#826 ready for abandonment

my decision
bugs me like a post-publication cover page typo
an amaerican spelling in a canadian book about canada
but
what's done is is done

#825 pike place

fish fly and voices repeat
flowers and books and people
rich tourists and poor bums
an energy and character that took years to build

#824 the storyteller

in her hands
the guitar tells a story
beyond the lyrics of the song

on the other side of her closed eyes
no crowd sits
just family and memories and smiles and bruises

#823 the art of begging

i open the fridge
behind the fridge-hum, silence
grab the cheese package
toenails click on laminate floor
hopeful eyes enter the room
the head lowered, humble
and i understand the cliches origin

#822 projection

have you ever been jealous of a kettle
it's ability to blow off steam
it's guaranteed usefulness
predictable schedule
the zero pressure to talk

you haven't... oh
me either

#821 lying on the shore

fibs fade like water-rings from a rock in a lake
spreading out to invisibility
a plop that turns into silence
then walk away or,
pick up another rock

#820 plaid

lines crissing and crossing
thick and thin and thin and thick
colours starting and stopping
light and dark and dark and light

#819 5:14

my savings account has 4 digits
counting both sides of the decimal
my future plans
include defrosting 5:30 supper in the microwave
my retirement fund and my pension are evenly matched
zero each
which makes no cents
and man,
i love my life

#818 game 7 post-game show

drunk people watching drunk people commit drunken crimes
tear gas, explosions, burning cars
embarrass a city
4-0
go home

#817 we all know how love ends

Only owls hear mice move under snow
Siebert's words throw you to my mind's front
slap against the inner skull

i the mouse, you the owl
others see snow
but you sense my timidity
my scurrying, my fear of everything on the other side of this blanket

#816 it's time to stop

when life is too busy to live
when to-do lists grow, like the spider plant you've been meaning to tend
when the love of your life is someone you high-five at the door
one leaving, one arriving
when you've turned down the same good friend for 5 consecutive outings
when dirty dishes claim your sink, your counter, your kitchen, your house
when questions and demands come from every room and every phone

#815 what are the chances

if you won the lottery, would you still do the same job
hang out with the same people
keep the same hobbies
would you stay the same person
chase the same dreams
play the same games

#814 WYBMABIITY

happy things happen at the hoz
birthdays and game 5's
and all that is good
finding the right song on the juke box
returning your bottles at the cash
imports on your right, shelly's left
three categories of wall paraphernalia
sport, farm, and random
WYBMABIITY

#813 map

a paper map tells you which way to turn
but stays static
as roads erode, and rivers turn

#812

mount fernie looks like an ice cream fudge dessert on the counter the morning after a party
gross melty slop
frustrating because i want ice cream
i want to hike, to explore

#811 google wacking

i lie with my guilt
@#$ the morning
instead of masterminding the mourning
for a plan for world peace
in this piece of the world
as the mask of the world falls to pieces
a poetic way to explain
adult to child
the transition
child to adult

#810 for Life

i relay for the golfball in my throat from the simple luminaries
i relay to remind me that Life is strong but that each life is delicate
i relay for the volunteers
i relay for all the after-school visits i made to Mary's house
i relay to meet great people
i relay for the breeze that hits my spine on seeing the yellow t-shirts
i relay for Life

#809 ted

the man inside the laptop tells me i'm tying my shoes wrong
and myself promises i, we will try the new method
for a change in habit, is a change in brain growth
and today, today, i crave a change

#808 best of the season

game 1, first round of the play-offs
five minutes in
the commentator's voice,
like the players' play
full of energy
both forget the pay-cheque
performing for the wonder of play
for the little boy inside
who flipped and traded for cards
in the grade 6 hallway