February 28, 2013

#1359 morning mountain (three sisters)

the clouds slide past her
evidence of the sun's existence shines through
a thousand hues of orange and purple
and i swear
i see the mountain stretch
cat-like
i see the mountain yawn
and i know the mountain is ready for today
and i know today is ready for the mountain

February 26, 2013

#1358 the ceiling

the dog snores
she gave up on finishing her to-do list hours ago
laughing in her dreams at my useless commitment
trying to climb over a brick wall that has no top
watching me climb above the clouds
scratching my fingers and knees to bleeding
still
i climb

February 24, 2013

#1357 1 a.m.

the eyes water
lids sink
thoughts slow
and zig-zag
and you know
you should go to bed

February 22, 2013

#1356 reading between the lines

we used to read between the lines
now we read online
we used to read for meaning
now we keep meaning to read
we used to have a table of contents
now we've taken content off the table
we are putting the sin
in syntax


#1355 second hand opinion

i used to read
and now i skim
to get lost beyond the clock
for hours
in a way that hours is but a misnomer
now i get lost in multi-tasking and busy-ness
in a way way that fills time
murdering time
killing time

February 21, 2013

#1354 larry

the bear spoke
and my tongue helped my ears listen
i sat in the office chair in front of his desk
he told me ugly truth
and made me hear something, i somewhere already knew
and i wish i said thank you

#1353 mastur of your own destiny

i saw you in line
you playing on stage
just you and your guitar
you were with all your friends
and i hoped you'd think of me
the next time you touched yourself

i noticed your hair
you were blonde
your hair was red
best brunette my eyes ever seen
and won't you please think of me
alone under your duvet

your clever jokes
you never spoke a word
we shared a look
we shared an aisle on the plane
and i hope i'm in your mind
in your hotel room tonight

my eyes fell in love with yours
i never saw your front
now let me be blunt
behind those closed eyes
picture me, as you touch your
self

February 19, 2013

#1352 like a baby birdie

when do you say, enough
when do you say no to a fellow human
and yes to yourself
when does too much kindness and patience and understanding
become a disservice to the receiver
there comes a time
when love comes
in the form
of a boot, in the ass
and we fly or we splat
but then the flight, or the failure, is ours

February 18, 2013

#1351 knight and day

i'm an old man in a young man's body
surrounded by things we don't need
and they hurt me
my first memory of feeling old
was in a playpen
and they rushed around me
i am a knight's armour
i am a day's sundial
and i don't fit here

February 17, 2013

#1350 dropping a sock from an armload of laundry

agh! i hate dropping things on the floor says she
leaving my mind playing with gravity
what if "what goes up must come down"
worked on people but not objects you see

what if everything you dropped fell up
soon the klutz's ceiling would be full up
we'd be sweeping and mopping our ceilings
only occasionally dusting the floors

the laundry socks, the carrot peels, the pen caps
would all fall
up to the rafters
why tall ceilings would need ultra-long mops and brooms

aren't you going to pick it up for me?
she asks over her full arms
and i notice that gravity has changed back to normal
and the furniture is no longer nailed down

February 16, 2013

#1349 the musings of a schoolteacher on June 22nd alone with his red wine and regrets and paycheques

1000 hours
and what to show
but some scribblings that will last less than a minute
in the june beach's bonfire
and maybe a few extra four letter words on inside-covers
and etched into desks
what did i achieve
1000 times 30
30000 human hours
3.43 human years
and what did i give them?
what did i give humanity?
what did i give the collective?

#1348 the institution

guard the exits
keep them in
entertain them if you need to
but don't let them out
keep them in lines
give them praise and give them punishment
but guard the exits
from 8:30 until 3

February 15, 2013

#1347 infinitely parallel

i'm the engineer on this here train
the train and i are friends
both relics of an age we miss
the present is a gift
but so is the past
these tracks
infinitely parallel
fit my life better than any information highway
my whistle may annoy you
or it may amuse you
but the whistle is a language that i will fight to keep
even knowing it will die


February 14, 2013

#1346 i am

a klutz
each day a bumbling stumble
and a bump into the furniture
with a bruise on the knee
but once in a while
the stumble grows grace
turning into an eloquent dance
such is life

February 13, 2013

#1345 happy february 14th (and every other day) to everyone

grating the cheese
stretching the fitted sheet into place
emptying the dishwasher
these are the ways that valentines
is not just one day
no what the marketers make us think

February 12, 2013

#1344 social not working

social networking
is not working socially
four of us sit in a room all stare at various screens
i throw my phone at the floor
out of frustration with the for of us and our society
the screen cracks on the hardwood floor
then the others text each other and their other "friends"
what's his problem

February 11, 2013

#1343 if you're gonna buy a 12-string, you better learn to play

fingers and strings endings beginnings
sound flows from string through ear to body
out the fingers to the air
again
again
again

February 10, 2013

#1342 shelter is a feeling

hampers and closets
under tables and inside cupboards
behind doors and on behind furniture
separate worlds
appreciated only by the young

February 9, 2013

#1341 now i get it

after days of cloudy
the sun slid out
spreading blue around it
a fresh breath of clarity

February 8, 2013

#1340 stercus canis

february snow melts thin in march
and brown flowers burst open everywhere
especially alongside trails
stemless, varying in size, with a distinct odour
i notice the juxtaposition, brown on white
but then a late snowfall
and the blossoms close and comoflage


February 7, 2013

#1339 why doesn't he want me?

anger is a door
and behind it
sadness
grief
regret
anger is the result of keeping tears in

February 6, 2013

#1338 4-foot purple rhino

honey, we are the biggest stuffy at the county fair
so big your arms can't reach around
we are what people spend all their money trying to win
they fill their lives so full, they go without happiness
but you and i know happiness is within
they can keep all their cars and view-blocking houses and money
i'll keep your smile at the end of the day any day

February 5, 2013

#1337 the hero's plummet

there is no trail to disappointment more great or more guaranteed
than to believe in people
as sure as people will breathe out less oxygen than they breathe in
stealing what they can for their own lugs
and claiming the act as a gift for the flora
as sure as that
people will let you down
they will strap on cramp-ons for the purpose of jumping on your heart
and still
i go on believing

#1336 he's a man

who believes
fingernails are for gettin dirty
not for no 60 a minute on qwerty
born two generations behind
he's a man
alone in his kind
in an age when honesty and hard work
are cobweb filled fables
he tries for the rule
of two ears and one mouth
but he's been waitin his turn to speak
since '79
and he's always waitin
behind
the back of the line

February 4, 2013

#1335 hay

with bales as balustrades
we spent hours in the haymow
building and controlling huge tiny rooms and tunnels
our bare arms filled with red dots
and when we decided the bales were hay, and no longer secret castle parts
we did backflips from above and landed on the hay
those bales are part of who i am
the part that will remind me
to let my kids get dirty

February 1, 2013

#1334 on reserve

alone on a flat road
running
knowing people are watching, even when they're not
ready to judge
some judge that he's too fast
showing up others
some judge he's too slow
still,
he runs