Tag: poem

in medias res (20171019)

crow3 Comments

close your eyes
and grit your teeth

this is going to hurt
this is going to feel good
this is going to make you forget but
this is going to be memory

let the feeling separate you
from your skin like a sunday chicken
on a weight watcher’s plate

let yourself be blind
feel the ten thousand needles
each and every single one of them
necessary
delivering

deliverance

firmly in hand
eyes closed
eyes closing
because when they open
and your breath is your own again

the moment is over
is past
is memory

thin lines (20171015)

crow4 Comments

we went to a fingerprint party
all the finest detectives were there
dressed in their best suits
that smelled of cigarettes
and stale coffee

they showed us to our very own table
we sat next to a lovely couple
a serial killer and a lawyer
they met during the trial
and i didn’t bother to ask
who was who

i waited until the food
came
and watched them eat
but i still couldn’t tell
and finally
you got tired
of my paying attention to everything
except you
and you left
right before dessert

tiramisu
served in a tin tray

mealtime (20171011)

crow14 Comments

if food only went one way
–forget about the conservation
of matter here–

if food only went one way
how long would it take
to get sick of chewing
and swallowing

how many words would we have
for full then
more than inuit words for snow

let’s say that you can
only eat so many
meals before
it stops going down
starts backing up

you can’t eat anymore
because your last meal
a pastrami sandwich that looked
great on the menu
now hangs greasy and wet
from your mouth
you chin shines and
the thought of putting one
more thing in your mouth
is enough to make you
want to pull out your teeth
with pliers
and sew your lips closed

how long do we have to sit
at a table set with ignorance
who the hell keeps passing the rolls

picture in picture (20171010)

crow14 Comments

i look at a photograph
a woman with short, curly hair
stands in front of a window
holding her phone up
as if she is taking a picture

i half close my eyes
aqueous images
parade across my vision
all specimens for inspection
under a microscope

one transforms into a jet
slides from right to left
top to bottom

it looks like she is taking a photo
while a plane descends erratically
behind her back
the crash inevitable

i take a mental picture of her
her hair is short and curly
the window in front of her
is closed
she is trapped between
a plane
and a plane
pressed between dimensions

her picture
is a picture of a window
that is closed

her hair is curly
it descends erratically
inevitably crashing
against the nape of her neck

she is a specimen for inspection
under a microscope

expectations adjusted, unmet (20171009)

crow30 Comments

autumnal orange light floods the parking lot
while soft snowflakes fall

even though these aren’t snowflakes
even though the greasy stink of smoke gives it away

hills burn
and wind pushes ash toward the sea
i hope the sunset–at least–
will be beautiful

——

for
dVerse ~ Poets Pub
Quadrille: hope

less eclipse than occlusion (20171008)

crow14 Comments

the sun rolls in a rut
in heaven each day
spiraling lower
and lower still
like a skee-ball
thrown so hard it pops into the outermost ring

zero tickets for the effort

i want to wrap you up
like a snake

i want to swallow you whole
and feel you inside me
clawing your way out
the way words and dreams
used to claw their way out
before i got fuzzy and dumb and tired

i want to remember
the names i called you by

i want one of them to be a magic word
that will make you happy
without anyone losing an eye

low on the horizon
i pinch the sun
between my fingers
smaller than a dime
that orange bastard
has been trying to
give me cancer for years
let it roll beneath the horizon
for all i care
i’ll put my head in the sink
fill it with water
and wait for the mermaids
to start singing