Gift

At least one
Follows the pack.
Someone must double over
For the lash.

Gather together,
My flock.
Let us mete out
Hatred richly deserved
To these people of mud
Bubbling
Between our toes.

Our wives and daughters,
Our presents to the future,
Must remain starched.

That tattered man
Collapsed on the sidewalk,
Liquor in a paper sack beside him --
We betray his ancestors today.

From this ring
We will shatter them all.
Generations will scar their times
Trying to undo
Us.


(7/11/03, revised 7/14, 7/16/03 and today)

Pulled Back

We mention Oklahoma City --
The Senior physics classes'
Field trip to an amusement park.
Hours in the metal lunchbox bus
Leading us into the swelter.

The crushing
Yellow pull of nostalgia
Yanks me back.

Slammed into the park,
We circle in the Ferris Wheel,
Mark mimeographed sheets
With No. 2 pencils.

The roller coaster sucks out our screams.
We laugh breathlessly.
In the way you laugh
When you know a time is ending.

We are youngstupid.
But we know important times.
We know ceremonies and summers will come
And we will disperse.

Candy wrappers
Blown across the surface
Of woodplank sidewalk.


(7/16/03, revised today)

July Flight

Air rushes.
The wing blinks red.
The new show rests
At a right angle.

The man
Folds his hands,
Looks to the window
Across the aisle.

The drink cart
Clatters through.
The captain asks
We keep our seatbelts

Fastened.


(written today)

Cakey

I didn't have to worry
About the cake.
He had a mind of his own,
Did Cakey.

He would sprout
Frosting-coated legs
And do soft-shoe routines for us
After night fell.

Cakey acted a pest sometimes,
I'll admit.
'Tis unnatural, visitors said,
To have angelfood
Prancing about underfoot.

So we ate him.


(7/14/03, revised today)

For Sale

Slap a UPC on my forehead.
Sell me to a nice lady
Who needs someone
To proofread
Her letters.

My price is reasonable.
Though I'm more expensive
If you want
The "ghostwriting" option.
(Many do.)

Credit cards preferred,
Though I accept
checks and cash.
No change please.
Call me. We'll do lunch.


(7/10/03, revised today)

Stuck Inside of El Dorado With the Tampa Blues Again

Apologies to B. Dylan

When the lone streetlight
Illuminates the entire block
And the loudest sound is the backfire of a car
15 blocks away
I know where I am.

When the dog licks my toes
And the bed fits comfortably
Across the small of my back
And I love the person
Opposite me, breathing in the morning
I know where I should be.

Oh mama
Can this really be it?
To be stuck inside of El Dorado
With the Tampa blues again.


(written today)

Flea Circus

Squint
To see them
Twirl and vault
Across the tiny stage.

Banter
May be loud,
Those around you
May claim the fleas
Are no more than a fog
Of hope.

But.

Squint.
They parade for you,
Clown in the center ring.
Black dots tracing outlines of everywhere.


(written today)