Tag: poetry

Poem 20151105

crow3 Comments

the heart is a piece of meat

i know
because i saw
my mother
pull the innards out of turkeys
at thanksgiving

she salted and peppered them
along with some squishy red
organs
and fried them in a saucepan
then cut them into bits
and used them to make
gravy

and when we poured it over
mashed potatoes
stuffing
rolls
and roasted turkey meat
you could see the bits
and pieces
of that heart

and the thought never occurred
to be grateful for the heart
and no one asked
–what had the turkey loved
that had that made the heart
sufficient?

Poem 20151102

crow4 Comments

we shrink
like many things over time

the pudding in the fridge
receding gums
receding hairlines

so much retreating

no great tragedy
no funeral pyres being lit
no greek chorus explaining why

after so much being together
so much of each other
maybe that’s always
the case

we get smaller to each other
and the space around us expands
a universal condition

everything shrinks

the clay out of the kiln
the forged metal once it’s cooled

once the atoms slow down
and say to each other
–no need to rush

Poem 20151031

crow

every halloween, the pillowcase
was filled
so much candy
and we had to pour it out on the table
and we would pore over the pieces
look for broken wrappers
and put aside
everything homemade
or open
along with the pencils
toothbrushes
and religious tracts
that explained why halloween
was evil

then the candy was sorted
chocolates with peanut butter
into tier one
other chocolate candy bars
with familiar names
into tier two
chewy candies into three
and then hard candies
suckers
and candy corn into
the pile
that we didn’t care if someone snuck
a piece

the candy would last
almost until the first of the year
and then
out
out
out

and i can still smell
the plastic of the inside
of the mask
held to my head
with an elastic band
that always seemed to break
two-thirds of the way through
the walk