Category: Poems

all the poems (20161209)

crow13 Comments

every poem should be a love poem
not because there’s so much to love
but because it may be the last poem

i’m not being fatalistic
this isn’t about the grim reaper
hovering behind us all
although, of course, he is

no, what if this is the last poem
what if the words dry up with
the next sunrise
what if it’s last tango for
the fingers and keyboard
it’s not as if i have anything
important to say, nothing that
anyone needs to hear or wants to hear

what if what if what if
the next words the next ink
the next electrons cluttering the
snow white screen make as much sense
as egyptian hieroglyphics to
an albino pet store parakeet

someone excavate the feeling out of this
obscure and amateurish babbling
it all comes down to my love
whatever it’s worth

that’s what these words are
that’s what these words roar
that’s what these poems are

sympathy for the snake (20161208)

crow11 Comments

teeth are gross
basically
it’s your skeleton
tearing through
your skin
where it’s weakest
where the “in” funnel
opens the food tunnel
to that snake inside you

we’re all the serpent
in the garden
trying to slough off
skin
to live forever
on someone else’s dime

but who wants to live
forever when your bones
are trying to escape
by ripping to shreds
everything that tries
to enter you

it got so damn hard
with these extra limbs
the difference between
sliding off a sock
and struggling out
of a straightjacket

apex (20161207)

crow8 Comments

the hawk took up more space
than its feathered frame implied
brooding on the light pole pinnacle
watching cars
smart enough to know
that some rabbit would eventually
be spooked by the growl of tires
and make a break for the cover
of the sparse, low brush
lining the onramp

for a moment i’m that hawk
hooded eyes
cool detachment from everything
not at eye level

but all too soon
i am again that rabbit
hoping for sharp shadows
tall grasses
slow traffic
or the mercy of the tire

recipe for a broken sonnet (20161206)

crow19 Comments

if you really want to fuck someone up
make sure you tell them how much you
care about them and how much
you’re thinking about them
every minute of the day

check their feeds on every social media
platform as often as you can
maybe you could get something for the car
so you can check on them hands-free

send them shit they don’t need
and remind them that you really
really love them and that they’re
the center of your universe

it’s a recipe to scramble their brains
eventually they believe it–or you do

——

for
dVerse ~ Poets Pub
Poetics ~ Recipe Poems

old ones in new flesh (20161205)

crow29 Comments

the scar is where the word got in
digging like the worm that it is
lacking but one letter for such a metamorphosis
single-toothed it found fertile ground and began to feed
to breed, a heart sized parasite
scar, i name thee trust

——

for
dVerse ~ Poets Pub
Quadrille#22: scar

metamorphosis (20161203)

crow8 Comments

i woke up with elephant
tusks protruding
curving down under my lip
i tore holes in the sheets during the night
impaled my pillow
fell twice after getting out of bed
until i found my new balance

i used a whole tube of toothpaste
brushing them
–they’re teeth aren’t they–
flossing took an hour
and i had to put the seat
all the way back in the car
to drive to work

no one else i met with
had grown overnight tusks
a girl in accounting
had sprouted a unicorn horn
and i commented
that would have been so much
more convenient
except for my hats
she said she sleeps on her stomach
and she woke up stuck to
her headboard
and her husband had to pull her free
by yanking her ankles
they were still bruised
i agreed that must have sucked

i might take up scrimshaw
i mean
it’s my ivory