Blind Eyes

Blind Eyes

Neighbors
who look through blinds
like prarie dogs peeking
through linoleum and keeping
close watch


poem written 11/2/06

Broken Glass

Broken Glass

Our house
is made of glass
and we were happy there
but our parents had to go and
throw stones


poem written 10/23/06

The Monster in the Woods

The Monster in the Woods

They say there is a monster in these woods.
It lumbers as it fells the trees in swaths.
It leaves behind two oily leaden paths
that stand where leaves of underbrush once would.
I’ve heard that some, in stupor, stopped and stood
to watch it gorge and spread its tyrant’s wrath
and, trudging on, release its vapor bath
dispensing fumes beneath its angry hood.
The people once tried to do all they could
In an attempt to slow the Jagganath,
but men in suits as oily as the paths
denied them, claiming for the greater good.
And, Loki led, the monster blind as noble Hoth
Kept killing brother Baldr, armed with scythe and snath.


poem written 11/14/06

The Jaguar

The Jaguar

He sits
on the subway
like a vicious jaguar
you know he's just waiting to steal
my purse


poem written 11/13/06

Commercial Break

Commercial Break

The climb
to crescendo
builds until we can't stand
any longer but first a quick
message


poem written 11/13/06

Meditation on a Passing Shower

Meditation on a Passing Shower

The panes
of the windows
patter like typewriters
writing stories in the trickling
water


poem written 11/10/06

Progress, I-II

Progress, I

They cut
the last one down
because we could not see
from all we've learned the forest for
the trees


Progress, II

A plane
flies overhead
leaving puffy white lines
that criss-cross the skies and turn them
dark gray


poems written 11/9/06

Ode to Bob Ross

Ode to Bob Ross

You paint
a perfect scene
the strokes that let us see
your trees are happy and then so
are we


poem written 11/2/06

Meditation on the Earthworm

Meditation on the Earthworm

We die
and you dig in
so then we understand
none get to Heaven before your
say so


poem written 11/2/06

Cartoon Physics, IV-VI

Cartoon Physics IV

You stare
at me confused
but I am so hungry
your head has started to look like
dinner


Cartoon Physics V

Somehow
the dynamite
that should have destroyed me
did not and merely turned me black
and smoky


Cartoon Physics VI

Though he
has looked both ways
and no car is in sight
the moment he touches asphalt
road kill


poems written 11/2/06

Burglary

Burglary

You feel
as though you have
been cheated by someone
but I say that you were asking
for it

poem written 11/1/06

A Poem I Don't Understand

A Poem I Don't Understand

This poem
is supposedly
metaphorical deep
and dictactic but I just don't
get it


poem written 11/1/06

The House That Dripped Blood

The House That Dripped Blood

Thier house
is dripping blood
from every crack and pore
but no matter how long it bleeds
they stay


poem written 11/1/06

Soldiers

Soldiers

The men
march maim and kill
without regard for us
only knowing thier orders to
walk on


poem written 11/1/06

Companionship

Companionship

In life
it's often said
no one gets out alive
but maybe if we work as one
we can


poem written 10/30/06

Contemplations on America, I-II

Contemplation on America, I

A house
in New Orleans
once called the Rising Sun
flooded and became our source of
ruin


Contemplation on America, II

They fell
and we were scared
and now as Patriots
through your Act we are neither safe
nor free


poem I written 10/30/06, poem II written 11/2/06

Growing Old Together, I-II

Growing Old Together, I

The hair
he used to have
receded years ago
though the locks are long gone the love
remains


Growing Old Together, II

Beauty
like she once had
may have faded from her
but pales in comparison to
our love


poems written 10/30/06

Writing

Writing

They say
write what you know
and since I knew nothing
I poured out my soul onto the
blank page


poem written 10/30/06

Two Pens

Two Pens

This pen
punctures my skin
injecting life in me
and this one in turn gives that life
meaning


poem written 10/30/06

Criticism on a Grecian Urn

Criticism on a Grecian Urn

What truth
what beauty could
this simple painted pot
hold within its cold earthen walls
for me


poem written 10/30/06

Grandpa's Chair

Grandpa's Chair

There is
a chair outside
where Grandpa liked to watch
his grandchildren play in the yard
and rest


peom written 10/30/06

10:54 am

10:54 am

All eyes
are on the wall
pencils on desks grow loud
counting ever slower these last
seconds


peom written 10/30/06

The Newlyweds

The Newlyweds

The words
sit on the page
like newlywed couples
ever waiting for new children
to raise


peom written 10/30/06

Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake

My great-grandmother would try to make the coffee cake
taste the way my great-grandfather's father used to
but she could never get it right.

He would go into the city to work in the steel mill every Monday
and every Friday he would return home with a little piece of heaven
wrapped in an old tattered napkin.

Every week, every week for what seemed like forever
he would finally come home at the end of the week
for a few days with his wife and son.

Every week, every week for a half century and change
she would once again attempt to get the coffee cake right
so her husband could taste his childhood again.

My great-grandfather's father died when he was twelve,
leaving him alone to take care of his mother
and a single last piece of coffee cake on the kitchen table.

My great-grandmother died some time later
but left him alone just the same,
with her last batch of coffee cake put away in a cupboard.

The services were short and sweet, and at the reception that followed
friends and family came to comfort my great-grandfather
but he knew they couldn't do anything for him now.

A few days, a few days that felt like an eternity past by
and one morning for breakfast he took down the pan of coffee cake
that was never quite right.

He took one bite and he saw his father walk in the front door
bending down in his uniform, covered in soot, to give his son a hug
and a tear appeared in his eye.

Ah, this is how coffee cake is supposed to taste.


poem written 11/1/06