Travel
the chimes
hang
still as air
pipes without
the faintest puff
circular strung
teetering
off balance
the disk for
a pressed lip
against four faces
vying for breath
a single spin
across the floor
the compass
pitched
like a ship
on its side
righted in India
TL
Selection
there’s
a poem
I tend
to read
whenever
I want
to feel
something
and the other
day
I got around
to looking up
the writer
‘cause I was
curious
about him
and the first
glimpse
of biographical information
noted his birth
but not his death
so I thought he was
still alive
and I’m reading
all about him
more than 30 books
professor at Syracuse
$50,000 prize
and then I’m surfing
this other site
to read more
about his life
and I see then
that he was
87
three days
from now
TL
Scars
the cherry
motel
used to be
red
remember it
being red
and it was red
for a while
not now
though
now when
I drive past it
I see blue
and she was
in grade school
then
a little adult
she was
and so
when it got
to be
so bad
the adult told
the child
you must leave
and the child
listened
and drove
the little adult
to the little motel
and they lived there
the two of them
for a little while
and each day
the bruises
got lighter
and lighter
until one day
you couldn’t
see them
black
no more
you just saw
blue
TL
Past Tense
was
he was
she was
what was
it was
was
what a sad
small verb
was
TL
Paramedics
the line
brakes
in procession
the seconds grainy
in glass
the lights roll past
flashing …
medics on the scene
50-year-old, white male
on the casino floor
dead on arrival
TL
Granny E
by the third
Monday
you will have
been gone
a year
and only
since September
has he been back
in the TV room
forced by an infected toe
in need of elevation
he’d been avoiding
your empty chair
as you well know
hasn’t moved
your stuff
too much
save a few pieces
he gave the girls
it’s hard, Granny,
it’s just hard
it takes him
forever
to get dressed
and make his way
but he does it
everyday
you’d be proud
and proud of the kids, too
they’ve kept going
even when
they didn’t wanna go
but bills have to be paid
somebody’s gotta fix supper
the clothes need laundering
the dog needs feeding
the mail has to go out
the grass needs shaving
the floor needs mopping
the calls need an answer
the trash has to go out
well, you know how it is
they just … stay busy
Scott’s doing ok
still cries when
that song comes on
the radio
and late at night
when we’ve all
gone to bed
he stays awake
with you
TL
“Away Above”
after all
the drops
that fell
Roy G Biv
showed his smile
upside
in the cloud
arched over
the Second Avenue
bridge
so close I could of
reached up
to touch
the violet
TL
Tough Love
he thinks
shooting doves
will make it
what it was …
better
and he’s mad
we ain’t coming
and won’t take no
knows what buttons
to press
blames his buddy’s wife
for his buddy’s absence
all along
yeah, what’s new
hard headed
and whinier
than any woman
he’ll tell ‘ya
all day
why his life’s
thatta way
he didn’t come
from money
bases were loaded
and he dropped
the ball … for her
and he thinks
that big ‘ole house
he bought
on all that land
makes her happy
makes his boys happy
makes him happy
but happy shouldn’t
be this hard
can’t tell him nothing
though
end of that bottle …
no, it ain’t gonna bring
your daddy back
ain’t gonna hold your family
tight at night
ain’t gonna take that hurt
you’ve been holding
outta here
ain’t gonna make-up for a childhood
that wasn’t your fault
people kill themselves
in myriad ways
quick and clean
slow and muddy
and it ain’t nobody
who can put you back
together
but the one
who tore you apart
TL
Grateful
driving along
my mind
on towers
the suffering
of September
that helpless
feeling
that never wanes
when suddenly
I’m snapped back
to the present
four-lanes of flying traffic
what …
what is that kitten doing in the road
and I just knew
knew, knew, knew
there would be a black smudge
on the turn-around
braced myself for it
as I passed all those cars
and I’m staring hard
but there’s nothing to see
look to the right
a footstep from the road
there the kitten
a morning shadow
on green grass
too spent to make a move
looks up at me
helplessly
and I close my eyes
thank you …
TL
Like That
like when GM
tanked
like when the ocean
was oil
like when sports lost
at the ATM
like when construction workers
had nothing to construct
like when fast food
replaced slow food
like when prices at the pump
became a bill
like when terrorists
grounded planes
like when military service
was forgotten
like when children
don’t get to be children
like when weapons
are misused
like when humanity
is compromised
like when people forget
how to think for themselves
like when young people lose direction
and old people have to take it
like when there aren’t enough homes
or enough rooms at the shelter
like when fighters
don’t get back up
like that …
TL
Sweeping
sometimes
I sweep the porch
for no reason
really
I know the leaves
and dead bugs
and dusty dirt
will be swept back
before I turn in
that night
but that’s ok
I sweep it
anyway
TL
Joan Rivers
and after all
the plastic
she was never
fake
TL
Watermelon
what once
resembled
a tiny tree
in a pint-size pot
has grown not up
but out
covering a portion
of lawn
in vines
that “Jack in the Beanstalk”
could climb
had there been no boulder
and each day
the boulder gets
a bit bigger
bit broader
like a swelled head
that heard
every word
she ever said
TL
Order Up
he has
a paperboy cap
that covers
a head of hair
that once held
a shade
and he matches
his cap
to his clothes
and I watch him
stroll
in that purposeful way
gone is the day
when he sat at the table
and his mother fed him full
maybe his wife, too
now, he wakes up
and gets dressed
and puts on his cap
and heads out the door
to the burger joint
down the street
where they know
what he likes
before he can say,
“egg”
TL
Obesity
well, that’s nice
I say
so, you gave it all
away
and they took it
you say
all of it
well, that’s nice
I say
so, where are they
I don’t know
you say
well, you must
have an inkling
I say
didn’t you buy
their ticket
their passport
their luggage
yes, but …
they were in a hurry
you see
and forgot to wave
“bye” to me
but, don’t worry
you say
they’ll be back
some day
they always come back
well, that’s nice
I say
I can see why
they’d come back
yeah …
you say
so, what do you do
when they’re away
I say
don’t you get lonely
oh, no, I have plenty of stuff to do
don’t worry
you say
well, that’s nice
I say
at least you have plenty of stuff
to do
when they’re away
yeah …
you say
TL