November 29, 2012

#1263 all covered in cheese

i ate spaghetti
and i was 4 again
peaking up at the stovetop
i ate spaghetti
and i was 10 again
sitting with all my family
i ate spaghetti
and i was 19 again
visiting home for the weekend
i ate spaghetti
and was happy agin
chopping bits for my son in his high-chair

November 28, 2012

#1262 to pity or to hate

am i flotsam or am i jetsam
few care about the difference
but i do
am i the result of a wreck
left bobbing on the sea
discarded by circumstance
or am i the result of unwant
tossed overboard
discarded by choice


#1261 talking time

i switched clocks
but when i switched back,
the people were wrinkled and grey and slow
leaving me to wonder which is more
age's mark on them
or its mark on my perceptions

November 27, 2012

#1260 falling from grey skies

and they say no two snowflakes are exactly alike
only, when they say it, they seem to be talking more about people
than about snow
and i suppose they're right
no two flakes are identical; no two people are identical
but most have identical fates
whether we swirl, plummet, are float
in the end, we end up on the ground
with too many others to count
and mostly only snowflakes can tell snowflakes apart
sure, any two snowflakes are different,
but when compared to anything else
those two flakes have more in common
than they do in separation
maybe we should talk about our similarities more
and our differences less
snow on

November 26, 2012

#1259 dog hair dog hair

dog hair dog hair, everywhere
under couch cushion, and on the stair
dog hair dog hair, every nook
computer screen and in my book
dog hair dog hair, all over here
near and far and far and near
in my milk and in my beer
covering my shirt as i lay on the rug
where i give my dog a hug

November 25, 2012

#1258 mumsy

thanks for life
and wax paper sandwiches
wrapped tighter than saran wrap
thanks for life
and apple pie
with choo-choo tracks
thanks for life
and driving us everywhere
and making us walk everywhere else
thanks for life
and after supper husband/wife tea
and the certainty of love those teas gave me
thanks for life


November 24, 2012

#1257 one of those

even my legs are anxious
why
the sky is blue, everything is good
but i'm afraid of the phone
i'm wasting the day
i'm wasting me

November 21, 2012

#1256 the croupier stick

i had everything
the wife, the family, even the car
but i wanted more
and i got more
not more happiness, just more stuff
stuff makes you happier, but only to a point
and those to graph lines met long ago for me
i had everything
until the croupiers stick
swished it all away
no clatter or confrontation
just the muffled sound
of stuff sliding on felt

November 20, 2012

#1255 bullet-hole poetry

i wanna blow a hole in your rock 'n roll
a roman candle in your soul

if my poems were art
they would be the the four-year old's scribbled colouring book page
the page before the page the kid wants to colour
but is ordered to completed the prescripted pictures in order

i wanna be roop or soulful jones
koyczan or mali the man

i wanna write a poem that causes in you
a chemical reaction
like fire for a log
changing forever
unable to return to your prior state


i wanna blow a hole in your whole soul
kill cold, rock 'n roll

i wanna pen a poem
that brings you back to your fourth summer
digging in Dad's dirt pile
searching for Austrailia
practically another planet
back to the excitement of the prospect
back to the fear of the possibility, of orange-hot lava
back to the mathematical certainty
that if you can dig waist-deep before Mum calls, "Lunchtime"
then you'll be able to hit the Earth's core by supper
and maybe, before bedtime... Australia
just you, and your plastic shovel

i wanna blow a whole hole in your sole soul
rock your rock and roll your role






#1254 unforgiven

there are things
only time can forgive
and i don't have the time for to give
or to forgive

my tolerance is a seine
with the biggest holes you have seen
most fish pass through
but the biggest fish will never pass

there was a line
it was crossed
and now we will never be the same
me
myself
and die


November 18, 2012

#1253 yellow teeth

love is not a perfect couple portrait
with bleach white teeth
and airbrushed weather
love is a lingering touch
unexpected and appreciated
love is not a painted fence
surrounding a two-story house
with the sadder story hiding inside
love is the wasted space
in a queen-size bed
love is not found
in small boxes
with big price stickers
love is the second hand marking moments
the minute hand marking memories
the hour hand marking our life shared


November 17, 2012

#1252 my hero

she always eats the heel
serves herself last at supper
new clothes, hah!
even her favourite number is 13
first one up, last to bed (lunches made)

November 16, 2012

#1251 out of the driveway

a car door closes
angry
not slams
but closes
gravel crunches under wheel
doesn't fly
but crunches
no fingers are flipped
no mean names are shouted
in fact, nothing is shouted
but souls are scratched
something breaks
that may or may not be painted over
but will never be undone

November 15, 2012

#1250 rrr

what is knowledge in schools
the intended and achieved result
of the interaction between teachers and
students and books and computers and government and
parental pressures and classrooms and friendships and
curriculum and fifty thousand other components
how do you measure it
no rubric could be that all-encompassing and clear

November 14, 2012

#1249 the aim of this pint

give me a beer and a topic
over a thesis paper any day
i'll learning from the latter
but learn more from the prior
i learn mmore from people then from studying ideas, second-hand, third hand
why the beer?
unnecessary, i just like how it turns my opinions
into philosophical ramblings

November 12, 2012

#1248 why not grown-ups?

talk to yourself
eat dessert first
walk barefoot
skip
build a fort from couch cushions
read under the covers with a flashlight
feel excitement for seeing your name on mail
play in the world that exists beneath the kitchen table

November 8, 2012

#1247 i've had a few

the music pulls me backward along the road of time
toward a the turn where she comes into the rearview
but the music plays on
and i in rewind
until she lives beside me
smiling and chatting
as if today was not a gift giganticer than a galaxy
as if she was never lost

November 6, 2012

#1246 like dodo birds and pagers

barbed wire surrounds the frame
him and her
smiling
happy
a thing of the past

November 5, 2012

#1245 13 yards

the photographer drove us to an old farm field for photos
tall grass all around for photos
the bride, the groom,
the bride and the groom,
the maid of honour, her and the bride et cetera

my skin itched and tickled
concentration was impossible
i won't be so authentic
the next time i marry
in my kilt

November 4, 2012

#1244 newspapers and toenails

like wet newspapers and dirty toenails
of course this is not what i imagined
reality bullied my dreams to their knees
i am an insult to myself
newspapers can dry
and toenails can be scraped clean
but i need some help

your pride was the loser of a bar fight
rolling out from the refuge of the lopsided pool table
and i kicked him- my cowboy boot, his gut
i kicked your pride while he was down
but really i kicked me
i kicked the world
i kicked the morning paper
i kicked my dirty toenails
i kicked the thing i hate most today- me
i only kicked you because you were down
an easy red X for my boot and my psyche

i wish i was man enough to thank you for being the last one to stand
by me
for me
up to me
my only anger is at myself
you should have torn your 50/50 ticket long ago

#1243 eyes open

deny night
count darkness between pupils and ceiling
fight night
so i will sleep the day away
removed from the rest of you
alone in a stadium without lights
this is my life
until i admit what happened
because of me
deny
fight

November 3, 2012

#1242 fall back

remember being young and cool
or if you were like me,
remember being young
so young that autumn time change meant an extra hour at the bar
and then meant an extra hour sleep
and then meant being ripped off an hour sleep
because the kids wake you
yeah, goodbye any delusions of being cool

November 2, 2012

#1241 puzzled

i start with the edges
sure, the edge is still hard
but i know i can do it
then i work inward
if i don't start with the part i know i can do
i'd never proceed past that