December 30, 2011

#965 in touch

with stories rewritten, updated
we press Send
packing our bags for home
we know their current stresses and hobbies
friends and paths

December 29, 2011

#964 this side up

enjoying a bag of popcorn
is less impressive
than enjoying
each
every
kernel
in the bag

to be present for
each
every
bite

aware, conscious, alive
each
every
bite

December 28, 2011

#963 happily ever after

i want to tell your skin its favourite story
a story it has not heard
i want to open your covers and enjoy each word
hold the book in my hands
i want to learn your parts of speech
nibble on your nouns
play with your preposition
remove your unnecessary articles

let's co-author a classic
come, break the rules with me
split my infinitive
double my bestest superlative
run on my sentence

#962 looking out and in; back and forward

the fallen snow pulls more flakes to join on the late december ground
though each flake is unique, they all fall to the same ground
though each flake is unique, it is the same snow
that fell when i wore a tiny sock and that will fall when i wear an older sock
the same stories play out different
on my side of the window

December 27, 2011

#961 good morning

this morning
in our bedroom
i lazed in bed
as she returned from the shower
in a towel

as she rooted for satisfactory clothes
the towel fell to the hardwood
and though her body is beautiful,
my eyes stayed on her face
as i smiled
thinking about forever

December 26, 2011

#960 +

if you can't find fun in a xylophone
release in bubble-wrap
childhood in a puddle

if you can't find a giggle over flatulence
excitement waiting for dessert
peace in a baby

if you can find none of these
then the world is not the trouble
nor are you
but the way you're seeing one another

#959 the latest status

clean out your Friends
prioritize, delete, and update
sort, contact, and block
fill them in on the ordinary, the mundane, the banal
omit the important, the personal, the undesirable
and watch
 as the self-importance of your status
overtakes the status of the importance of self
ttyl

December 22, 2011

#958 christmas mourning

i am a kid again
running down the stairs december 25th morning
except there are no gifts, no stockings
but the whole family is there
one's peeling potatoes, another's listening to his radio by the washer
one is cheating at scrabble (miffed she's not mentioned first), another's watching races (with his cap sitting high)
one is wearing his wallabees and glasses-with-strap, another's all ready for shopping
my heart is a helicopter in my upper chest and throat
the whole family is here
everyone

December 21, 2011

#957 a ball and chain named Guilt

he undresses
stares at his ankle
bleeding and blistered and bruised
crawls into bed, alone
wondering why

the next morning
he crawls out of bed
heavy and heartsick and unhappy
alone
wondering why

December 19, 2011

#956 hay is for horses

i was on the back of the full hay-wagon
enjoying the putt-putt of the muffled muffler
enjoying the view
then BANG
a gunshot-like sound as the rear tire below
hey i shouted
to the view that had stopped slipping away in front of me
and the axle gave way
then, what had moments ago seemed a well-packed load
let loose
slow-motion for a second or so
but gaining momentum into a fast-forward effect
i did not, i could not
see this happening
not without riding through the world imagining the worst around every turn
it just happened
not my fault
not hers
the wheels just came off

#955 driving through life

what i know is that i make some bad decisions
sometimes i know and steer into the ditch anyway, or the oncoming traffic
sometimes i don't know until i see my mistake with the words superimposed
objects in mirror are closer than they appear
but decisions, good and bad
are proof my license is MINE
earned and paid for

December 18, 2011

#954 a white chest hair

i am angry at age
  her cruel tricks of gray and stiffness

i am angry at age
  her bullying and abuse

am i angry at age
  or my procrastination and laziness

am i angry at age
  or at my failures to make more of this gift called a lifetime

#953 on writing thank you cards

how do i turn my soul inside out
inside a folded piece of cardboard
how do i express what i'm thinking
within the confinees of a human-made language

i can't

so i sit and overuse the adjective very
underline too many words
cover it all in exclamation marks
post it and send it

but THANK YOU
your kindness and your presence improved my life

#952 spaceships and birthday cards


I’m taking a spaceship

back to childhood
Where kissing kites was real
And the top of the fridge was a distant galaxy

I'm taking a spaceship

Preparing for take off to Planet Kid
Where crunching garden-carrots and their dirt was adventure
And dreading a full mailbox was something he swore he’d never do

I'm taking a spaceship
Leaving behind this stratos-fear
Back to the land of age-specific birthday cards for every year
To where adhesive strips and a mother’s hugs could fix the world’s problems

December 14, 2011

#951 when eyelids have much to say

she's the angry girl in grade 11
the one who always gives her gum a work-out
the one who has perfected the eye roll for when teachers tell her what to do
the one who always has an aggressive excuse for being late

but today a teacher caught her alone
and asked, what's the matter, you seem sad today
and her eyelids became a two-chambered dam
preventing catastrophic flood

she mumbled about bad news
not wanting to talk about it
family stuff
but it's all good now she lied

then she left for lunch
and stopped
to collect her hard exterior
harder than her top locker

December 13, 2011

#950 inspired by aesop

a Man and a Bear watch a movie
about a man conquering a bear
Man says to Bear,
see, Man is Stronger than Bear
Bear says to Man
if Bear made a movie
for every time Bear conquered Man
the Movie store would have a new section

People live in the past by boasting when they accomplish something they're unsure they can accomplish in the future

December 12, 2011

#949 bird crap and fairness

what goes up doesn't always come down
what goes around doesn't always come around
i'm 34 and i won't grow younger
my baby died before it was born
we pretend that life is fair
that good guys finish first
that cheaters never prosper
but the axis of the world doesn't care
bird crap doesn't distinguish
it just falls

sometimes
good things happen to bad people
sometimes 
bad things happen to good people
and sometimes, bird crap
it just falls

December 11, 2011

#948 on notes from the other side of the door

three fingers on six strings
drop my mind into a foreign consciousness
a language in which there are no words for
regret
money
or time



until the world
as it does every time
closes the book on this noble language
but then i return to our world
refreshed ready
an actor who has returned from the secret door
understanding the deceit

December 10, 2011

#947 a child is born

three stockings hang in anticipation
two mediums, matching in everything but colour
one red one green
the third, large and fancy
personalized
with the dog's name
the kitchen is bustling with two people preparing for the holiday
and neither knows that life is about to change

December 9, 2011

#946 repeat

notes massage my temples
like straight rain on a tin roof
familiar chords carry me
to a safe place within myself
the comfort that comes
from listening to a good song enough times

December 8, 2011

#945 a chance

the ship is climbing toward land and destruction
daily stresses vanish and life snaps into perspective
why didn't i spend more time doing what i love
with the people i love
seconds now, and it'll all be over
if only i had another chance
and then


the ship turns
i sigh relief
and return to my to-do list

December 7, 2011

#944 pre-independence

i remember when
hockey stats were as important
as the colour of each ninja turtle's accessories
when monday to friday were measured
in relation to recess, lunch, and, dismiss
and time was still considered in chunks
equal to your favourite tv show
when any problem could be fixed
either by dad's tools
or by mum's hugs

i remember,
but i'm forgetting

December 6, 2011

#943 once upon a time

everyone was heading the same direction
i watched, wondering
shy to ask, afraid i should know
i eavesdropped and it paid off

a baby, a king, born tonight
just an hour east
i walked, among the throngs
then noticed a gift in every set of arms

i was wealthy then
but i had nothing with me
what is a suitable gift for the king of mankind
born in a filthy barn

i asked mary, the mum, if she wanted gold
her head shook
i asked joseph, mary's hubby, if they wanted animals
his head shook

a forgotten part of my mind wondered if i should tell a story
the infant smiled

a story? i asked
i swear, three heads nodded
and i began with the best procrastinator i knew
to give my imagination time to flow through my veins

December 5, 2011

#942 a song for the sirs and the generals A,D

let me rock on the swing in my backyard
let me whistle to my kitchen radio
let me smoke my dirty ol' cigarette
for it's my last one in this here pack

let me sharpen my own saw
let me bait my worm on my hook
let me smoke my dirty ol' cigarette
for it's my last one in this here pack

let me fill this pail full o' blueberries
let me drive my own pick-up to town
let me smoke my dirty ol' cigarette
for it's my last one in this here pack

let me kiss carrie goodnight
let me mix up my kids' names with theirs
let us smoke my cigarettes
for it's the last two here in this life

December 4, 2011

#941 so unchanging

shin deep in fresh snow
that hides fallen trunks
we wade in winter gear
stopping here, there
to assess a tree
sleeping beneath standard white blanket
if the tree shows enough promise
i flip up my hood and shake the blanket
into a million little miracles
each catching the bluebird light

December 3, 2011

#940 relationship letters

i want to tell you it'll be okay but i don't wanna insult your soul with cliche
your love might work out and it might burn out, but life
life is separate from this love
great romantic relationships are one letter in the alphabet of life
without that letter there will words you will no longer be able to write,
then maybe you will misspell, then maybe you will re-spell
but you can still write, for you still have your alphabet
and time will tell
whether you lost a q or a z
or an a or an e
the first two seem more replaceable, but their uniqueness and character will be missed
the second two seem irreplaceable, but most words are recognizable with their absence
i won't tell you everything'll be okay
because it won't
but it will

#939 and that is music

sound and silence
share and compete
they dance and they fight

lyrics, a guitar, a bass, drums, and a voice
conspire to lose themselves in the collective porduct
the song

and when it's alright
it distracts me from this story called life
but
when it's all right
the song, the timing, the listener
it transcends language and lyric
touches the lub-dub of truth

#938 second-hand compliments

second-hand compliments
my favourite
with their motivation, unsuspect
they are as believable as the statement
that bad thins happen to good people
but bring happier feelings
when i hear so-and-so said you were the most trustworthy person ever
i believe it more than any first-hand version
and so, reader
let me say
i've heard from other writers,
you are the reason they write

December 1, 2011

#937 of libraries and gyms

but they'll stare at me and think i don't belong
they'll know i don't belong
i'll ask a stupid question
i'll commit a faux-pas
no, i'll do more on my own
join when i feel ready