Poem 20150705

crow

everything comes out on
independence day

and it all comes out in
the dark

illuminated by old men
in swim trunks

illuminated by remembering
the dead

illuminated by kids with glow bracelets
because fireworks are banned

(though you hear the illegal m-80s
exploding all night long)

watered down with beer
baked with too much sun

filled to bursting with hot dogs
and burges and barbecue

and finally an inevitable tumble
down a hill, face first into a wall

but the miracle of the lights
and the thundering booms

and the excited animal sounds
of the children watching

pure in excitement, redeem it
not only in america, you think

Poem 20150704

crow

IMG_3697

the hawk pursued something
into the bushes

i didn’t see if what it was after
had flown or scurried
but it made it safely
into the thick underbrush

the hawk backed out
stood on the pavement
and peered into the grasses
willing its prey to come out

failing that it
flew up to a branch where
it could wait
patient
with the resolve that hunger provides

he didn’t move when
i took his picture
or the family of three
jogged by with their
youngest on a bike

raptor is like rapture
his orange eyes cold
for all their heat
his next meal in question

i wouldn’t fit in those talons
so didn’t merit consideration

Poem 20150703

crow

turning my head
i hear the crack in my neck
that snap crackle pop
moment of
can i twist it just right
just too far
will the disc finally
slip this time
and slice through the cord
like a razor blade

but the most i get
is a pulled muscle
stiff for days maybe
and a story i repeat
every time anyone mentions
how i’m turning my head

Poem 20150701

crow

socrates made a pretty good
career out of telling people
that he didn’t know anything

if he had stopped there
he might have lived a little longer
but he felt the need to pass it on

wanted to share the wealth apparently
and wound up drinking a state-mandated
hemlock cocktail

Poem 20150629

crow

the snake gets called out
for being
subtle
crafty
cunning
depending on who’s translating

adam and eve just
took advantage of his offer
recognizing in it
a kindred spirit
an alimentary canal
that slithered on its belly
consuming and expelling
everything in its wake
an ouroboros, a midgard serpent

the whole human condition
wrapped up in a constantly renewing skin
desire and rejection moving us forward

fear and anger and compassion
like arms and legs that sprouted later
and tried to pull us in different directions
many masters of a single-minded
eating and shitting clockwork

Poem 20150628

crow

i went fishing one weekend
with my father
and two men
half bothers from a previous marriage
either one old enough to be my father
one had children older than me
but this was trip with only a father
and his sons

the four of us rose early
and the water stank
heavy, wet and thick
everything rotten in the river
rising in a fog

but worse
smelled bait my father swore
stank so bad
that the catfish
disgusting bottom skimming fish
that they were
would smell it
and be drawn to his hook

he had kept it in an
old mayonnaise jar
in his closet
ripening for months
it was pale yellow
like thick spoiled cream cheese
swimming in an oily ocher bath

they like to eat smelly things
he said

i caught a fishhook in the finger
but don’t remember catching any fish

my father and his older boys
talked about tijuana
which was close to where we were fishing
and the mexicans crossing the river in the middle
of the night
and i remember seeing a girl
not much older than me
in a dress printed with red flowers
who looked afraid
but i couldn’t imagine
of what
since i had not learned to be
afraid

and when the trip was over
we took an ice chest full of fish
back to my brother’s house
for his wife to clean
because apparently
that was how it worked