#1306 on hinges giving way

somewhere
40 feet down in my mind
20000 leagues deep in my soul
is a trapdoor
on which i stood and jumped
nothing
i jumped higher
still, nothing
i jumped as high as i knew how
CRASH
now i'm learning to fall
i've been falling for five months that begin with J
the thrill of the fall disappears
when we give up on landing
with no landing, are we falling?
or are we falling?

#1305 here's to the school library, RIP, LOL

the school library seems to be going the way of typewriters and dodo birds
and common sense and fat TVs
of right-and-wrong and short-or-long
of clear morals and tidy consciences

#1304 not much really, just the secret to life and immortality

good music and fresh air
good people and fresh ideas
good food and fresh perspective
good drink and fresh days
good freshness and fresh goodness

#1303 stuck

music melts my bottom into the chair
musicians share a recorded moment
my head moves today
theirs did on the day of creation
they've moved on
so will i

#1302 10 to 2

playing badly and winning
feels better than playing well and losing
shouldn't
but does
you can tell me otherwise
but i can smell shallow lies

#1301 cutting the cheese

poetry does not hide under special leaves in warm rainfalls
it does not poor forth from secluded waterfalls
it does not fly on the wings of an eagle flying between the poet's eye and the sunshine
or at least not just in those places
poetry lives in the brick-wall grime rimming the the mechanic's calendar
poetry sings in the farting muffler of the teenager's pick-up ripping up the main strip for the sixth time since supper
poetry is the three day old mark left on the knife from cutting cheap orange cheddar

#1300 a small fire

candles don't dance, they fight
they fight for air
we judge them as "nice"
say the flame is "dancing"
sometimes fighters don't look like fighters

#1299 respect the sharp knife, fear the dull one

the knife slid along the pepper that looks like a rolling stones' tongue
then slid right off
onto and into skin
spilling a different shade of red than the pepper

#1298 poinsetta

when do we throw out the poinsetta
new years?
back to school?
when the petals go brown?
do we wait for rot?
why do we squeeze every moment out of good things
squeezing
choking
killing

#1297 in my bed, flopping like a dying fish

underwater
floating
fighting buoyancy and physics
watching my own face,
cheeks like Dizzy Gillespie
this mental activity affects me physically

#1296 sane serif

Normal
is a default font
to define Normal beyond that
is to call the majority crazy
which, thought maybe accurate, seems too simple

in addition to being a default
Normal can be a fault
if only we could highlight and click
as we please
then the world would be a simple
(albeit humourless)
place

#1295 old loves and old underwear

i have forgotten
old underwear
your birthday
our anniversary
your favourite colour
the last time i thought of you
your age
our secrets
your faults
the things i loved about you

i'm glad we met
you are one of the colours in the portrait that is me
and i'm glad i threw you out

#1294 despite good intentions

despite good intentions
i am the counter that can't remember being clean
the drain that's never been drain-o'ed
the dog hair-filled kitchen floor
the overflowing laundry basket
the stained toilet bowl
the grimy fridge door

#1293 white noise

i think the best qualified person should get the job
not to be racist or anything, but
i have this black friend who
it has a high "first nations" population
the chinese are stealing "our" jobs
she is a tribute to her race
so there was this guy, a huge guy, and he was black
white noise... is putting us to sleep

#1292 let's rethink

we are waste deep
buying furniture designed to look good on the showroom floor
replacing a year later
falling for disposable convenience
filling our landfills
filling our voids
emptying our morals
emptying common sense

#1291 10cm and still falling

snow falls

greying and shortening the sky

bootprints and brown flowers disappear

the latter only until spring

two weeks of action

are covered

the zen garden raked ivory

#1290 AKQJ1098765432

i am simple
i like to uni-task
i like heart-to-hearts
i like downtime
i like reading
and thinking
sometimes i like breaking things
like stereotypes and old ways of thinking
i am a traditionalist
but i'm (in theory) for polygamy and public nudity
i dream of simplifying
passing on 90% of what i own
i stress when the phone rings and when i get unidentified mail
i miss playing more solitaire (the old-fashion kind, with playing cards)
i am simple
i like to uni-task

#1289 solitude below zero

cold temperatures pull us into ourselves
closed hoods and hands down in pockets
closed shoulders and eyes down on our own feet
we climb inside ourselves
even when thawing in front of fireplaces
this is not good or bad
correction, this is good and bad
though
i am glad we when we go above zero
and i climb out of myself

#1288 deserving fudge

how can a soul connect to a weird box and six strings
how can such a strange invention allow a soul to speak in something more true than words
how can six chords sometimes trump 26 characters
the player's eyes close
his head moves like a bullrider's
his body sways
in and beyond time
he is somewhere between here and gone
he is connected to something after tomorrow and before yesterday

#1287 reflection

we would rather stand up and damn the man
than damn well stand up and be men
what's easiest:
to damn "The Man"
to admit you are "The Man"
or to be a man
we point fingers at obstacles
instead of using our hands to remove those obstacles
we complain
com plain
being plain together
let's stop acting and let's start acting
the fault is no longer them or it
sure, blame media and corporations
but guess what
WE control them
WE are in chage
this... is our fault

#1286 fact and fiction

favourite motherly advice (upon breaking up)
the best way to get over someone- is to get under someone else
 second favourite motherly advice (upon threatening to slit wrists during exam week)
okay, just do it outside, dear
third favourite motherly advice (upon choosing not to slit wrists)
don't worry dear, your average isn't on your diploma or your paycheque
fourth favourite motherly advice (regarding the importance of children experiencing nature)
get outside before i throw you outside

#1285 fewer than frowning

smile
as if you just found a $20 bill in last year's winter coat pocket
smile
as if, on the toilet,  you just found a roll in the cupboard, when you thought you were out of tp
smile
as if you just heard a song you forgot used to be your favourite
smile
as if you're greeted at the door by a lab-retriever puppy
smile
as if you're rushed and you go to empty the dishwasher, but she's already done it
smile
smile
smile

#1284 boogers and farts and boogers and farts

grow up strong
grow up wise
grow up independent
grow up forgiving
grow up self-aware
grow up kind
grow up generous
but most of all, never
grow up completely

#1283 a child is born

next year the tree's bottom will be nude
not just to avoid happy tails
but little fingers learning to clutch

new parents excited, new baby oblivious
around a tree
sheltering gifts from grandparents

#1282 souvenirs

smoke
the only evidence of what once was solid
and even the smoke is floating away
not letting me catch anything but a smell on my clothes
still, tears in my eyes are souvenirs
of the life of the tree

#1281 january

the worst annual job
de-decorating christmas
but still
after the worst
comes a sense of change
of new

#1280 365

january 1st brings my resolution
re-solution
a solution again
because i had the same three last year
i reslove
(re-solve)
the same things again
but this time i devote time
and i write them
and i share them

#1279 counting sheep

let me tell a vision
i will tell you a vision of walking at night on empty streets
while loving families stare blank at glowing screens
they watch the light until darkness covers
then they sleep so they can do it again
i count consecutive houses
my record is a baker's dozen

#1278 1am snowglobe

late night walk
solitude on the quietest night
watching snowflake shadows chase and race toward an imaginary finish line
winter butterflies on white canvas

i pass another streetlight
all the shadows change direction
dipping
swirling
laughing

streetlight- east
streetlight- west
streetlight- east
streetlight- west

until my feet turn in our driveway
and the canvas is still

#1277 clutter

a house full of clutter and love
a home full of stuff and support
a kitchen full of food and food for thought
a fridge full of mayonnaise and memories]
i'll take the love
even though it comes with clutter

#1276 o tannenbaum

symmetrical green perfection
garland hanging just right
bows equidistant
classic white lights
store-window perfection

and i'm looking forward to a messy tree
hung by little hands
a tree drowned in fistfuls of tinsel
a dry tree because the importance of watering will drop down the priority list
yes, a messy tree will be fine too

#1275 and these are the minutes

time is the offspring of a three-headed tiger and a one-legged armadillo
no that makes no sense
but neither does time
kill it fill it
buy it spend it
time the friend you need
and the enemy's seed
time is an a$$%^1e and a grandmother
we love him, we hate him
we are him
i had a meeting with time...

#1273 4x6

two people, smiling, happy
inside a faux wood frame
framed in another time, another place
isolated, cut off
from today and the wall on which it hangs
separate

#1272 portrait, black&white

my keyboard is my canvas
my wife is my model
my reader is my audience
how do i get the strokes just right
how do i let the audience know
how much she means,
how great she is,
how her smile spreads
i am an unworthy artist
but i'll give it a shot

#1271 we are family

god threw all six of us together
him with eyes closed
tossing sticks north and south
and now we're on the same team
we might disagree, we might mock
but we're on one team
and yes, there's a scrambled "me" in team
but there is no me, without the team

#1270 second intermission

i will forever associate the smell of cheap hot chocolate
with the smell of cold small-town arena corridors
learning the rules for being in testosterone-filled buildings
learning to sound knowlegeable about sports
and to pretend that girls' opinions would never change my actions
learning to hide low self-confidence behind team coats
and to pretend that i'm not afraid of anyone

#1269 surrounded by reminders

the poinsetta sits on the table
staring at him
the phone rings
he ignores it
or maybe doesn't hear it
and still
the poinsetta sits on the table

#1268 lab report

i walked back from the hospital
in shock
retracing steps from when life was a luxury
watching my opposite steps
straight, consistent, predictable
and the other set, of the four legged variety
weaving, sporadic, adventurous
we pass through the park
i unclip the leash
she charges through 30 yards of six inch snow
only to dive into the six inch snow on the far end

i had no choice
i followed

#1267 standing on train tracks

(the horn is loud)
i don't stand here thinking of suicide
i stand here full of satisfaction
satisfaction and adrenaline
facing a concrete, tangible force
equal in size and velocity to the feelings that face me
each day i lift head from pillow
(SO loud)
happy to be able to face the challenge head on
without verbally or physically hurting those well-intentioned souls who think they are helping me
(SO LOUD. FINAL-

#1266 2 minutes on HIGH

the sound of his keys meeting the table echoed through emptiness
and he sat on the low part of the couch to meet the low part of his day
supper, quick and convenient
void of taste and filled with memories
still he sits
some nights tears fall, some nights they fail

#1265 autobiographical

as a kid, time dragged on like a family home renovation
now, time speeds like the ground visible under the rear car mat
these similes are truly similar to similar truths from my life
and i would trade for nothing
even i am envious of this life
great people, special places, endless opportunity

#1264 thinking outside the inbox

put it down, it's
killing us and magic and relaxation
put it down, it's
rude and inconsiderate and mean
put it down, it's
frustrating and isolating and insulting
put it down
you can check your e-mail later

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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)

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#1246 like dodo birds and pagers

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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#1240 grey cup '12

i have two theories to share
one, that no few teens can make it through their teens without music
two, that the quality of the music they find (or that finds them) impacts the adults they become
for this reason i am dismayed at how hard genuine music is to find
at how pervasive the formulaic, manufactured, catchy music is
and how rare the real, genuine, imperfect music is
i hope justin's mother warns him to kiss heavy butt when he meets lightfoot

#1239 next stop

stop the world, i want to get off
the speed and spinning make me sick
to jump would be death
so just stop
just for a second
just enough time to hop off and breathe
to relax without the guilt of everything piling up into the clouds
just stop the world

#1238 on a dark november night...

i saw the hulking stray dog from a distance
i walked toward him to see if he had a collar
that's when i replied to a text i'd received earlier
i pressed send
i looked up
which thought my head held first?
that the dog was running at me
or that the dog wasn't a dog, but a bear

#1237 10

i am 10
my dad is my hero
i still see the majour leagues as a possibility
the liquor store still holds a sense of sanctity
i look up to my first male teacher
but my friends' opinions begin to matter more
my driver's license is a distant dream
like graduation and retirement
a day is still an event

#1237 trans-canada trance

the last ten miles disappeared
lost in a finger-snap mixture between awake and asleep
i press a button, sliding a window down
pulling in october night air
tonight the moon speaks to me
not a whisper, nor a shout
a plain voice two friends alone on a canadian highway
one sitting self-righteous in the sky
the other deciding whether he's driving away, or driving to
and whether one can happen without the other

#1236 one M&M a day

we who communicate with five different people in five ways at once
we who text and drive and chat and listen to music
we who clean and talk on the phone and watch tv
we
teach 5 year-olds to multi-task
we teach by example and by explicit instruction
and they love the busy-nessas much as we do
but when do we learn to uni-task
when to we teach how to sit and do nothing
and enjoy our one task
when do we teach to non-task
to sit and do nothing and enjoy the nothing

#1235 vivid and viable

teaching without learning is like talking without sound
without learning, there is no teaching
just lips flapping
if the outcomes on report cards confuse teachers
what purpose do they serve
aside from filling paper
and faking prestige

students learn from 9 until 3, monday to friday
we owe them meaningful material
purposeful projects
let us choose the essential
let us breathe life from our lips into that which we consider essential

let us teach

#1234 going gray

he dances alone with a bottle
in a widowed house in the evening light that slips between the blinds
smiling and crying are sisters
he won't finish the bottle
not even quarter
just likes the glass, the comfort, in his hand
stupor and sober are brothers
love and pain are an old married couple

#1233 tears of pain

preparing supper and tears pour down her face
she continues preparing, and the tears continue pouring
she says nothing just keeps crying
the steady thunk of her knife blade on the wooden cutting board
this happens every time
she chops onions

#1232 armageddon outside a chain store

a parking lot of panic surrounds a boy
humming a tune they all know
or knew, once
a parking lot of panic on a sunny day
filled with lightning
and cracks
the past and the present meet and they're off to visit the future
emories of lifting legs and giggling to escape the vacuum saves no one today

#1231 let me in...

don't take my beard
it distinguishes me from 90% of the population
without it, i'd look like a dog with fleas
don't take my beard
it provides a false sense of manhood on the days i need it
without it, i'd have to shave more often
don't take my beard
it's part of who i am
without it, my chin would feel cold

#1230 thoughts on bullying

a conference full of well-paid authorities
a symposium on bullying
they invent ideas that have all been invented before
watch videos that make them cry
experience a heart-twisting testimonial
but what if the cost of the day
was steered into healthy options requested by kids
lunch-time clubs
sports teams
breakfast clubs
rewarding volunteer coaches
putting time and money into the good
rather than how to bully the bullies out of bullying

#1229 bite your knuckles, son

when life is a jerk and jerks tears from wherever tears come from
when your favourite tv character gets cancer and the expensive music is designed to make you cry
when ones that matter to you need you to be the kitchen table that holds them together
bite your knuckles
bite your knuckles
cry later, or not at all
the knuckles will get marks
but what will the tears bring
are you ready for the alternative

#1228 Tips for poets: (or, a list of 24 excellent suggestions that are guaranteed to make your dream of becoming a poet, become a reality)

1 Commit. A poem a year. A poem a day. Commit to poetry. One good poem every two weeks, equals one book every two years.

2 Read. Read great stuff to get motivated or intimidated. Read awful stuff to get angry or inspired. Think you can do better...

3 Share. With friends, audiences, workshops, poets, publications.
Shove yourself against the elastic band rope that defines your comfort zone. The band will stretch.

4 Rewrite. What do lame poems and great poems have in common? Both can be improved.

5 Avoid clichés.
Avoid them, like the plague.

6 Play. Experiment. Not every poem will be your best poem. Embrace the achievement of creating crappy poems.

7 Always having a submission in the mail prevents rejection letters from meaning so much. Keeping one poem in the mail, means a potential "Yes" is always on the way.

8 Missed shots are to basketball players as rejection slips are to poets. If you’re not missing shots, you’re not shooting enough. A slump of missed shots beats a slump of no shots.

9 Beware procrastination. If you must succumb, trick procrastination into helping you. Procrastinate writing, by submitting; procrastinate submitting, by writing.

10 Physicality helps poetry. I don’t know why. Walking, juggling, stretching. See tip number nine, re: procrastination).

11 Find a critique group who is encouraging and honest. There will be times when you leave your group because you’re doing more meeting than writing. Stay in touch. These groups are hard to find.

12 Learn to critique others well. Critiquing others helps more than you'd guess.

13 Adverbs.
I don’t really like them. They are very avoidable.
I don't like them. They are avoidable.
Adverbs are red flags that read "Lack of Trust". Either you don’t trust your skill, or you don’t trust your reader’s intelligence. Your reader knows that when the main character skips, he/she skips happily. So skip "happily". Adjectives are sneaky little buggers too.

14 Writer’s block... Writer's block. Meals don’t get cooked by staring at the fridge. Bad poems are easier to start than great ones. Bad poems are easier to improve than non-existent ones. Start cooking.

15 Poetry comes from going outdoors, talking with friends, reading, and listening to music. But beware (again see tip number nine). If you’re asking yourself if something’s a procrastination trap, assume it is.

16 Babies learn to talk through imitating. Learning a language takes effort. Finding your voice, happens.
Imitate your favourite authors. Work hard. Finding your voice, happens.

17 You are a poet. Own it. Call yourself a poet. If you feel phony, say it more. If you can’t, then call yourself an aspiring poet. If you write poetry, you are a poet. Headlock your fear, and give it a noogie from me.

18 Write poems. Singers sing, painters paint, writers write. Poets write poems.

19 Tempted to go on the internet? Imagine how many poems you could write if you spent all your internet time, writing poetry. Picture your own shelf in the library, your own section in the bookstore. Internet off. Write on.

20 Share your poetry when you’re ready for someone to dislike it. Doesn’t mean they will, doesn't mean you want them to, doesn’t mean they won’t hurt you, just means you’re ready to share. Time always wins.

21 Keep a notebook (or whatever) by your bed. If you use it, bonus, a lot of earth-changingly wonderful ideas come just before sleep, and from dreams (a few are even usable the next morning).
If you don’t use the notebook, you still have one by your bed, and that makes calling yourself a poet, a wee bit easier.

22 If your title doesn’t have an item your reader can eat, smell, touch, hear, see, or feel, then your poem better be bubbling over with them. Cold french fries, fresh dogshit, broken wedding rings, rain bouncing off asphalt, sexy black dresses, wiggly leeches… these are the images which change your reader. Readers might “get” your poem, they might not. But if you make them experience these sensations, by the end of your poem, your reader will be changed.

23 Titles name your poem. Great titles improve and deepen your poem; they become an inseparable part of your poem.

24 Spelling and proofreading and penmanship and intelligence, do not a poet make. Sacrifice and effort and sharing and rewriting: that's the stuff of poets.

#1227 a lonely badge

the sheriff is a man who, every buddy know
the sheriff is a man who, never let it show
the sheriff is the willow trees, bendin goin with the breeze
the sheriff is a oak tree, standin tall as he can be
whatever it happens, always starts to rumour
whatever it fails, builds upon his tumor
a town fill with acquaintance
but he ain't got no real friends
the people are his children and the people are his wife
doin the right thing, that's his life
now gray is right and, so is every fight
left without permission, he'll get you with his right
the sheriff is a man who, every buddy know
the sheriff is a man who, never let it show
the sheriff is a man who, every buddy know
the sheriff is a man who, every buddy know

#1226 he changes his underwear

she has x-ray vision
seeing through his attempts to distract and evade
she loves him and he is in love with the superhero with the x-ray vision
but her superpower scares him
he knows
she can see the greatness buried beneath the bravado and self-mockery
somewhere in his soul, he knows the greatness is in him
but he can't see it as well
after all, he's not the one with superpowers
like most ordinary people
doubt visits him each day
sometimes overstaying, sometimes just saying Hi

#1225 why she called Gramma bitch

Grampa was the only thing right in her life
when Mum put her out on the winnipeg street one too many times
traded her to the curb for a warm man or a hit
sometimes both
Grampa mothered her
took her in
now Gloria's on the cusp of adulthood and still wishing for a mother to mother her
but she's seen enough of this planet now to know Mum is a fuck-up
one who'll never get things right
Dad left the room before Gloria left the womb
ran like ten track stars, leaving her to pack the scars
and the boys she met thought being a man was being the boss
so she took some hits herself
open-handed slaps, and words that hurt like bear traps
only two friends ever really "got" Gloria
Danny got tired of cutting his wrists and switched to swallow too many pills
Chelsea died too but not of choice, unless cancer has the freedom to choose

and Gramma
was almost 70
Gloria heard that the average person lives to 77
the word pulled tears from Gramma's eyes
but was a practice test for when Gramma dies

#1224 three hours west to heaven

i live in a valley
hidden by almighty mountains
who knew my home was alongside the running elk
home is the place you try things you think you might fail
i live in the womb between a castle and a ghostrider on a ghost horse
from a legend that is half told, long re-written on white paper
a miner's shack built in 1908... ish
after a fire that caused destruction that caused construction
give me wal-mart, but make me drive an hour
or three
give me real cheese, real chocolate, real honest bread
give me more coffee shops than fast food chains
because chains restrict and coffee spills
i'd rather spill my guts than restrict myself
rather drink with friends than chain myself
and when i need to go to the city
to see my brother, i leave here on friday
and i am a bull trout swimming the wrong direction
all the fish are coming down the 22 to the mountains
to where i live
if the wealthiest city in canda deserts on weekends to come here
what are they missing
they have everything
yet they escape to here
where we do not have everything
just everything we need
they escape to here
this valley
embraced by almighty mountains

#1223 1227 plays

you are my favourite song
stuck in my head long after you gone
your lyrics and beat meet
mix to perfect imperfection
i'm infected
i learn more about me each time i hear you
i listen on repeat and new something new each spin
like who i am is not a sin
like being white is alright
and doesn't mean i don't have my own fights
though i didn't need to fight for basic rights
you are my favourite song
so real, your lyrics feel like they grew out of me like skin
you are my favourite song
stuck in my head long after you gone

#1222 2:48am

sleep is my enemy
she kills me fresh each night
declaring my bed a war zone
armed only with imaginary sheep and real fears
i lose each battle
waking to fight again

#1221 on white paper

black ink
in a brown journal
thoughts and secrets and true lies
fill pages with scribbles
keeping sanity in mind as a goal
the ink like blood from wrists
spilling enough pain to meet another bedtime, another tomorrow
Loneliness is what she dresses in
Loneliness is what she eats
Loneliness is the only friend that really gets her
but part of her knows Loneliness is a dangerous choice for friendship

#1220 horizontal antecubital lines

everything about you is cliche but you
your dark baggy clothes and black make-up
your slumped shoulders and your slouched sitting
but something beyond the cliches
something that kicks the poets' asses from a century of slumber
your story is half-written
in these horizontal lines
foreshadowing a sad ending
we stick with you
hoping for a happy twist
cliche maybe
but happy

#1219 drying dishes

i hate drying dishes
but i savour the loneliness
i always washed, and she dried
but now i do both
and think of her
think of the suppers and the laughs and the desserts
my memories, like these dishes
never end
only give temporary reprieve

#1218 simmer

the best pots take time to boil
but hold heat for longer
don't believe me, try cast iron
even the name connotes a sense of lasting
but be warned
their handles hold heat too
but they're willing to give it away
to human skin

#1217 landlord say your rent is late...

i could not see the stars last night
we were covered in indistinguishable cloud
i assumed the lights were out, or gone, or dead
the stars, the moon, the sun
i sighed and stressed into bed
afraid of falling asleep and waking up to the dark morning
i watched the glow of the bedside clock
i pictured the worst tomorrow's possible

i woke up tired to a happy sun
and wished i could wish away my fretting
then i wished for a couple ore hours of darkness
in which to make up my lost time of rest to prepare for today

#1216 ...how old are you now?

today i turned 16 again
i did it once before
16 years ago
this time,
i watched the younger 16 year old me
and felt for him
he was a separate being
but i felt attached
he was like a sibling
so many things i wanted to tell him
but i know him well enough to know
he wouldn't have heard any of it

#1215 and puppy dog tails

interrupting feline yawns with fingers
and turning everyday items into weapons
sport-stat memorization

finding the accepted weak among them
arm-wrestling and pushing
jumping in all forms
as long as its higher than the other
and spending most of recess arguing over the nuances of the rules
instead of playing the game

#1214 feeling whole

i live in the middle of the mountains
if mountains were a donut i'd be the hole
but the mountains don't make me hole
they make me whole
there is no flat direction to look
mountains mountains mountains
yes i miss the ocean
and i love the mountains that block my view

#1213 no tag-backs

the sun and moon still play tag
yesterday's calendar quote still gets thrown into the recycle bin
new songs are written
new stories typed
and you're still dead
the sun and moon and calendar and singers and writers should stop
you're dead
somehow my head has adjusted to the fact i used to deny
maybe you didn't change the sun
or the moon
or the calendar
or the singers or the writers
and maybe i don't think of your smile every time i see or hear them
but you changed the way i experience them
you changed me

#1212 after

you made our bed and you lied in it
your body and hers weaving your web
your sweat evaporated and salt was all that remained
by the time i learned of your physical fib
a lie is an intention to deceive
and i knew we were bad
but you deceived me into thinking we weren't this bad
do i try to re-write this fairy tale with a spot for me
or do i lie alone
simplify by labeling you and laying the blame on your new label

#1211 it'll be real

they lied
the adults, they lied
they said i was the fastest
the strongest
the smartest...
the best.
and i was
i always won
always beat them
and loved winning
even though i won all the time
i loved winning all the time
i lost everything today
but if i win something tomorrow
i know

#1210 miss michaels' piece of wood

the pencil in my hands holds the tension that is my sanity
my neck muscles are tight and no part of me recognizes this truth
is it still exhaustion when it's everyday?
my belief that i'll fulfill my intentions goes down
as my piles of to-do lists go up

#1209 creation

the brush carries the artist
resulting in whiplash
in the end, the artist collapses, panting
and the brush is just is just a brush
the painting is good
but the ride, the ride

#1208 son rising

i remember thinking my dad's friends were gods
one put a sticker on my trike
and i polished that sticker for years
i remember watching dad work
being better than tv
and i'd wait for him to ask me to help
i remember trips to town alone together
like winning a lottery
sharing silence, just the two of us
i remember
and i hope to be as man as him