

like sleep

swing

we swing
aaaaaa with such an appreciation for snow
against gravity
aaaaaa it was in her nature to forget people’s first names
so many books you couldn’t breathe
aaaaaa soon she began to call everyone
john or betty
chains holding us tight
aaaaaa this is the kind of winter i can bear
when we would get a rip in out panty hoes
aaaaaa a free newspaper everyday
an apparent lack of colour leads the imagination to think of spring
aaaaaa green was his favorite colour
she would send us to the nurse to put an ace bandage on it
spring swing sing
aaaaaa i returned three books on & about Robert Lowell to the shelves
cheeky is not an American word
aaaaaa two flannel shirts the same colour, but with different designs
he tried revising poems years later
aaaaaa push me
an exploration of white space
aaaaaa cities are works of pure happenstance
the tilt of the earth causes climates causes biomes causes
aaaaaa concrete (poetry) to be less concrete & more free than paper
he highlighted texts
aaaaaa A MOVE OF THE CURSER NOT THE SCROLL
(nearly all the words so what was important
aaaaaa went unknown)
renaming the earth to reflect its watery nature
aaaaaa spacing comes into play, but not in the sense of
open field composition, but rather arbitrary fun.
aaaaaa perhaps using the wrong interpretation
half off all books lured me inside
aaaaaa a tale of going around or over the bar
the wood door to her room is broken
aaaaaa but you need the space to breathe
when escaping from a car that has driven into water do not panic
aaaaaa a misuse of vocabulary words
assembling is half the fun
aaaaaa a lock that won’t close
the circulation of air, hot rising, cool falling
aaaaaa a fist size shattering of wood
the top of the coffee tasted like roasted marshmallows
aaaaaa i saw my teacher in the bookstore
wait till the pressure has equalized before opening the door
aaaaaa a rush of wind, a gulping sound
windows will not crack from kicking or keys
aaaaaa a safe stocking stuffer
her room became warm because the thermostat downstairs was set to 75
aaaaaa things i forgot to do
yellow leaves on my floor with writing on them
aaaaaa perhaps you should have purchased that safety hammer from wal-mart
it was awkward and still, me with my hand on a book about Ezra Pound
aaaaaa old post it notes with the glue failing fall
winter without snow
aaaaaa you can make a sentence academic by inserting a term
a topic to write on
aaaaaa a list of due dates past
her mind always shut down when I started to talk of schools of poetry
aaaaaa i could collect them, pressing their patterns between book pages
after my teacher left i had a conversation with him
aaaaaa fascists can be fun sometimes
the cover is orange
aaaaaa cut into wedges, like a soccer game snack
frost in Florida
aaaaaa there in the crowded stacks warm with winter coats on
I bought a book by T.S. Elliot (I know Steve will be mad)
aaaaaa so to avoid a price hike we bought two bags
salt had been spread to keep students safe
aaaaaa a landing pad in the grass
but his poems were illustrated by Edward Gorey
aaaaaa a small peel goes well with wheat beer
the wood shook from the transfer of weight
aaaaaa not because it was cold, because it was alive.

set swing

Despite the sanding of wood &
tightening of screws, the swing
set in the backyard always
creaked & gave splinters.

Buried in slippery summer
hands--raisin pruned from the
pool or sweaty from a game
of tag--the shifting wood

fragments could be ignored

or brought to mother for surgery.

swing set (earth&memories)

ground between fingers after jumping
from the swing set, a landing pad
pierced the grass a

small cloud or poof of dust--
I can jump farther than you
higher than you

longer than you I am better
than you run faster than
you--rises & disappears

but we always land on the ground.

(retelling) hit and run

It wasn’t snowing but it certainly was grey
the way in which concrete reflecting off
concrete reflecting off steel can be &
my knee shot out--a bruise that shook through
The frame of a 70’s Schwin--limping not walking
gasping not breathing
after the accident.

911 took 40 minutes to come &
I wanted to ride in the back of the police car--
child locks and metal
mesh gratings a clear division of
power-- but the police are not a
public taxi service, even for those
with hit & run

busted bike wheels.

walk on campus (not a state poem but a rest stop for a snack)

The carbon cycle includes
converting CO2 to
oxygen through
photosynthesis
via plants.

naked
trees leave
the unrecycled
air cool & stale
with the scent of cheeseburgers.

There's no place like Kansas

There’s no place like
sunflower fields as far as the eye can see
the great plains where
people of the south winds
once hunted buffalo &
houses could fly from black & white
to colour.

There’s no place like
oceans of wheat
bending in the breeze
equidistance from
the Pacific & Atlantic,
a convenient central point
to start maps from.

There’s no place like
sharecropping in circles
and negros who speak of rivers
flowing from the state in
rural flight leaving
6,000 ghost towns
to the wind.

There is no place
like home.

a return to old projects: A celebration of 50 years

50 years ago they
were married,

Brooklyn NY & a
church with dancing.

Two years later Hawaii
became the 50th state.

Now they visit
in celebration of passing time

& bring coconut banks &
hula dolls back

for all their grandchildren.

early mornings in the house my father built

early morning and the sound of my dad's work shoes on the kitchen floor

leaving behind my great-grandmother's quilted coccoon for
orange slice shadows in the hallway and the cold wooden banister gripped
with tiny fingers so i wouldn't slip on the stairs in my
red flannel footie pajamas that haven't asked me to grow up, yet

six a.m. and bleary-eyed, my dad and his brief case in the kitchen
reading from a box of raisin bran with milk spilled on his tie
all grown up with three kids and a house he built himself
my mom still upstairs in their bed sleeping in his warm imprint

bright kitchen light and heat from the woodstove hot on my cheeks
standing on the botton stair, my voice squeeky with leftover sleep
my messy hair, curly like his, smoothed by his freckled hand
my dad calls me by a nickname that tells me i haven't grown up, yet

putting his brief case on the counter and cereal bowl in the sink
the volkswagen rabbit running rough, warming up, waiting for my dad
padding butter on a slice of white bread for me, crumbs fall snowy
on the sleeve of his navy blue suit, the one my mom says matches his eyes

early mornings i woke up for bread and butter and orange air
my grandmother's quilted coccoon waiting warm for me to return
with crumbs on my footie pajamas and a calmer collection of curls
after sharing my dad with the hot woodstove and quiet house

now i wake early mornings grown up, listening to my own work shoes on the kitchen floor

a NEW REVISED break in continuity, unless we consider frank from a state such as ohio; Frank on shoes:

why don’t you try on those shoes honey, they are nice, I mean I think they would be nice on you, look good & all, & probably comfortable like Sunday afternoon watching a movie like, what’s your favorite one? you know,

um, Must Love Dogs or something right? well, maybe sleeping, you know, sleeping late…long drives in the passenger seat with, with your feet up, going to the lake hmmm…what a fantastic Italian print on that one…Chinese food, you know, you know how the leftover stuff taste better somehow,

and being curled up on the couch with a movie or bagging a buck, huge rack and all, on the first day of the season or, or relieving like that time you thought I was cheating on you cause I was staying out late & lying & you found that little bottle of perfume in my pocket & everything, but, but then it was your birthday, it was real nice,

real relieving because I had been out late getting you all those nice gifts you know and maybe these shoes, these shoes they would be comforting like that or like coffee, morning coffee with all that flavored crap you like, you know the creamers caramel latte or peppermint twist stuff,

maybe like cleaning the house or when we put Frankie Jr. to sleep, I mean that wasn’t a good thing, but he was always snarling at children & too old to see you know, falling down the stairs & everything so it was kind of, it was kind of relieving to put him out of that pain, not have to worry or clean up after him anymore, & well I mean comforting

kind of like that TV show you watch all the time, you know, “What not to Wear” where they take all the person’s ugly old clothes & the shoes that the person thinks are nice but are nasty they are just awful & they throw ‘em out, well I hope they don’t throw ‘em out maybe just give ‘em to a Sal-Val or something like, even if the clothes are ugly a homeless guy could use ‘em, but you know those crazy hosts on that show Stacy & Clinton, they fix the person up right & neat & it’s fancy & then they are made over & everything is good like a big party because, you know…new shoes.

a poem from black friday: Jen at Macy's

Coded Death-Threat Written by Small Cousins After Thanksgiving Dinner, Maryland

Dear, Googs
sweat honey iced
tea you have
backwards octopus
Zach

on the Oberst's refrigerator

crayon, washable in looping squiggles,
not quite a rainbow, not quite a person
but a family none the less, together.

taken down.

connect the dots ripped
out of a couloring book
after learning how to count.

taken down.

a tracing of a hand, fingertip
feathers yellow, red, &
blue with a beak on the thumb

taken down.

an A- state spelling test
Mississippi & Missouri correct
but Coneticut caused problems.

taken down.

I want to be a fireman, I
want to be an architect, I want
to be a musician.

taken down.

a bundle of receipts, yellow &
white, crumpled & signed
to keep track of the money going out

taken down.

my family is reduced to names
on a shopping list, one square of
wants & a hope for a phone call.