#1640 a good day

fresh sheets and new socks
a newly made bed and a new day
your favourite place and a good book
great friends and great food
a fire-lighting conversation and inspiring ideas

#1639 leadership

it is the speeches, and the silent nods
    in the clothes, and in the naked moments
it is in the dreams, and the reality
    in the voice, and in the whispers
it is in front of the crowd, and alone at night
    it is all of the yesterdays, all of today, and all about tomorrow

#1638 getting the shot

he calls himself a photographer
an artist
but he loathes todays
making brats smile
panicking about running out of memory space at the cake-cutting
an intruder in someone else's day

#1637 letting go

a mother holds her son in a funeral home
or maybe the son holds the mother
the embrace is tight
the release is delayed
but there is always a time for letting go

1636 hot day

on the hottest day of the hottest day of my life
at the moment when the telephone poles showed no asphalt shadows
she walked in front of me
she was the only one in the county at that moment (barring the air-conditioned) who was smiling
and she made my heart, my being, my soul smile too
she had no cliché ice cream, but for a moment, my body forgot the record temperature
i just stayed suspended in am altered state of time
still
she haunts me

#1635 all about you

the grass doesn't grow much when there's nothing but sunshine
and neither do we
like Natalie and Jo and Tootie and Blair
we take the good; we take the bad
not because we want to but because that's the way things work
that's the facts of life

too much rain can kill the grass too
but the balance
          the balance
sun-rain
          rain-sun
keeps the lawnmower busy

#1634 pseudo-democracy

we call it thunder and lightning
though we know we have it backwards
we do this because everyone does this
and we follow along
never questioning

#1633 quality screen time

from inside he front porch she spies on her boy
playing in the sandbox
his arm is a crane
the plastic shovel in his hand fills the plastic pail in his lap
his lips make what his mind decides are machine noises
he stops, turns, perhaps sensing his mother's stare
his eyes stop on hers and his mouth spreads into a crooked grin
full of happiness and short of teeth

#1632 4 in Paul is sea

we call it July 4th
as if the date itself
was named after our celebration
after our country
fireworks, alcohol, and unquestioned pride
national pillars
we stare at the sky
explosives telling us there is something bigger than ourselves
if only we stared at the sky the other 364 nights
we'd know there's something bigger than our explosives too

#1631 early July

nothing blooms like a lilac
but the gardeners fail to mention
how short the bloom lasts
how plain the shrub is before bloom
how brown and ugly the flower is after bloom
the girl at the party who everyone knows should go home and change

#1630 habanero lover

my habanero lover she moves like no other
my habanero lover get under my covers

my habanero lover even her absence is hot
my habanero lover let's see what you got

my habanero lover she moves like no other
my habanero lover get under my covers

my habanero lover she sets me on fire
my habanero lover are you for hire

my habanero lover she moves like no other
my habanero lover get under my covers

#1629 the same song plays

the same song plays
for the same audience of two
but the audience doesn't dance anymore
they used to know who led and who followed
now love lies in the stomach, swallowed

the same song plays
the same notes and lyrics
but the meaning ain't the same no more
they used to love the silence between the notes
now they make excuses to grab their coats

#1628 the tie that binds

I got the blues from what I read 'cause all they care about is green
They made this here picket line grey, though their intentions be black and white
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight
So grab a lawn-chair, play some crib
Make like Jonny Cash
and walk the line
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight

We're playing a game with children's welfare
Our opponents make up the rules, kicking teachers out of schools
Picking the people's pockets, so they can fill their own
So grab a lawn-chair, play some crib
Make like Jonny Cash
and walk the line
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight

On our ballot slips we replaced democracy with bureaucracy
Now we fill files with paper, but something ain't right here
Some of us believe these streets is still the people's
So grab a lawn chair, play some crib
Make like Jonny Cash
and walk the line
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight

We got the blues 'cause from what we read all they care about is green
They made our picket line grey, though their intentions be black and white
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight
So grab a lawnchair, play some crib
Make like Jonny Cash
and walk the line
The time is now, stand together, fight this fight

#1627 to the girl wearing too much lipstick drinking alone at the bar

say Hi and suture this heart
just well enough to last until the sun's next visit
and I know the needle will hurt
but the bleeding will stop
or at least slow

this ER is full of clowns and wannabees
let's understand them together
between faded sheets
let us understand
between you and me

it's OK to listen to our bodies' needs
let's give in to them together
until night fades to dawn
let us give in
give again and again and again
just once

#1626 boil and simmer

there's a poem brewing in the pot of my soul
soon be spilling sizzling all over the stovetop
stand back
protect yourself
this is how houses burn down
down to the ground
memories covered in black soggy messes of ash

there's a poem brewing in the pot of my soul
the element is glowing orange and sparkling black
stand back
protect you child
this is how families live on
on through the dawn
memories as ancestral relay baton

there's a poem brewing in the pot of my soul
life is white and black
so stand back
protect clarity
this is how we feign our sanity
through the crack beneath the door
sanity is a silly three-eyed beast

#1625 and the man in the moon

you think I'm an entitled prick
unappreciative of all my parents gave me
but like the new swimmer in the pool's deep end,
we do violent, primal things when we can't breathe
and breathing is hard
with a silver spoon in your mouth

#1624 moving and moving on

the new borns and the newly weds have fled the fridge-front
the stove was pulled out and ancient dust bunnies removed
personal pictures are stacked temporary in boxes
as we pretend this wasn't our home for years
wait for strangers to walk in and feel this house could be there home
that they could hang their own pictures
arrange their own furniture
laugh at their own jokes

I hope it's a family
someone who will honour the walls and fill them with happy memories
if some suit comes and gets workboots to knock her down
in the name of progress and profit
then I should not like to drive by in the future
I would take the long way around

#1623 unhinged

I had problems with doors
the sound of the metal strike-plate
the sound of commitment
a commitment to the future
unable to look back
I had problems with doors
they slam
they squeak
they close off
they interrupt
I had problems with doors
with having to close and lock them each night
with forgetting keys
with cracking weatherstrips
then she came along
opening a door I didn't know I had

#1622 committee

they are experts in their field
leaders
their combined knowledge is overwhelming
their theory and experience un paralleled
and they still laugh when one farts

#1621 beat

solitary notes on a solitary piano massage my solitary cerebellum
is that a baby crying or a screen door opening
a voice soaking the air in truth
we need to breathe this air
to breathe in the truth
guns and kick-drums sound alike
but one ends life, and the other gives it

should you ever lose or find yourself underwater
kick
kick hard and fast
now is not the time to breathe

heavy distortion represents heavy distortion
in the music
in the musician
in the message
in the audience

once in a while
on your kick-drum
make the sound of an object falling down stairs
break the monotony of rhythm
then go back to it
anything that many centuries old
has wisdom

#1620 3:30pm

the backseat of the schoolbus
coveted vinyl for may
but not for me
I was not a goody-two-shoes
or a tattletale
which is what I would suppose those people to say
but I was a pleaser
I was at times a scaredy-cat
I did not like being around trouble
it made my body tighten
not the breaking of the rules
just the being around when the rules were broken
I understood the passengers' need to rebel
after sitting from 9 until 3
and I understood the driver's need to enforce the rules
I faulted neither
but the conflict stole years from the unseen end of my life
and so I learned to pretend not to care

#1619 yesterday today and tomorrow

we are our memories
the longer we live, the more true the words
childhood and adolescence and adulthood
squish together to form our selves
memory trumps truth
as our memories shape us and we shape our memories
what is the present but an end to the past
and a beginning to the future
but the past never leaves
she stays here now
she carries us into the future
as we carry her too

#1618 a calendar vandalized in ink

i cannot hold this pace
the adrenaline, once welcome
is reaching poison levels

we are all too busy, i get that
but I'm not good at busy
i am a natural uni-tasker

i build extra time into my day
to be open to life's treasures
and now i keep missing those treasures

today i met a good friend on the sidewalk
i was only 45% in the conversation
55% in my next meeting- a sin

forgive me while i practice
something i need to practice
to protect the important parts of me

no
no
no

#1617 monday morning

spring tire tracks scrawled on the high school soccer field
everyone's asking who
rumours about mud on the underbody of so-and-so's truck
and what's-his-name's car
but no one seems to know
a rarity in a town this size

the assumption is there
a young person, probably two or three of them
male
likely grade 11 or 12
perhaps a recent grad
or drop-out

the principal made an attempt at an authoritative announcement
desperation
the "good" kids are anxious and curious
the "bad" kids are amused and curious
the "adults" are pissed and curious
parents are curious... and nervous

not all questions get answered
not mysteries are solver
not all wrongs are righted
legends are borne
rumors jump generations
and we're left
     wondering

#1616 lesson not yet learned

we run and run
and run and run
and run and run
to keep up with those ahead of us
who are keeping up with those ahead of them
better-paying job
bigger house
newer car
and in the end
all that really matters
is time
and happiness

#1615 bread crusts

you do what you can
you wake
you sacrifice
you teach
you sleep (a bit)
then you do a lot of second guessing
but you do what you can
a day comes
when you need to set them free
you miss the control
the being the protector
but they walk out the door without your hand
and you trust
(or at least try to trust)
that all those mornings
all those bread crusts
all those lessons
gave them what they need
to be a good person who knows how and when
to stick up for themselves, those close to them, and what they believe in
still, as the door closes
tears try to chase them

#1614 things lost

like single socks and innocence
time and one's virginity
like minds and all sanity
our way and our temper
like the power and a track of time
spouses and people to cancer
we need an abstract lost&found bin for these items
so we can find them again

#1613 OFH

these walls are sterile and dated
the air is sick with age and boredom
wrinkles and pills and bland meals fill days with emptiness
is this how we treat yesterday
is this how we treat where we come from
dorm rooms feel homier
and dentist offices more welcoming
age deserves better than this

#1612 weather

the bright grey of the sky darkens my mood
rain falls with my optimism
with air as cold as my outlook
and grass as lifeless as my enthusiasm

#1611 my little runaway

and I wonder
about kids today
and how they make it through their day
and I wonder
about technology
how it's taking over all of me
and I wonder
about myself
how I became the me I am today
and I wonder
about wondering
and if it gets me anywhere

#1610 morning xylophone

from the swooping telephone lines
last night's frost drip-drop drip-drops
this morning's silent xylophone
small splatters on the ground
and I am glad for this moment
for rising before my alarm could ring
for walking these few blocks
drip-drop
drip-drop

#1609 candles

it was all planned
the doctors were ready
the nurses were ready
the grandparents
the cameras
the gifts
and especially your Mum and I
everyone and everything was ready to go
everyone and everything except... you
and that is why you eat your cake the day after the first day of May

#1608 the mundane

give me a reason to yell and to hug
to fight and to kiss
give me purpose that is not a 7-letter trinket
let my heart bleed and cry and sweat
give me low lows and high highs
free to fall and sufficient to rise
teach me languages without grammar or syntax
this life in 2D is getting to me
give me height an depth
give me purpose that can break my soul

#1607 reflection

I wasn't angry at the bathroom mirror
it just happened to be there
and if you ask me who won
I'd have to ask, physically or emotionally
physically- I won
despite the bloody knuckles
emotionally- I'd say the mirror
came out on top

#1606 the eldest

slender and classy, divine
confident and vulnerable, alone
a leader, a daughter, a wife
protecting a time that is disappearing
like water through fingers
she clasps the half-handful
afraid of all it represents
she is forced to ignore reality

#1605 resale

the floors are clean
the tables and counters tidy
we walk around inside the box that is someone else's life
critiquing
and being reminded to find the positive
noting storage space, yard size, parking
and
resale

#1604 dented mailbox surrounded by shards of class

throwing bottles and tantrums
spray-painting overpasses and school walls
punching windows and kicking cans

telling off parents and turning up music
failing exams and potential
yelling obscenities and whispering prayers

this is where and why poetry lives

#1603 the current

my little boy, has a little toy
takes hear takes it there, takes it everywhere
one fine day he took it to the riverside, but the toy fell in the water wide
my little boy he walked home sad as could be, and happy for the memory
sad as could be, and happy for the memory

my little boy, he knows that toys don't flow upstream
the river takes what she takes, and brings what she brings
so that night he hoped that his toy, would find some other little boy
and my little boy fell asleep sad as could be, and happy for the memory
sad as could be, and happy for the memory

#1602 PITA

she frustrated me
pissed me off
made me lose my cool
did the exact opposite of what I wanted
ignored my attempts to help...
all without breaking a single rule
did I mention she impressed me

#1601 lame

it's showtime but I got nothing to show
the stands are full and my list is empty
they came to see me
they won't believe me
I got nothing to show
empty

#1600 aha

it's just one light
across the street, out my front window,it
flick-flick-flickers
flick-flick-flickers
flick-flick...
AHHHH!
it's been months
they're closed at night
and I never think of it in the day
because it's off
I'm not suggesting that I've ever imagined walking across the street and smashing the hell out of it with a hammer, Smash, Smash, Smash...
no. I'm just suggesting that I would not be disappointed if it got fixed or it burnt out

#1599 roots

I was made fun of for being something I didn't know I was
laughed at and kicked
though those bruises healed years ago, they still hurt
if pride and guilt had an incestual offspring
that is the emotion I feel most
self-hatred makes me do things to others
things I will never forgive
even if I learn to love me
who I am
I am at the carnival
alone
riding the scariest ride
but it malfunctioned, fell off it's axis
I'm flying
afraid of the fall

#1598 bedtime

happiness and tiredness go together
the pillow puts my head to sleep in minutes
i am spent, happy
these are the days i wish away
and the days i will wish back one day

#1597 the journal

my journal is a breeding ground for ideas to change the world
poems and projects and proposals for a better world
but now my ink runs dry
not the ink in my pen, but the ink in my head
some young creative part of me is newly dead

yet the starters are everywhere
in my fingernails
in a dusty lamp
in a slow-falling rain

time to don the poets' goggles
and start seeing again

#1596 white noise in politics

if there is enough noise
and it is meaningless enough
loud enough
the noise puts us too sleep
the noise can be bad or lame
as long as it is consistent

#1595 thumbing

he raced like the needle wanted to escape the restrictions of the speedometer
stopped twice in our thirteen hours together
once for fuel
once to piss on his front tire
didn't say a word
I hope he sleeps
or outdrives whatever demons are following him at 140 clicks

#1594 it must be quite a rush

It must be quite a rush

From monkey-bar playgrounds to pub and bar parking lots

They stand tall and lead with their chests

Hoping for someone to look at them wrong

Then hands turn to fists

The same hands that once so tiny, through reflex

Curled around their mothers’ fingers

These hands swing on the ends of arms like speeding wrecking balls

Aiming for human faces

Aiming for blood and bone and flesh

Are these people evil

These same boys and men go home and do kind things

Do errands for their mothers, kiss grandmothers goodbye

They help others, hold others, love others

Still they hunt, at 3pm then at 3 am

It  must be quite a rush

#1593 of the big blades and the bad boys

so you think you can fix him
think you can find the mysterious potential
hiding beneath the dark cloud
think you can do what the others have failed to do?

my mother told me once
better to let the falling knife hit the floor first
that at best, even if you catch, all you have is a knife
at worst, pain and regret

let him fall

#1592 six feet

all I see when I look up from the pedals and the steering wheel
is the hood ornament
a time will sneak up on me
when I see pedestrians and traffic and road signs
hear the radio and passengers and car noise
but today that time is an impossibility
science fiction
the hood ornament moves with me
pulling my eyes toward it

#1591 March surprise

spring arrived weeks ago
but last night, after she went to bed
someone laid a blanket on her
a jumbo white duvet
and despite the plows-
grinding forward or beeping reverse
no one can wake her this morning

#1590 last name

I am a tumbleweed bouncing through the junglescape
alone, out of place, without roots
I am a branch grafted onto someone else's family tree
I am the lone item in a large lost&found bin

My life is a search for Me
a stream of questions without answers
an echo in an empty canyon
I search for the meaning in me, and the Me in meaning

I am closest to home when I am alone
aloneness decreases my loneliness
rids me of the juxtaposition of others' belongingness
makes me feel like a tumbleweed across a flat blowing prairie road

#1589 sunday run

my mind is on a long run down a narrow wooded trail
a carpet of pine needles absorbing its heels
a forest of no one absorbing the sound
how does the trail know where I need to go
my feet delivering mind

my mind is a long run down a narrow wooded trail
the ears hearing the feet, the feet hearing the ears
blood pushing against unseen walls
how often do we hear the workings of our own bodies
the blood delivering the oxygen

my mind is a long run down a narrow wooded trail
the body feeding the soul, the soul appreciating the body
the two sharing a conversation of silence
is this the sunday of my middle life
my mind running down this narrow wooded trail

#1588 all in a name

if your name is Mordechai
you better be wise

if your name is Haroldi Angus Groznak
don't try to be too cool

if your name is Caroline
then you better be kind and true

but my name is Adam
and being her first man is what I will do

if your name is Jack
make sure people in the airport say Hello

if your name is Mark
the kids will giggle when the teacher says Answer the question Mark

if your name is Mark
beware at the archery range, ready to run as fast as you can

but my name is Adam
and I will be her first man

if your name is Carmen
someone will ask if you're a mechanic

if it is Bill
that ask you when you're due

and if your name is Jay
expect a comment if you dress all in blue

but my name is Adam
and I know what I'm meant to do

#1587 a tangent

i know a mathematics prof
paying alimony and living in a plain apartment
he tried to make his life add up to something
the sum of which was nothing

i know a English teacher
who reads into everything by day
and reads her life away at night
no one to remind her to turn out the light

i know a student of the history
wants to re-right it
doesn't want to let it be
but history repeats, only the story grows

i know a man teaches hat wearing kids in a shop
thinks that all problems can be fixed with the right tool
but the loud tools he uses are just to drone out the one problem in his head
he don't believe in your splinters, thinks they're just inside your head

then there's the principals
pals to the end
trying to force their principles
on their little friends

like the math prof hunting for the square root of the problem
we're all trying to add up to something good
something that can't be divided
something that can be multiplied by hope
isolate the unknown
solve for x

#1586 happy thoughts

whoever said the means are worth the end-
must have been a child who didn't know how means these ends would be
we pay people to build us bigger homes
to fit all our plastic electronic belongings

the five digits on our hand grow soft and pretty
as our income passes five digits on line 150
something's incoming alright
something's incoming

we watch the news to feel good about our own pathetic plight
before we turn out our brain along with the light
the news is old, the old is new
listen to my thoughts talking to you

we recycle everyday
cycling yesterday through to today
looking for reasons to forget
and reasons to pray

#1585 traffic

your green ran out
all your caution got throwed to the wind
all the traffic lights are screamin' red
and you're goin'
you're goin'
you're goin crazy

left turn only flashin 'bove your head
even the traffic light know you can't turn right
you outta you right of mind
and you're goin'
you're goin'
you're goin crazy

you buryin' the needle
go so fast that the world slows to crawl
just so as you can watch them all
and you're goin'
you're goin'
you're goin crazy

#1584 leaning west

I thought I woke up before the whole town this morning
but one man must've beaten me to it
between me and the black sky
I could see the mischievous little bugger
had tipped all the chimneys' smoke columns to the west
just enough to notice
as I admire his handiwork
I hear the fresh snow stealing my boots' squeaks
holding onto the squeaks
not wanting to share with the world
an excellent morning for thinking and looking inside oneself
but my conscience was still at home under the covers
so I was content to wander and to wonder
to notice trivial sights and to think matching thoughts

#1583 APA Style

if I could put that much gravel and blood, that much Sinatra meets Eminem, that much saliva and tulip into three minutes of words- the world would be lucky. my soul digs in an empty hole, seeking the message I owe the world. but all it hits is pretty rock. give me a sledgehammer and a magnifying glass and i'll destuct a miracle. headaches and tv and facebook fuck human potential, a long comfortable screw. and that is all we are and all we do, all we say and all we aschew. bury me with an American flag, and bury our American dream which has become a nightmare from which we never wake. we sleep through this world like a slow ride down a country road, content not to wake until our destination. but our destiny and our nation are heading, one east and one west, to opposite final stations.

#1582 rant

we don't need one more policy policing and polluting our little souls
we don't need to fill this rectangle building with regulations and rules
we need to fill it with love and kindness
with humanity and connection
with friendships and smiling memories
everything we need to make the world a better place can be learned at recess
I love technology and the miracles it can help us achieve
but miracles require hard work
perspiration and late nights
and great seating plans
so don't get me wrong when I say we need less screen time
and that we should be screening our time for that which is important
I love facebook
but not when it replaces books and faces
for the only difference between a future leader and a future dealer
is someone taking the time to make sure the details are taken care of
and the little things are in the right places
c'mon with me people what is a revolution but a circle
so let's take this rectangle full of rectangles
round out the corners and make the rectangle a round circle
a circle of in which learning the right things trumps learning the things right
a place where everyday without a test is a test in how we're doing
we're all in this together
these ain't my children or your children or their children
no, even if you're the end of your bloodline these are our offspring
so let's spring them off into the future
with scraped knees under many, many kisses

some day we will need to turn in our keys to this great globe
and the boss at the time will hand them on to today's children and tomorrow's men and women
so together let's make sure they're ready to outdue their predecessors

#1581 stay out of injustice

commit in justice
do not commit injustice
be kind to all kinds
commit in justice
leave injustice to others

#1580 42K

she is to late to break the ribbon
too late even to hear the crowd's applause
there is no one
almost no one, just her
mangled toenails and bloody nipples
she put one foot in front of the other
and now she is here
her feet forget how to stop running and she almost falls down after the finish line
there is nothing to do now but walk home
a new person
for people are their own limits
and she just grew new ones

#1579 for whom the bell does not

there are crosses outside of the fence
excluded even in death
for failing to fit our boxes
and it happens today
in different ways
falling out of our grad lists
for failing to follow our bells

#1578 desks and daydreams

somewhere, in a town that still has the same name, but has changed itself almost beyond recognition
is a large building, an elementary school, that has been knocked down long enough that trees grow there
and in that building that once was is a classroom that saw many students, especially eight-year olds
and in that classroom is a wooden desk that lets you smell its varathane, let's you see its scratches and nicks
and in that desk is a boy who daydreams about what he would say to the world if they would only listen
a message about kindness and hugs and mosquitos
he dreams about the grade 5 boys down the hall, noticing him, letting him join their schoolyard soccer
he dreams about staying in this place where everyone leaves this town as soon as they leave a stage in a funny hat, making the town a place where people come, not leave
he does well on his Friday spelling tests
okay on his math sheets
he loves recess
he doesn't have any close friends, or any distant enemies
he likes the monkey bars and the erect half-buried tires
he likes arriving in the morning, and leaving as the long hand leaves the 3
he doesn't like the hallway crowds, or the occasional boys fighting
he doesn't like when the teacher gets mad at anyone
he likes standing at the teacher's desk
the way four years ago he liked seeing the top of his parents' fridge

#1577 best selling book

I was reading your readings
and they left their Mark on me
but I choose to write my own gospel

I bought your bible
but I didn't but the bull
I'm writng my own gospel

I was no closer to god than the man who carries the quran
or the woman who gets the gita
so I'm writing my own gospel

I'm scrapping your scripture
singing some psalms of my own
writing my own gospel

after reading your readings
I want to leave my own mark
godspeed
I'm writing my own gospel

#1576 first

find your divinity
prove your providence
make your miracle
move your mountain

but first,
get out of bed

#1575 field of vision

my perspective in life
is like my windshield in the car
I have stopped seeing both
I take both for granted
yet they are how I see the world while living, while driving
I don't see the bug stains, the webbed cracks
perhaps I need to leave it at the shop for the weekend
perhaps it's time for a replacement

#1574 a toast

may you bite off more than you can swallow
may you have your heart broken
may you face challenges
may you skin your knees
may you fail
may you fall

may you learn to ask for help
may you put it back together
may you overcome them
may you heal
may you learn
may you rise

#1573 early high school

a girlfriend would fix everything
someone to hang out with
things to do
i'd be cool
no one would bug me
wouldn't need to be the hottest girl in school
just a good girlfriend
that would fix everything

#1572 orange octopuses and purple porpoises

my bathtub has more colour
since he entered my life
bright blues and reds and greens and more

my life has more colour
since he entered my bathtub
bright hues and shades and tones and more

#1571 why my tongue bleeds

i am bursting with advice that i cannot give
or if i do, it will not be heard
from, don't let little things get to you
to, use half a potato to remove a broken bulb
but the more i say, the less is heard

#1570 bad ass

in the quiet of -20C winter, I run
my sneakers and their spikes yell, SQUEAK
the snow steals the sound
refusing to give it back
echo is a foreign word
the snow makes the sky bluer than summer ever can

#1569 a bad day

breathing's not making it past the back of my throat
heart beating faster than it should
muscles tight
negative glasses on

#1568

dear santa

i hope you and the elves had a good year in the north pole this year i want to be a better person i want to be kind and motivated i want to spend the next 365 days the best ways possible i want to spend time with the people i love the most i want to let go of old gripes i want to meet new people i want
thank you santa

love,
me

ps also, can i have Lego Minecraft?

#1567 field of vision

started as a dot, caused by a pebble
a pebble
i ignored it
easy enough, out of my field of vision
but now repair is not an option
resign myself or replace it

#1566 together

bedtime dog walks on cold, wet nights
doing the dishes
cooking
cleaning
the things we dread
are the things we would miss the most

#1565 shuffle and mix

shuffle and mix
leave and return
shuffle and mix again
until you love, until you hate
until you start turning the's back to a's again
then release it and ignore it

#1564 ixnay

i tried a happy poem
about love and flowers and home
then i deleted the silliness
and wished I was poet who could write happy poems

#1563 early spring

the sky matches the snow on the ground
a worn white
we wait, for summer or for new snow
a good day to view through a window
soup on the front burner

#1562 Eddie ate dynamite, good bye eddie

just six strings shaking
lean long lines of metal vibrating
speaking to the air that speaks to more air that speaks to more air
finally whispering in your ear
somehow, between ear and brain
those metal strings' trembles
find meaning, emotion
without word
don't tell me there's no such thing as magic

#1561 a special person

Jack doesn't know what day it is
can't even recite the days of the week
Jack doesn't talk and he sure does drool a lot
but he's got it all figured out
smiles with loved ones is what life is all about
good meals and uninhibited happy squeals

Jack doesn't know what day it is
can't even tell you what year it is
Jack can't walk and he sure does poo a lot
but he knows the secret to this life
fight the nap and find the light
where there is noise there is fun
and he's not even one

#1560 trader

traded in my father's calloused work ethic
for a soft-handed degree
find myself sitting on a couch staring at an oversize tv
swapped my mother's appreciation of the simple
for a house full of stuff
where we never have enough
traded the best of what they gave me
for soft hands and gluttony

#1559 lucky lucky

I can't keep up
the tempo
the pace
too much
I choke
like a 1-year old with a chicken bone
such is life

#1558 marx and marks

thoughts
creative and critical
curious
mastery
a lofty goal

the result
empty the mind
quiet
mastery
a lofty goal

#1557 early december

outdoors is the day-after ice-cream cake
browns and tainted whites
what was beautiful yesterday
id repulsive today
the ground is exposed
the snow is used and frozen-trampled
we wait
for fresh snow
to hide our ugly present

#1556

you cannot change the wave
but only make the most of it
it is not there for you
but you need to be there
be there
water was here before your earliest ancestor
enjoy

#1555 adults sometimes

sometimes
adults need to grow up
sometimes
adults need to remember their childhood
sometimes
adults need to ask for help
sometimes
adults need to learn to do things for themselves
sometimes
adults should do more for others
sometimes
sometimes
sometimes adults need to stop giving all their advice to kids
and start following it

#1554 world wide ebb

there is a line
left by the receding wave on the shoreline
like someone sewed a crooked line beneath the sand
positive space
delineating the line between beach and ocean
until a bigger wave washes it away
the poet's job is to notice that line
to see a piece of the self in that line
to reflect a piece of the world in lines of the poet's own
and I'm not there
but I did notice the line

#1553 feast of kings

he is all set
milk
and some favourite fruit and vegetables
a feast of kings

comingling in one brown puddle of mush
flying one Wright Brothers spoonful at a time
toward his face
which wears more than its share

#1552 shared bruises healing

once we were travelling the world together on one unicycle
now we are neighbours in the suburbs
chatting on the occasions when our feet meet somewhere between the bottoms of both our driveways
I chat politely, remembering the day we said we'd never grow apart
we tandemed a unicycle for chrissake
now we talk about weather and make lame excuses to end our lamer conversations
how did this happen

#1551 on pizza and the writing process

I began with ingredients that already existed
and a minor twist on an old idea
I mixed the ingredients in a glass bowl until they formed a ball of dough
I pressed the ball down with my palms
floured my rolling pin
and went to work
rolling out the dough
kneading and pressing and stretching
concentrating on working from the middle out
until I had a raw crust
I spread sauce and I sprinkled selected toppings
avoiding over-relying on cheese
slid the product in the oven and moved onto another task
hiding from the torture of watching and waiting

#1550 cold ash

the forest is gone
not one full tree left
hope died with the last leaf
that which i most believed
is ash
cold ash
now i busy myself with trifles
blocking reality as well as i can
but the forest is gone
the forest is gone

#1549 watching land and water meet

i have not read words yet
half so perfect as a steady surf
once
twice
forever
washing over thoughts
retreating to the sea
yet we still try to write them
like the surfer searches their perfect wave

#1548 toothless

and when his smile consumes his whole mouth
and the soother falls
when the smile grows to cover his whole face
still the smile grows
spreads until his body (overcome with the smile)
simultaneously swims and flies
on the spot
noises escpae from his soul through his mouth
giddy cooing
learning to let the joy out
through laughter
that's when the world promises to me that it will try to be a good place

#1547 that's her

she stands 60 inches tall
and thinks she stands 60 feet
like an egg shell,
she can handle enormous pressure and forces
but if you know where to apply direct force
she turns into a runnt mess
if she's not boss of the room she's now in
she's making plans to be
she's the most memorable one-of-a-kind you'll ever find
at a party of one-of-a-kinds
she's the one everyone wants to be like

#1546 negative feelings

in my town
the thermometer reads -24 C
it's windy
the kind of cold where you don't stop to say Hi
to your best friend
whom you haven't seen in a month
half the town has a sore back
from tensing it to brave the cold
local news announcers warn, Keep your pets indoors
and I am on a beachside vacation

#1545 a discarded leaf blown by the wind

he's scrawny
looks like he needs a good feed
and polite and quiet
and troubled
him and trouble have ways of finding one another
he always looks like he missed his last hair cut appointment
and like today is laundry day- and grocery day
but he's here
he's been here all week
second row from the front on the left side of my classroom

#1544 tiaras for sale

She is a queen wearing nothing but a dollar store tiara and a hope for a nation

She daydreams of policies found on kinder garden walls: Be Nice, Respect Others, Have Fun

She knows every character in her head by name

Why she swallowed the pills we can always ask but she can never answer

Did she demystify her own fairy tale into what it was

Did her soul swallow them, tired of being disappointed with the human gap between potential and reality, and take her body with it

Did she tire of finding no one else willing to dance to the tune of their own kazoo

Now she is in a kinder garden

Of smooth stone and small letter t’s and flowers

And well-trimmed grass

A garden of equidistant  members

Standing

Waiting

For an end that’s already come

#1543 can you sign this card for the big guy?

God's quitting
he just put in his 2 weeks' notice
he was tired of the politics
tired of not being appreciated
tired of the lack of support
they're looking fora replacement,
but who'd want that job
he was doing the work of twenty

for retirement he's moving to a shack in the woods
off grid
says he's sick of people

#1542 the real poets

how do they do
the rhythm, the beat
the syllables, the feet
that's not for me
i say, ignoring defeat