#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

#1541 essayez encore

each day is a coffee cup liner
you roll up the rim
and we should be excited each day we get the opportubtiy ti essayez encore/play again
donuts and new vehicles
are shit prizes compared to another day of teeth-brushing and friend-chatting, and stranger-meeting
so roll up your rim
and live life like you might not get the chance to essayez encone/play again