When I Win The Pulitzer
By Mikel K
Poems from November of 2008
"Gradually, he had come to recognize that very often despair, misery, and degeneration are simply the price we're charged for our bad attitudes and myopic vision."
--Tom Robbins
From the introduction to Herman Hesse's SIDDHARTHA
"You only need a heart full of Grace."
--Martin Luther King Jr.
What if your best poems were lost forever?
I wrote some poems, today,
but I can't find the notebook
that I wrote them in.
What if I never find that notebook,
and the poems that I wrote in there are
the best ones that I have ever written,
the best ones that I will ever write?
Mikel K
BS English/Journalism minor
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia
Experience
Currently writing for Salon.com & Rolling Stone.com
Samples Upon Request
Freelance Writer
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Downtown Magazine & Special Sections
Feature Stories
Music Columnist and Music Features Writer
Footnotes Weekly Newspaper; The Atlanta Press; Poets, Artists, and Madmen
Published Poet
I am a creative writer with strong Journalism skills.
I am an excellent interview, great with deadlines.
I am primarily looking for writing work, that I can do from home,
but if you have writing that you need done in Atlanta, Georgia,
we can work something out.
Email me at wordmanmikel@aol.com
to request writing samples.
Hello Mikel,
Thank you for your interest in joining the Obama-Biden Administration. Within a few days, you will receive an email with a link to the more complete on-line application. Please be patient, as we are trying to respond promptly to the large number of people who are interested in working in the Administration.
The Obama-Biden Administration
I'd hate to silence the dog
Sometimes, I let Bundy bark, because I figure that, one day, he may be barking at something that I would like to be made aware of. I'd hate to silence the dog, and have him just sit there and watch as the serial killer made his way towards me.
Do serial killers ever kill men, or do they just kill women?
A sad song
He has a job.
I don't.
I don't know what to do.
I'm about to learn how
to drink my coffee black,
and I've never drank it black before.
I ate grits, without eggs,
for breakfast this morning.
I love mayonnaise,
but I don't want to use it
in my tuna, today,
because then my mayonnaise would be
all gone.
I don't remember ever rationing
my peanut butter, before.
I keep looking in the cupboard,
wondering how long it is until
the food that I got is gone.
I got to find a job,
or I'm going to be singing
a sad song.
Please send any extra food
that you have to Mikel K
858 Vedado Way #2 Atlanta, Ga. 30308
Thanks.
Being Human
Are you on the path to enlightenment?
Do you know all the poses,
but don't have a position?
Do you not eat meat, but are still savage?
What will happen when we run out of oil?
Can one man or woman make a difference,
or will they always succumb to being human?
No animal will die
"Women seem wicked when you're unwanted,"
sang the singer who millions of women wanted.
You can be alone in a crowd.
You can wear a smile when you feel down.
You can look serious when really you're not.
You can eat peanut butter, when you really want steak.
If you eat tofu, no animal will die.
The most beautiful breath that I have ever breathed
So far, I haven't had to sell my c.d.'s,
or my plasma, or my hot body on the streets.
I quit eating meat, and most breads, awhile ago,
so that isn't at issue.
The breath that I am breathing now,
is the most beautiful breath that I have ever breathed.
Back to sleep
I am waking so slowly, this morning,
that I think that I am going to go back to sleep.
Great restraint
I bought chocolate, tonight,
but didn't open it and eat it.
Even in the dark
The path
is clear.
I partied down due to the new President
I drank
too much
coffee,
last night,
celebrating
the victory.
I was spacey,
today,
but happy.
I was high,
but not drunk.
Well, drunk,
but not on
liquor drinks.
Say goodbye to the myopic administration that has raped this nation
I wrote this sentence to practice using the word myopic.
It is a good use of it, don't you think?
Who loves you and when
And why?
There is a saying, or a line of thought, that goes, "Nobody loves you, when you're down and out." Well, that isn't quite right; a better way to put it is: "You really find out who loves you, when you are down and out."
Thanks to all those who have loved me, when I was down and out.
15 percent
I always hear waiters talk of how much money they made,
and not of how many people that they made smile.
Pavlov Male
Her ass, her ass:
why do I stare at her ass,
and not into her soul?
Brothers
I realized, today, that my dogs, Bundy and Morisson, are brothers. The two dogs were not born that way, but events in their lives occurred that brought them together. Isn't that marvelous really, perhaps even a greater event than two dogs being born into such a situation?
Soon
Soon, I won't be able to sit on this porch, due to the winter's cold, but I will not let that dampen the warmth and beauty that I feel, today.
It is nice to relax in the shade, after being in the sun for awhile.
Rejoice
Today is a beautiful day, unlike any other.
Rejoice, give thanks, be happy, give, and live it up.
Bucolic doesn't mean alcoholic
Words don't always mean what they sound.
Light is so important.
When we don't have light, we can't see. Barack Obama offers this great nation light that it has been lacking for almost a decade. We, the people, have been held hostage, in the dark, for too long. I was impressed that Obama reached out to the people who didn't vote for him, and told them that he wanted to be their President, too. I was impressed that people felt like The White House was theirs again, and gathered around it, last night, when it was announced that Senator Barack Obama was now President-Elect Barack Obama.
"Were they protesting?" asked people who I text messaged with this news of Americans gathering around their White House.
"No," I said, "They were just hanging out, happy to have their house back, again."
I have never seen this country so optimistic, so happy, so full of hope as I saw it last night, but like Barack said, we are only getting started, and we all must help
if we really want change.
We can't just vote for Obama, and say, "That's it, I've done my job. I voted," walk away, and sit back, and expect Barack to walk on water, to turn water into wine.
We have to be part of the plan, man.
Damn I'm glad that we got our house back.
Damn I'm glad that George and Dick won't be holding our house hostage for much longer.
I'm not God
Someone who doesn't live in our house, put a long line of trash in front of our house. The trash men came yesterday, but they did not pick up this trash, because it is not in trashcans. I could look at that trash, and get real pissed off, but I'm not going to.
I have thought about picking the trash up, and putting it on the front lawn of the man who lives next door, who put it there. How dare he obstruct my view, when I come out on my patio to read and write. I mean, who the hell does he think that he is?!
But, then, I think, who the hell do I think that I am? Am I supposed to play God in every situation in my life, especially the situations that I especially don't like.
Am I here to rule everybody else's behavior? No, I am just me who must work on me. I am me who must work on my behavior, and putting this man's trash on his front lawn would not be the wise thing to do. The situation will resolve itself; I don't have to be in control of it.
Besides I got a nice broom, and a couple of decent books out of that pile of trash!
Conditioning my cats to live
I have my cats trained to run from the front door, when I approach it, which is good, because I want these two cats, who are used to being outside cats, to be inside cats, and if they are scared of the front door, just a little bit, maybe they will never run through it, and out into the great outdoors. I had a kitty named Madonna, who was very mean to everyone but me; and when my son brought home another kitty, Pai Mai, Madonna started coming home less and less, until she finally got run over in the driveway of the apartment complex that we were living in.
I never actually saw my Madonna, flattened out, bloodied and dead, and I am very thankful for this. One of my neighbors to told me about what had happened, and told me that one of my other neighbors had cleaned my Madonna up from the asphalt. I don't want this to happen to either Jaggar or Kobain, and we, now, live on kind of a busy road, so I will continue to make mean noises at my cats, and rattle my son's old Little League bat at them, when they get too close to the front door.
Indecent sleep
She's a honey, man, still got light in her eyes,
and she's smart too, she won't bore you to tears;
she hasn't, so far, anyway, and, often, by this time,
chatting on the computer, you want to run away
from the girl at the other end,
This one could wind up being more than a love,
more than a lover, she could wind up being a friend,
one who will be there until the end, but who knows,
why plan it all out, we have no control over it, anyway,
turn it over, and have a nice day; let your higher power
figure it out, that is his or her job.
Why get what she called indecent sleep, sleep that
doesn't satisfy you, sleep that doesn't refresh you,
sleep that is not long enough, often enough, decent enough
to you to let you feel good.
Neither are you
I am not where I was,
and I am not
where I am going to be.
And, neither are you!
Gooooooooooo Barack!!!
I woke up, this morning, very excited. Today is THE day. Today is the day that we can turn it all around, change it, make something new happen. I have my fingers crossed, and I am a bit nervous. All I can say is, "Goooooooooo Barack!!"
Unglue you
I need to get off of this computer,
and walk my dogs around the block.
My dogs really enjoy walking with me
around the block.
Oxymoronic dog
Bundy is acting weird this morning.
He is being quiet.
A square is a square
I have needs that aren't being met,
but that's o.k., I'm not meeting anyone else's needs,
and we all know that a square is a square.
It is time to mount my bike
It is time to mount my bike, and ride it for thirty minutes. I told my Doctor that I was riding my bike for about two hours a week, and that was true, when I was living away from the city, because I had to rely on my bike to get into the city. Now, I live in the city, and most things that I need, and most things that I need to do, are close by, and I really don't have to get on my bike to get anywhere, except to a skinnier me, and that is why I am getting up from this table, pulling my fingers off of this laptop, putting on my bicycle helmet, turning on the front and rear bike lights, and heading out into the beautiful, cool dark Atlanta evening to pedal for a half hour. I'm heading to the park, to ride the lit park roads. I will, mostly, be alone in there, because it is night, but that is o.k. I am mostly alone, in here, with the illusion that you who are reading this are really with me, but you're not, now are you?
She won't call
She won't call;
she'll say that it was because of the wine,
she'll say that it was because she is still shy,
like she said that she was when she was a kid,
like in the high school cheerleader picture
that she sent to me, tonight.
She indicated to me, this evening, that it was a no go,
that she was practical, that she would never leave
where she she lived, and that I belonged where I was.
Come to think of it, maybe that is the real reason
that she won't call; why get something started
that can't happen anyway.
Can you imagine being valuable for ornamental purposes?
Can you imagine being valuable for ornamental purposes,
like a flower that has no other reason for existence other than to be stared at;
like a very tall new building built in a city
that is overrun with tall buildings, and sits there vacant
like a woman shunned by a lover who said that he loved her
for decades, and then just left without even saying goodbye.
Can you imagine being ready for love, but there is no one
available to love you?
Can you imagine being a trophy on somebody's shelf,
meals always on time, dressed to the nines but lonely for love?
Can you imagine being a beautiful painting, bought, then stored
where no one can see you, solely an investment, money not love
of art being the reason for your acquisition?
Can you imagine being a prize horse, shot dead, when you are
no longer able to win the race?
Can you imagine putting the gun to your head
or swallowing the pills?
When I Win The Pulitzer
When I win the Pulitzer,
I will not suddenly be able to walk on water.
When I win the Pulitzer,
wars will not stop.
When I win the Pulitzer,
Aids, cancer, Alzheimer’s
and all other debilitating
and deadly diseases will not
be cured.
When I win the Pulitzer
lovers will not stop screaming
at each other; domestic violence
will not cease.
When I win the Pulitzer,
rivers and seas and skies
will not become unpolluted.
When I win the Pulitzer
uncared for and abused
children and animals will still cry.
When I win the Pulitzer,
love will still have the ability
to put an incessant smile on our faces,
and or the capacity to break our hearts.
When I win the Pulitzer,
you will still be you, and I will still be me.
Dependency
He asked me to wake him
if I heard them call his name.
He asked the man beside him
for a smoke.
It's nice fried in olive oil
Redistribute the egg plant;
nobody should go without.
I'm almost out of mayo
I was living high and mighty,
then I stared into the near empty jar.
I'm hungry
I'm one food stamp away
from the soup line.
Will they cater to
my special dietary desires
when I'm down and out?
That man eats a candy bar;
I'm hungry for some green beans.
I most notice not the beautiful people
I most notice not the beautiful people as I travel through downtown, but I notice the down and out. I smiled at a man who sat on a wall, seeming to be lost. He smiled back. Maybe he wasn't homeless, but a child molester, and he looked at me as if I was a child. That is not the way to think. What I thought is that I should go up and talk to him, but I didn't want to get wrapped up in his problems. I like my life, now; it is comfortable. I don't want some insane homeless man to screw it up for me.
And yet, since I am doing so well, principally mentally and physically, which is what matters most to me, right now, it seems to me that I should do something for those who are not doing so well, for those who have less than me.
And not fret
I do not fully understand
the word ionic, as in, "ionic columns"
Best to go back to the dictionary,
and not fret.
With Simpler Needs
Everyone is out being all that they can be, chasing a buck; why can't we all just sit on the porch and read, our dogs at our feet, it seems we might be happier with simpler needs.
my dogs purr and my cats growl
I've figured out that it's all
about you,
but I haven't fully figured out
what it is that I should do.
I figure that I should take it easy,
and the answers will become clear,
as to how to make one so far away
become near.
I loves me some peanuts!
I'm going to bed now.
It was a good day.
Before I go to bed,
I think that I am going to eat some peanuts.
I loves me some peanuts!
When I do this chore
I cleaned the fish tank, this morning.
The fish tank is much easier to clean
than the turtle tank, but still
I, sometimes, procrastinate on doing this job.
Filling the tank up with new water is not so bad;
it is the removal of the old water,
and the cleaning of the stones,
that is a pain in the ass.
Both the fish, and the turtles, are thankful, though,
when I do this chore.
Make him baby, make him
The President-elect picked a "tough guy,"
to be his Chief of Staff. I heard that certain
Republicans were unhappy about this choice,
and that certain Democrats were pleased about it,
which is pretty much par for the course.
It is interesting to see a man pick the people
who can help make or break him.
I am amazed at how few groceries fifty dollars buys you
at the grocery store.
When it really gets started
I was going to go hang upside down
for a bit, from the wall, and do a
shoulder stand, but as I got closer
to the studio, I realized that I was
too tired to be doing that, and that
the dogs deserved to be walked a bit.
There is always tomorrow, until there
are no more tomorrows; and, then,
they tell me that the day after
no tomorrow is when it really gets started.
I'm an equal opportunity petter
My dogs are less competitive
about getting petted.
I think they are becoming
more secure.
I need a new word here
I'm starving
for something
that I
probably
can't digest.
No outside interference
Sunday morning and I am afforded the luxury
of being alone, except for three dogs, two
cats, two turtles, and a fish. I don't see
how people gather in masses on Sunday morning;
I can only talk to the Lord when there is no
outside interference.
I am not pretty enough
I am not pretty enough,
for you to take you clothes off.
I am not pretty enough
for you to believe.
I am not pretty enough,
for you to leave your home.
I am not pretty enough,
for you to leave your husband.
I am not pretty enough,
so I am alone.
Talk of fictitious characters
They talk about the devil
like he was their friend;
the use of fictitious characters
to control us, will it ever end?
I hate heroes
I hate heroes,
because they always let me down.
You hate your father,
because he was never around,
What if he stayed home and beat you,
like my heroes have beaten me down
by proving to me that they are only
human?
Someone is going to kill one of my dogs
Someone is going to kill one of my dogs
by throwing their chicken bones
to the ground in the park
instead of using one of the hundreds of
trashcans that are scattered about the park.
To be entertained
A two year old can entertain himself
with nothing,
some dirt under a tree
leaves
as stick,
and his mother
only needs him
to be entertained.
Breaking point
I want to be disciplined
to that point
where I can break
all the rules.
The dog sleeps on the floor
She bought me a queen's size bed,
but she never much slept in it,
and now, since she no longer sleeps in it, at all,
I sleep with books, and teddy bears
that my children haven't played with in years,
my cell phone, and the remote control for the t.v.
The bed that I had, when she first visited,
had holes in it, and was covered in dog hair,
and dust, and dirt.
She had to sleep on springs protruding from holes
in the mattress, as she got to know me,
until she bought the new bed.
What she hated the most, though, about the old bed,
was that there was no box-spring, just a mattress,
that me and the dog slept on.
Since she bought me a new bed,
the dog sleeps on the floor.
Flying with the angels
I did not see the butterflies
fluttering in the flower garden
this morning,
as i walked my dogs to the park.
Where do butterflies go when it
gets cold outside?
Do they retreat to coffee houses
in some warm climate, and read
books of poetry,
or are they flying with angels?
K Thought while doing the dishes
She was tired of cleaning the frying pan after he used it, so she killed him.
"I think that well-dressed, good looking people eating soup and salad on the patio at a fancy restaurant look stupid."--Mikel K
"If you are passionate about something, people will follow you because they think you know something they don't, some clue to the meaning of the universe. Passion is tricky, though, because it can point to nothing as easily as it points to something."
--Donald Miller
Blue Like Jazz
"...what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do."
--Donald Miller
"Love is both something that happens to you and something you decide upon.
--Donald Miller
"Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove He doesn't exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who is smarter, and honestly I don't care"
--Donald Miller
Blue Like Jazz
Perhaps there is a message inside that they feel that you must have
The dogs want lots of affection, this morning, and I give it to them, but I want to make a living as a writer, so we reach that point where I say, "Go go," and they just look at me, and keep sticking their noses in my hands, so I say, "Go home." Both dogs know what this means, and they head for spots in the sun, on the porch, and let my hands head to the keyboards, for the first time this morning.
I was thinking, strongly, of going back to bed, when I got half way down my first cup of coffee, so I grabbed the laptop and brought it out into the chilly day that exists on my porch, this morning. I have been reading this book called, "Blue Like Jazz," by a guy named Donald Miller, and it has somehow brought me closer to God, but not to the Christian God that Miller is so close to.
I just ordered a copy of "Traveling Mercies," by Anne Lamott, for a penny, off of Amazon, as much because I have written a book called, "I am the male Anne Lamott, as that Miller mention's the book as an influence in his writing, at one of his websites. I found myself wondering if I was reading a book by an atheist would I be similarly influenced by his or her line of thought, and start doubting, or not believing in the existence of a Higher Power.
Why would someone bother selling a book for a penny over the internet? Perhaps there is a message inside that they feel that you must have.
What I want to do
I want to
I want to
I want to
I want to
be sure about
what I want to do.
Solitude
I don't know anything
about anything.
The good looking girl is never alone
Of course, there is a man near her,
and, as only it could be,
he is kind of a bohemian looking guy
because,
she is kind of a bohemian looking girl.
Yuppie chicks don't go out with bohemian guys.
This inconsiderate yuppie trio didn't even look up to see if anyone was waiting to to enter the dog park, as they exited the dog park, this afternoon, like they were walking on water; the chosen ones because they have MBAs, Beamers, and put money in the Priest or Preacher's palm on Sunday. It was as if they existed on the planet alone, and that all people were put here to please them, and all things were put here to be at their immediate disposal.
They went out of turn, for sure, but I think that the caffeine was getting to me, this afternoon. I better return to the decaf, if I want to love all my neighbors; I better lay off the full strength bean, if I want to try to love everybody on the planet.
"What did you just call your dog," asked this woman of me, once I was safely inside the park, and seated on one of the giant rocks that the park has placed there for people to sit on, and for dogs to climb on.
"Shawtie?" I said, not sure what I had just said. I usually only talk to my dogs when I am at the dog park, and I had three of them with me, today; I was dog-sitting Shawtie for my oldest boy, while he went to his fiancée's baby shower.
"No," she said, "That's not what you said."
"Bundy?" I said, kind of amused that this woman had been so intently listening to me banter with my dogs.
"Yes," she said, "That's it. And that is funny, because my name is Bundy."
"So, when I called Bundy, you came closer to me?" I asked her, marveling as she had at the amazing coincidence.
I wanted to tell her, though, how I had wanted to change Bundy's name to Dylan, because I didn't really feel comfortable with the name, since Ted and Al were the only other two Bundy's that came to mind, and how I was with Margaret Bowman a half hour before Ted Bundy killed her, back in my college daze in Tallahassee, Florida;" but I figured that she wouldn't want to get into all that, and we both just told each other to, "Have a nice day," at the same time.
Isn't it funny, "Have a nice day," is the polite way to blow someone off, at least at the dog park.
When I got back home, I looked in the mirror. I am not as thin as I would like to be, but I am thinner than I was, last year.
Isn't that what you would call progress?
But what if progress is not happening fast enough for you; how do you then feel, like, what if Obama doesn't change the world by the end of January of next year?
Looks
She is looking, just as I am looking,
but though we have found each other,
neither of us has found what we are looking for.
Some songs never become number one
You put me on hold,
and I stayed there
solid, silent, hoping
that I would move up
on your list.
But, I didn't.
Why you are where you are and I am still here
You want to blow me off,
like some bitch who thinks
that she is too good looking
to even spit on me.
You don't reply to a simple question,
you hide like a dog that has been beaten
by a master who had, so far, only shown the dog
love, and I haven't even touched you
with a mean noun,verb or adjective.
You are silly, stupid, thoughtless, and maybe scared.
I am a bully, and I am mean.
Why some things conclude that really didn't have to
There were simple things that she could have done
to have gotten me to continue to make her smile,
but she didn't do them.
Anticipation
The dogs love to come out onto the porch
in the morning. Every move that I make,
leading up to carrying out the laptop
to the porch is watched with great anticipation
by both dogs.
Mail tale
I have gotten no mail in four or five days,
no junk mail, even; no bills.
I lowered the mailbox, this morning,
not because there has been no mail in it,
for awhile, but because I could not see
in it, at the height where it was before.
I had to raise my arm and stick my hand
down in it to feel if there was any mail,
and this was an uncomfortable thing to do.
Thoughts on poems about the self
Perhaps you only write poems about yourself,
because you are insular, because you are limited
in your knowledge of this world,
or perhaps you only write poems about yourself,
because that is your experience, that is what
you see in this world, what you feel.
The Catholic Church feeds them on Tuesday and Thursday
I was going to go the Catholic Church
and help them feed the homeless, today,
but I decided not to.
I'm not sure why I didn't go; I woke up in time to.
Part of me says that I didn't go because I didn't want to just drop in,
and part of me says that I felt uncomfortable, somehow,
about the whole thing.
Anyway, I'm sure that the homeless got fed
without me,
and maybe I will go down there on Thursday,
which is the next time they feed them.
Don't write about yourself
Don't write about yourself
was one bit of advice that the educated poet gave readers
in his interview.
"Only younger poets do that," he said.
Some things come naturally
The dogs lick the floor cleaner
than I am able to scrape my bowl,
and they never caught the back
of my father's hand.
Patient dog who love bananas
The dogs wait patiently
while I cut bananas
into small pieces
that will be frozen.
They know that I will cut
the ends of every other banana
or so, and throw them to them.
I don't think that they care
that the bananas are organic,
but it is important to me.
And this is good
At the beginning
of the new session
I thought
that I was ready for
an advanced class.
Now, as I think about it,
there will always be
a class in front of me
that I will be reaching for.
And this is good.
Star student or skip out?
A kid just walked away
from the high school
that is located near my house,
carrying books.
Was he supposed to be leaving
school, this early, or is he
skipping out?
Different forms of amusement
Friends can enhance your life,
but I have, also, found that
friends can drag you down, so
I would rather stay home and
find things to amuse myself with
than rely on friends to amuse me.
Lunchtime Chatter
It is noon and the birds
are calling out to each
other, loudly. They are
trying to decide where
to have lunch, and what
to have for lunch.
Sushi sounds good to some
of the birds, while the
other birds are in the mood
for barbecue.
Too busy for a dog's love
The dog licks me on the hand
and, though I really have nowhere to be,
for hours, I feel like I am in a hurry
and must get back to my laptop,
back to the writing of my poetry,
back to the reading of my books.
Funny, we can be in a hurry
when we really have nowhere
to go.
Who is putting money in their pockets while our soldiers die?
The soldiers are not only killing
those chosen as the enemy by someone
else, they are also killing themselves.
Whose war is this anyway?
Which it shouldn't be
Compliments should not be why you write poetry,
but compliments are nice, like stars in a dark
sky, if it is a path that you are on, which it
shouldn't be.
Solace
Seagulls sit on my patio desk.
They will never walk the beach.
Sometimes I reach for them,
and pat them on the head. Like
the angels, and turtles at my
feet, they give me solace.
My love for the word
I have long known that teachers can kill
the lust you have for the word in your heart.
As I embark on trying to find an MFA Program
in Poetry, I am learning that it is good
to learn about the teachers in the programs
that I am considering.
If someone writes poetry that I don't like
or respect, why would I want to study under
them?
I don't just want a Degree in Poetry,
I want an expansion of my love for the word.
The pill update
So, I went off the little white pill,
and the results were, basically, disastrous.
I am still the same old mean, angry,
quick with the scathing tongue man
that I was before I went on this pill.
So, I went back on the pill,
which means that I have gone through
a withdrawal period, and a readjustment period
in the passage of several days.
Both withdrawal and readjustment bring with them
their own set of challenges.
I am still committed to getting off this pill,
as it has bad long term side effects, and is bad for
both my weight and my diabetes, but I am going to hold off
and see if I can not find a substitute for this pill.
Weird jealousy
One of my favorite girls
is now dating a girl.
I admit that I am a bit jealous,
which, somehow, seems a bit strange.
But what if you just collect them?
It is cold out. Underneath my heavy jacket
I sweat. I am covered in water wherever I
arrive after riding my bike. Postage stamps
must be licked before they can be of any use.
What value the flower?
She said that she had friendship
to offer me, and I wondered what
good was that to me?
The always unfriendly woman who works at my pharmacy
The always unfriendly woman who works at my pharmacy
snapped at me, today, so I snapped back. I am concerned
that I snapped because I did not have the little white
pill playing interference for me. If this mean-faced woman
had not snapped at me, made a pithy little comment that she
had no business making, I probably would just have taken
the wrong amount of pills that she gave me, and gone home;
such is my desire to not have to deal with her, but, as I
said, I am concerned that without the little white pill I
may be more prone to snapping at rude people who snap at me.
Is it my job to snap back at people who snap at me, or should
I just ignore their pithy little comments? In this case, I am
just going to change pharmacies, though I have been going to
this one for years.
Whose rules?
Would you rather write a hundred thousand poems
from the heart and soul, or ten that follow somebody
else's rules and regulations?
Star student or skip out?
A kid just walked away
from the high school
that is located near my house,
carrying books.
Was he supposed to be leaving
school, this early, or is he
skipping out?
Different forms of amusement
Friends can enhance your life,
but I have, also, found that
friends can drag you down, so
I would rather stay home and
find things to amuse myself with
than rely on friends to amuse me.
Lunchtime Chatter
It is noon and the birds
are calling out to each
other, loudly. They are
trying to decide where
to have lunch, and what
to have for lunch.
Sushi sounds good to some
of the birds, while the
other birds are in the mood
for barbecue.
Too busy for a dog's love
The dog licks me on the hand
and, though I really have nowhere to be,
for hours, I feel like I am in a hurry
and must get back to my laptop,
back to the writing of my poetry,
back to the reading of my books.
Funny, we can be in a hurry
when we really have nowhere
to go.
Who is putting money in their pockets while our soldiers die?
The soldiers are not only killing
those chosen as the enemy by someone
else, they are also killing themselves.
Whose war is this anyway?
Which it shouldn't be
Compliments should not be why you write poetry,
but compliments are nice, like stars in a dark
sky, if it is a path that you are on, which it
shouldn't be.
Solace
Seagulls sit on my patio desk.
They will never walk the beach.
Sometimes I reach for them,
and pat them on the head. Like
the angels, and turtles at my
feet, they give me solace.
My love for the word
I have long known that teachers can kill
the lust you have for the word in your heart.
As I embark on trying to find an MFA Program
in Poetry, I am learning that it is good
to learn about the teachers in the programs
that I am considering.
If someone writes poetry that I don't like
or respect, why would I want to study under
them?
I don't just want a Degree in Poetry,
I want an expansion of my love for the word.
The pill update
So, I went off the little white pill,
and the results were, basically, disastrous.
I am still the same old mean, angry,
quick with the scathing tongue man
that I was before I went on this pill.
So, I went back on the pill,
which means that I have gone through
a withdrawal period, and a readjustment period
in the passage of several days.
Both withdrawal and readjustment bring with them
their own set of challenges.
I am still committed to getting off this pill,
as it has bad long term side effects, and is bad for
both my weight and my diabetes, but I am going to hold off
and see if I can not find a substitute for this pill.
Weird jealousy
One of my favorite girls
is now dating a girl.
I admit that I am a bit jealous,
which, somehow, seems a bit strange.
But what if you just collect them?
It is cold out. Underneath my heavy jacket
I sweat. I am covered in water wherever I
arrive after riding my bike. Postage stamps
must be licked before they can be of any use.
What value the flower?
She said that she had friendship
to offer me, and I wondered what
good was that to me?
The always unfriendly woman who works at my pharmacy
snapped at me, today, so I snapped back. I am concerned
that I snapped because I did not have the little white
pill playing interference for me. If this mean-faced woman
had not snapped at me, made a pithy little comment that she
had no business making, I probably would just have taken
the wrong amount of pills that she gave me, and gone home;
such is my desire to not have to deal with her, but, as I
said, I am concerned that without the little white pill I
may be more prone to snapping at rude people who snap at me.
Is it my job to snap back at people who snap at me, or should
I just ignore their pithy little comments? In this case, I am
just going to change pharmacies, though I have been going to
this one for years.
Whose rules?
Would you rather write a hundred thousand poems
from the heart and soul, or ten that follow somebody
else's rules and regulations?
Perfect asanas
We joked, in Yoga class, today,
that when we die, all our poses
will be equal.
Stop listening to her
All she talks about
is something that I
have asked her not to
talk about.
I guess that she must
really need to talk
about it, but I really
don't need to hear it,
so, I guess, I will
have to just stop
listening to her.
Resume
I have one of those stack washer driers,
the kind that are smaller than the regular ones,
and my drier takes forever to dry clothes.
I am not complaining.
For most of my life, I have had to load my clothes up
and take them somewhere to wash them.
I am just commenting.
I also have a dish washer for the first time
in my life. I am 51 years old, and I've never
had a dishwasher.
Does that say something to you about me.
Fathers are not always correct
I wish that everything I write
was publishable.
I wish that everything that I write,
would be loved by everyone; sort of.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,
my father used to say to me.
Of course, my father also said to me
that he didn't think that I "had what it took
to make," it in the game of writing.
Fathers are not always correct.
Dusting the cobwebs from my brain
Honey please, I anticipate your direction:
highfalutin with your advanced degree.
Of course, it could just be that I am thinking
negatively, just awoken from a nap; I'm ready
to snap at just about anything, sometimes,
when I wake from these short periods of sleep;
you'd think that I'd be rested, but that's
just not always the case.
I want to always wear a smile on my face,
but sometimes it takes awhile to wipe the
sleep of off my face, dust the cobwebs from
my brain.
Would you like a dead cat with your chowder?
The cats like to hide in the bottom of the pantry;
I almost closed one of them in there, yesterday.
Can you imagine coming to grab a can of soup
and finding a dead cat in there?
Everyone is asleep but me
I am very tired, but I can't yet sleep. I think that I drank a full strength coffee too late in the day. The dogs are asleep. The cats are asleep. The turtles and the fish are asleep, and, soon, hopefully, I will join them.
Two things
It is Saturday night,
and I just vacuumed the carpet.
Two things:
One) I never used to vacuum.
Two) I was never home on a Saturday night.
Off of the floor
He's sprawled across the floor,
once more; didn't learn his lesson
the time before, or the time before that.
What's it going to take
for an addict to get up
off of the floor?
A wish for a kiss
I'd cover the window
but, I'd probably miss the light.
It's kind of lonely around here,
I really wish that I could kiss you,
tonight.
An abundance of multi-colored leaves
There are leaves everywhere
in my neighborhood. Beautiful
brightly colored leaves
covering the trees,
covering the streets,
and sidewalks below the trees,
covering the lawns
in front of the houses,
waiting for someone with a rake
to come along.
It is an apple from North Carolina
The apple on my desk often invites me
to bite into it, but then that apple
would not be there for me to stare at,
and marvel at its beauty.
The interview went well
The woman who interviewed me
was friendly and intelligent.
She would be a good boss.
I feel that I would be comfortable
with her in charge of me.
She asked many questions
over the hour and fifteen minutes
that we sat in her office,
and I was glad that I had intelligent
replies to give her.
She said that I did well enough
to proceed to the second interview
with the general manager of the book store.
I hope that this interview goes just as well.
I would really like to get the job,
which is as a barista in a coffee shop
of a major chain bookstore.
One of the fringe benefits that she said
that employees get is that they can check out
two hardcover books from the bookstore at a time.
Yikes, wouldn't that be great!
With my heart
I realized this morning,
as I was feeding the cats,
that I trust women doctors,
women therapists,
women nurses,
women lawyers,
women to govern the world,
but,
I have yet to find
a woman who I trust
with my heart.
It would be grossly unfair to not take them out
I didn't feel like walking the dogs, tonight.
It was wet out, and cold, when I got home, earlier,
but I knew that it would be grossly unfair
to not take them out,
and,
it was warmer and drier out, than it had been earlier.
The walk was quite nice, and both the dogs thanked me
profusely when it was over.
Nothing much more than a nap of an evening
I stagnated tonight,
except for drying the clothes.
Her words
Her words
stain
the atmosphere.
I strain to hear something
worth listening to.
I wish that you were here with me
I am alone, again, this morning
except for the dogs, cats, turtles,
and fish.
I am mostly alone, and, mostly,
this is fine, but then there are moments
like this when I wish that you were here
with me.
Many strange characters
The guy next door was complaining,
this morning, about how the homeless
had rifled through his trash, and spewed
a great deal of it about the sidewalk.
I thought that it was funny that he was
complaining about the homeless, because
I regularly see homeless men knocking
on his door, I assume, to buy marijuana,
or to collect money that he owes them
for doing work for him.
Life is a funny thing full of many strange characters.
I am
I won't let my cats outside, anymore,
but I will open the front door for them,
so that they can stare at the world
through the security door, and see
what is happening in front of them.
My cats, also, like to climb onto the window sill,
and stare at birds, and squirrels,
whose cousins they used to chase,
when we lived in a house that didn't
have a busy street in front of it.
You get to know your cats better,
when they are not outside all the time,
so if they are not completely happy
about the situation, I am.
How to flog a dead horse
He
re-writes poems
thirty or forty times
over the period of months.
By that time,
the poems that he writes,
must certainly be dead.
How many bowls of Cheerios can save us?
She is sure
that the world is ending
soon,
so,
she has stocked up on staples,
for her and her children to eat,
and she tells me that I ought to
do the same.
Never play fight with your black cat
I made the mistake of play fighting,
once or twice, with my kitty Jaggar,
with my foot, with white socks on,
and, now, very often, when I walk by
my kitty Jaggar, with white socks on,
he bites or scratches my foot.
On the shelf
Someone asked me, tonight, what kind of poetry did I write,
and my first thought was, well why don't you read some,
and figure that out for yourself.
People like to pigeonhole poetry, just like record labels
like to pigeonhole bands.
"Are they the Led Zeppelin type, or are they more like The Butthole Surfers?"
People want to know where they can put you on the shelf.
Some people have problems way worse than this one in their lives
The toilet handle broke tonight,
and now the toilet is making obscene flushing noises.
I tried to take the rest of the handle off of the toilet,
so I could go to the hardware store, and buy a new one,
but I couldn't get the broken handle off the toilet.
I am happy that the toilet still flushes,
even though I have to stick my hand down into water,
every time, and grab the chain to do it.
Smooth surfaces
My dad had this old car
that he kept in mint condition,
and when I got my license
he let me drive it,
and I put a dent in it.
A note on tea
If you drink one kind of tea, mostly,
and then you drink another kind of tea, for a bit;
when you return to the first kind of tea
it will taste different.
I like mayonnaise
I am listening to Mozart.
I never listen to Mozart.
Recently I was listening
to The Sex Pistols, and,
mostly, I listen to The Doors.
I don't like to listen to
music that I am not completely
familiar with when I write.
I don't want to be trying
to figure out the music
when I am figuring out what
to write.
I like mayonnaise.
And when things are not perfect
You can't improve on perfect,
so if something is perfect
for you, leave it alone.
I took the dogs out for coffee,
tonight, and Bundy was a complete
pain in the ass. He acted as if
he had mainlined a near overdose
of caffeine; barking, intensely
fidgeting, jumping up on me,
and spilling my coffee and then
licking it off of my pants.
I thought about putting him in
the doggie want ads; I really did.
He is such a pain in the ass,
so much of the time.
Maybe I can take him to Nebraska
and drop him off at a hospital.
Rousseau was a complicated character
It's kind of private.
I don't want just anyone,
looking at it, although
most of it appears worldwide
soon enough after.
Its way of saying hello
The toilet keeps making hissing sounds,
and I don't think that it is simply its
way of saying hello.
More like a winter's day
I have the heat turned way up,
and, yet, I still crawled underneath
the covers, and I never cover up,
when I'm in bed.
I understood the reason why,
when I took the dogs out to
do their thing: it is colder
out there than it has been,
yet this fall; more like a winter's day.
Glad to see me
I went to bed late, and woke up early;
the dogs and cats were glad to see me
fixing their breakfast for them, at this hour.
Holiday Dressing Tip
Don't show your breasts
to your boss,
at the Christmas party.
"I do not wish to walk upon water."
--Siddhartha
Black cat attacks
I've told you that my black cat
will attack my white sock,
as I walk by him, on my way to dry some clothes,
or to cook something in the kitchen,
quite unaware that he is down there,
and ready for a fight.
Well, it turns out, that my black cat
will, also, attack my black sock, as it,
quite innocently, does Yoga on the kitchen floor.
The cats are not so obedient
The dogs know not to go
on my yoga mat, when I have it
rolled out on the floor, but
the cats are not so obedient.
They sit on it, they roll on it,
and, right now, they are
play fighting on it.
All that bad cat behavior
will be taken care of
when I take back my mat
to do downward facing dog.
Faith
I've got more lotions and creams
for psoriasis, than the Pope has
got gold.
Well, certainly, not that much;
say, why doesn't The Pope give
all his wealth away to the poor?
I guess God won't keep him alive,
if he doesn't travel in a bullet
proof golf cart.
That is faith, baby.
It all begins and ends with the mind
I ran into Mlle. Natalie in France, Mademoiselle Stacy in Italy,
and Miss Thing in New York City; strictly in my imagination, of
course, which is where the best things happening to and for me happen.
My mind, baby. It all begins and ends with the mind.
You just went away
You just went away.
I don't like people
who just go away.
My dog gets separation anxiety,
when I leave him outside the store.
I am like a salivating dog
when you leave me.
Don't leave me.
Ride with a whisper
I'm a venerable old man, even alone, sighing in the cold.
My wishes are horses, and every man can ride with a whisper;
just return the stallion before the sun rises in the west.
To seek nothing
The girl with hepatitis-C is partying down while the band plays on
It seems that we would make wiser choices, the closer we get to death,but we don't; most of us. The guy playing guitar who looks so cute on the stage, especially around the fifth drink won't be there in the hospital room, as we suffer, on the way to an early death. The only ones happy, throughout your misery, are the ones who sell it to you, like Cindy McCain.
This is good
She is scraping eggplant smothered in red sauce,
and dotted with Parmesan cheese from her plate.
"This is good," she said to me, a couple of times,
making me smile.
I do not get to feed her often, but, tonight,
she is here, spending the night, after swim practice.
I probably could have fed her cardboard,
and she would have loved it. A few hours
up and down a lane in the pool, tend to
do that to a teenager.
Yawn
Poetry that is written
just to be poetry, bores
me.
He was a sadist looking for a masochist
Tick Tock Not
His sister ran away
she didn't want to
learn how to build watches.
What Buddha John Lennon and The Beatniks have in common
Buddha blew off his wife and kids
to go on the road to end human suffering.
Morisson looked at me, as if I was stupid, as I tried to teach him a new trick, tonight.
"Circle," I said to him, and tried to lead the dog in a short walk around himself, by holding a treat in front of his nose, like the dog trick website, on the internet said to do. Morisson would, sometimes, go about a third of the way around, but that was it; he would stop.
Bundy watched all this, and said, "What the fu--. I ain't having none of that, either, and he refused to even sit down when asked or told to, "sit."
These dogs are spoiled. There will have to be changes around this house.
I didn't watch any t.v. tonight and I feel calmer
Who needs Prozac when you have a remote control
that you don't have to press the on button on?
What good is knowledge
What good is knowledge
there is still war.
What good is knowledge
people are still starving.
It's fu fu fu fu fu--ing cold outside
Twenty seven degrees out there
the channel of weather says
as I head to bed
happy that the heat
is working so well/in this abode.
God is not evil.
God can not be bottled
and sold.
We all get closer to God
as we grow old.
Mass confusion
The cat chases the light across the floor,
that I tease it with, from the flashlight
like I try to understand what some poets
are talking about in the lines that they have written.
Food in it for tomorrow
I'm about to do triangle pose
next to the dishwasher as it
makes gurgling noises.
I'm about to do side angle pose
by the sink that I just cleaned.
I'm about to do downward facing dog
by the refrigerator, that, thankfully,
has food in it for tomorrow.
No matter where it comes from
Loneliness is an affliction of the soul,
not of the mind, or the body, said the man
in his book that I am reading.
The affect is the same on you, no matter
where it comes from.
Nobody loves me/when push comes to shove
The hours in each day tick by too slowly
until the time will come when you will arrive.
I know that I know you not now.
About the common good
Everybody wants to hear themselves sing
so they gather in public
acting like they care about the common good.
Daddy wasn't happy
Austin was supposed to be the one,
but it wound up being Emily, and
that didn't make Daddy happy.
And that was love
We were into each other
not just about ourselves.
How a great philosopher tried to pick up chicks
Rousseau didn't show his dick,
he pulled his pants down and
showed his ass, hoping that
some woman would spank it.
It is like an ADD evening
It is like an ADD evening
for me, here at home, I can't
really concentrate on anything.
My normal game plan doesn't
interest me.
It's too bad I can't call
the limo, and have it take
me to my private jet to fly
me to a posh hotel in Washington,
so that I can tell Congress
that I need more money.
Did you see that Congress clapped
for hours for that man who just
got convicted of several felonies?
Congress certainly is a world
unto itself. Don't you just feel
real good about things knowing
that those guys and girls are
looking out for your best interests?
I need a better photographer
I'm not a very sexy thing.
My son took pictures of me,
for me, tonight, and I don't
stack up to what is on t.v
or in film, or is on the
cover of magazines.
I'm not sure what to do
about this, except for
maybe find a better photographer
than my son.
I can't donate blood today
They think that I am going to stay on the line
and wait for someone to come on and tell me
that I owe them money.
I already know that,
and the conversation would do neither one of us
any good. "You can't get blood from a turnip,"
is how I think my dad used to put it,
so,
when the computer voice asks me to, "hold for
a very important call," I just push, "End call,"
and my phone.
Lips
I love lips; not any lips, but your lips on mine, our eyes open or closed, it doesn't matter. It is about lips, succulent lips, locked, or probing; telling each other the truth or lies. There is no disguise at this point in time, there is only one thing that matters; lips; your lips my lips, hurtling through time without a space ship. This trip is ours. What will we find. Lips. Lips. Lips that drive me out of my mind.
It's not in any textbook
She would not allow
Orbilius to spank her,
just her master;
and what she learned,
she swore,
could not be taught.
A world of our own choosing
At first, she patrolled his parameters
so as to not allow them to expand;
then, she decreased his borders, gave
orders that he had to follow.
Of course, the fellow had to follow no one.
It is a world of our own choosing.
Who taught the teacher?
Who taught the teacher
that cracking the whip
was the way to instill
a love of knowledge in
pupils?
Who starts the day
by lighting a cigarette?
Who stumbles into bed
in a blackout?
Who asks questions
that can never really be answered?
Seize the day, Horace
Seize the day, Horace,
and the rest of you;
see what you can do
that you didn't think
that you could do,
and do all the normal things, too.
Brush your teeth, floss,
and dream of publication,
if that is what your dream is;
whatever your dream is,
work on it, as you do the laundry.
Don't squander time, it is precious,
but, also, do not live your life
rushing from the beginning of one dash to the next,
stop watch in hand.
Daddy wasn't happy
Austin was supposed to be the one,
but it wound up being Emily, and
that didn't make Daddy happy.
And that was love
We were into each other
not just about ourselves.
please ignore what i have written
please ignore what i have written.
i was smitten by something
that shouldn't have bitten me.
Come
I cannot hide my love for you
any longer
it only has grown stronger
this time that we have been
apart
come satisfy us.
I am not yours you are not mine
I am not your you are not mine
but hold me and let's spend
this precious time that we have
together possessing each other
like we own each other.
Mendiez pour plus
Je serrerai vos mamelons
avec ma forte prise
les doigts vous provoquant la douleur
cela a grand besoin de plus de douleur
Je fesserai votre âne mou
jusqu'à ce que ce soit douloureux et vous mendierez,
vous mendierez pour plus.
Should you be phony for love?
I blew it; I blew the illusion that I was anything
but what I was. I blew it and I blew love, unless
love is something that you shouldn't have to be phony for.
We who have heat are certainly blessed
It's one of those days where I wake up
at noon, and want to go back to bed as
soon as I've fed the animals, had a cup
of coffee, and eaten my oatmeal.
It's cold outside, but not as dangerously
cold as it was, outside, last night.
I hope that there was room in all the shelters
for all the homeless.
Jesus is subject to interpretation
Jesus must have said that
the rich will ride into heaven
on camels,
the more money you got
the more gold you can
build your stairway to heaven with.
I wonder what the turtles think about it
The water from the filter in the turtles' tank
runs incessantly, like a broken toilet,
only the sounds that it emits are more pleasant,
like that of a stream running in the woods.
The pleasant sound used to irritate me, but I
have grown used to it, and, now, it almost gives
me comfort.
I wonder what the turtles think about it.
Like a couple of beatniks on Benzedrine
The cats were manic, in the middle of the night,
last night, running from one end of the abode
to the other, around 4 a.m., play fighting
at the end of their sprint marathon,
rattling the blind on the door, at that unearthly hour
to look out at God knows what.
I wondered if they had gotten hold of some sort of upper,
if, maybe, I had dropped some coffee beans on the ground,
and they had pounced on them, played with them, and then
swallowed them, and were now high, like a couple of beatniks on Benzedrine.
I am thankful
The end is often near, but it never comes;
somehow food finds its way into my existence,
and, for this, I am thankful.
Where a dog feels most secure
I hear noises outside,
and so does Bundy,
he wakes and moves
from under my feet
at my desk
to the foot of my bed
where he likes to reside
even though that is not
where his comfortable blanket
is placed for him
Living in Heaven
I must be alone in my thoughts often,
that is just how it has to be, I used
to be the life of the party, when drunk,
but only to a certain point in the evening,
then I was the trouble maker at the party.
How can you be the charismatic charmer,
one moment, and then soon lapse into
blacked out alcoholic rage?
They say it's a gene, a disease that only
a Higher Power can remove from you. I'm
glad that he took it away from me; life
was Hell, and, now, I feel like I'm living
in Heaven.
Chocolate gives me the biggest orgasms of all
Need I say more?
Need I tell it from the mountain?
Even looking straight in front of us
The sound of fire engines, alarms blaring,
fills the outside air, as I sit here, at my desk.
I am so blessed to not be experiencing what
some are going through, right now. Fate is
a strange master; we never really know what
it is planning, even looking straight in front of us.
Polyp
She is a polyp
on his existence,
that he can not afford
to get rid of.
Sometimes I still try
I can not speak of rich women unhappy
in their mansions, for I do not know
really how they feel.
I can not tell you how a turkey feels
when you kill it, but I assume
that it would prefer not to be on your table
as you give thanks.
I can not tell you how a cop feels
when he crosses the line, and is brutal
to someone who he is arresting.
I can not tell you how John Lennon felt
when he realized that he was going to die.
I can not tell you many things,
but, as a poet, sometimes I still try.
Cats salivating like dogs
The cats wait in the kitchen,
in the morning, salivating
like Pavlov's dogs
in anticipation of receiving
the little bit of wet cat food
that I put in small bowls
for them every morning.
No more Niagara Falls
My toilet is fixed,
and I am happy. It
does not sound like
Niagara Falls in there
anymore.
A painful awakening
One of the dogs scratched my leg
this morning, as I got out of the
bed. I'm pretty sure that it was
Bundy; he often jumps up on me,
like he is not supposed to.
There is something weird about pain
being introduced into such a quiet
part of the morning.
Waking should be pleasant, not painful.
For many a page
I am less her quarry
than her lab experiment,
a sort of reptile
to be dissected;
a term paper to be written,
theme to be presented,
and then elaborated on
for many a page.
The way that it has to be
Cats scatter
when I open
the front door,
which is the way
I like it.
They run from
the door,
not out the door,
which is the way
that it has to be.
The Officials
The Officials conferred with The Officials.
The Officials had meetings with The Officials
The Officials sent memos to The Officials.
The Officials made phone calls to The Officials.
The Officials sent emails to The Officials.
The Officials teleconferenced with The Officials.
Official Edicts were issued.
Official Speeches were made.
Official policies were put in place.
Official laws were passed,
and still nothing got done.
Keeping an eye out
My friend gave me five pounds of espresso beans,
yesterday. It will take awhile for me to grind
and drink them all. The beans will last me until
the first pay check from my new job arrives. It
is funny how The Lord, and good friends keep an
eye out for the things you need.
It is that kind of day
Morisson is glued to my foot.
Bundy's nose is glued to the front door.
You can tell where their primary loyalties are,
Morisson to me, Bundy to guarding the abode.
One of the cats just knocked something down
at the end of the hallway. I am in no hurry
to inspect what disaster has been caused;
it is that kind of day.
Lazy.
I want to eat, but I don't feel like fixing it.
Something must be given thanks
I am thankful to have children who
are happy, healthy, and who love me.
I am happy to have dogs, cats, turtles,
and fish. They keep me smiling.
I am thankful for the weird family
that I am part of. It's never like
Leave It To Beaver, is it?
I am thankful for my friends.
I am thankful for the heat that I have
in this apartment; it is cold outside.
I am thankful for the drier that is
drying my clothes. All my life I have
gone to the Laundromat.
I am thankful that this abode has a
dishwasher. It is such nice convenience.
I am thankful to be starting a job,
on Tuesday. I know that so many people
are still looking.
I am thankful for the love that people
give me and the challenges that they present
me.
I am thankful for the Creator,
whether you call him or her God,
or your higher power, or Allah,
Buddha, Christ, or Krishna,
something is more powerful than us,
something must be given thanks.
Pray for Mumbai
Mumbai not good.
Give thanks for
your warm home
tonight your plans
for tomorrow that
they can continue.
Pray for Mumbai.
I watched The Rabbit Video, below, and decide to write a
letter to Giorgio Armani. Maybe, you will watch it, and
decide to write a letter, too.
Mr. Armani,
I have great respect for you as a designer.
You are very talented, very creative.
I ask that you use your creativity to find
something other than rabbits, and other
animals to make your creations of.
The process by which the furs are taken
from animals is sickening, and evil. Surely
you do not want to be part of such, just
to make a dollar.
I hope that you and your family and friends
have a happy and safe holiday season. I also
hope that you find some merit in my letter,
and start to stop the killing of innocent
animals to be used in your clothing.
Thank you for your time,
Mikel K Poet
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/armani_fur_investigation
Who ever wants to get sick
I have been fighting
a bit of a cold
for the past several days.
I don't want to get sick;
I mean, who ever wants to
get sick.
No dead pig this year
I should eat no turkey or ham,
this Thanksgiving, which will
be the first time in 51 years
that a turkey or a pig has not
had to die for me to give thanks.
It will be weird not eating Turkey.
The ham I can live without.
You too can eat off of The President Elect's face
They are selling Obama plates,
"limited supply," they are saying;
you, too, can eat off of Obama's face.
Some people will cheapen anything for a buck.
Thanks linger until all the stuffing is eaten
In leftovers, the beauty of the day
remains with you for as long as the
food holds out.
Am I a poet manque?
Don't think so.
False existences
How many facades are false,
cheery exteriors wanting to
die inside?
How many smiles hide a desire
to be dead?
How often does the laughing man
turn to violence?
We weathered the storm
There were moments, that lasted for years
where we didn't get along, but we made it.
There are certain interactions that I would rather avoid
I wanted to check and see if I had received any mail, today,
but as I got closer to my front door, I thought that I heard
one of the crack addicts who hang out some at the house next
door screaming, so I came back into the apartment, deciding
to check and see if I have any mail at a later time.
The dogs smile as their teeth tear through pig
She forgot that I don't eat meat any longer,
and brought a big hunk of ham over, on the plate
full of food that she brought me from her mother's house.
The dogs wound up being happy that she made this mistake.
Even if there are more people in it
She complained so profusely
about her job, the last time
that she ran my few groceries
through her register, that,
even when she smiles, now, I go to
another line, even if there are
more people in it.
And then not be able to find it
I had hung onto the receipts
until I that point in time
where I needed them, and then
I couldn't find them;
is that not weird, to have something
all along, until the point where
it finally becomes of use, and then
not be able to find it.
Her full undivided attention
We check her ulterior motives
when she says that she wants to
spend the night with me.
We put parameters on her stay;
if you are coming to stay
you will stay, and not wander
over to a companion's house.
That puts her father at ease,
and means that I will get to
enjoy her full, undivided attention;
as full attention, as two humans
locked into the internet can and
will give each other.
Silence is my reply
You bombard me with
too many thoughts
too many words
too many feelings.
When failure is tasty
The empty chocolate bar wrapper
laying on my desk in front of me
is indication that I have failed.
Failure can taste so very good, though.
I want the Venus de Milo to hold me
Getting her to love me,
is harder than trying to get
the Venus de Milo to hold me.
Your day will be brighter
Think not about yesterday
for there is nothing you
can do about the milk that
was spilled, the eggs that fell
to the floor, the car that
was wrecked, the promises
that were broken, the love
that wasn't made.
Think only of the smiles
that you put on each other's
faces, and your day will be
brighter.
Tori
She doesn't play the piano,
she makes love to it,
and, if anyone was from somewhere else,
and not here, it would be her.
Does it matter to the dead how they got there?
While people were being killed in Mumbai
by terrorists,
terror was being wreaked on a Wal-Mart
in New York, aggressive bargain shoppers
trampling to death the man who opened
the store doors for them
I'll have to wait until next Thanksgiving
I'm out of stuffing
for this year.
While I pursue a buzz
My mind doesn't matter.
My body doesn't matter.
Bad time to have lunch
I want to give blood
but not to the rug in a fancy hotel
after a terrorist has shot me
for being a Westerner.
Why some feel it is so important
I don't know how to write
an Italian Sonnet and I
will probably never learn
why some feel that it is
important to do so.
Very Sterile
Very sterile
is the communication, now.
Thirst
If I had to wait any longer
I would burst; it's for you
I thirst.
Identity crisis
You can get lost
looking for yourself.
Still I don't wish I was a teddy bear
I sleep on a bed with teddy bears
that my children left behind;
the teddy bears do not have to
get up early to go to work,
the teddy bears can stay in bed all day,
if they are feeling depressed.
Still, I don't wish I was a teddy bear.
And not just a man in the mountains with a gun to his heart
Someone looks upon what happened in Mumbia as good,
they have a smile on their face.
No charge
Lick an ice cream
and re-create the
feeling of youth.
There,
I just saved you
a therapy session.
A case of failed diplomacy
I couldn't translate what was written
in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
in my Spanish to English dictionary.
But instead
You could have been here,
you could have been holding me.
The cops ran from the terrorists
Should we look upon them as gutless cowards,
or just as human?
Normalcy
I like being at the grocery store,
just a part of the show.
What they have said
War is over if you want it,
but the men and women who
have been in charge have said
that we don't want it.
Get here when you do
I'm not going to stare at the clock.
I'm not going to confine you
to this or that moment.
Get here when you do, and when you do
things will feel better.
Avoid this
Each song sounds the same.
Each smile has the same name.
Everything
Everything is not happy.
Everything is not sad.
Everything is not in the middle.
Even humans eat their own
I'm waiting for you to criticize me,
like everyone else who has ever loved me
has done,
There's always a game to play,
and, most of the time, that game is a cruel one.
When there is no food to eat,
even humans eat their own.
You can't stick a sign in the front lawn
So you bought her,
but she can't be sold.
When the singing just isn't as beautiful any more
It's too bad when their beautiful singing voices
don't hold up to the choices that you find out
that they make in the real world.
Showing my age and my place in a woman's heart
I'm used to being way down on a woman's list,
second or third, even, to her need or want to have a pedicure.
I'm not feeling sorry for myself,
just stating, "Nothing but the facts, Mam,"
like that guy used to say on that television show
such a long, long time ago.
Consideration
It's weird to think of her cooking
a big Thanksgiving meal for the man
who she will soon be leaving,
but then there is the child to consider.
There is always a child, or children to consider,
even when the parents have quit considering
each other.
Ajmal Amir Kasab
I really can't think
of anything but a title
for this poem.
