#1329 time to sharpen tips?

shouldn't one hit the bullseye?
the last 124 darts i've thrown
have hit the wall
and i'm about to

how can i not begin to think it's me
think about quitting
now even if i hit the red eye
i will wonder... skill or luck

but still i throw
hoping
maybe this one

#1328 "talkin bout my..."

i'm sorry
for coddling you
for letting you think you could win all the time
for being too kind
for my well-intention mistakes
for not spanking
for over-providing
for letting you think a safe roof was a right that was owed to you
i hope you do better

#1327 argh

the driveway is shovelled
the dishes are done
tomorrow's lunch is packed
the bed is made and I climb in
then
i remember the load in the washer

#1326 say cheese

we used to fill about one photo album every two years
a photo album, a physical book with plastic slots
and pull them out, flipping, building new old memories
now, we take that many pictures in a weekend away
then never look at them again
just stress that we didn't back them up
maybe we need to back up

#1325 put the kettle on

visits, i love visits
without texting ahead to arrange a spot to maximize both parties
just plain old-fashioned visits
maybe dropping off homemade soup and cornbread
letting people know you were driving by and thinking of them
visits, that's what creates community

#1324 yes, it makes your butt look fat. because your butt is fat. I love you, and you have a fat butt. Get over it. Either do something (healthy) to make your butt smaller, or, be okay with having a big butt.

how do you tell a friend a hurtful truth
we grew up thinking the truth grew with flowers
but today it is an invasive weed
do i be a good friend and have her hate me
or do i play a role in the play, Nothing's Wrong

#1323 please hate me, not my dog

to the woman who yelled at me for having my dog off leash
you were right
yes, i was outside of the designated off-leash area (by less than 10 feet)
yes, i was breaking the rules
yes, my dog ran toward you, and get that must be scary, especially at night
if i knew you'd be scared, i would have leashed her until our paths passed

to the woman who yelled at me for having my dog off leash
there is a lot you (and I) can learn from my dog
Lexi (my black Lab) loves everyone, even people she's never met, she assumes the best
she gives them the benefit of the tail-wag
Lexi always lives in the moment
in Lexi's doggie brain, a simple treat or bum-scratch can fix any problem

to the woman who yelled at me for having my dog off leash
i will let her off leash again
nothing against you, and thanks for making me think harder about it
but i want to live in a world where dogs run and jump and play
i will put her on leash immediately if we share a trail again
if i see you in time

wag more, growl less

#1322 we are running out of change

the penny is an antique
people pay plastic
because that's what we've become
the man on the corner bows his head
and asks for some change
but the world is running out
and all he gets is avoided eye-contact and dirty looks

#1321 unless you're a pig

there are some problems in my life that bacon can't solve
...
i can't think of any on the spot... but i'm sure they exist
what better way to start a day?
cooked just the way you like
and the smell, the smell...
hard to imagine anyone having a bad day that starts with bacon...

#1320 echo

you sit in california
reading my words
counting my rhythm
in fourths and in thirds
i sit in the north pouring forth
crumbs and crumbles, bits and pieces hoping someone reads this
you keep me coming back hoping that
today the crumbles and crumbs, pieces and bits
hits
changes a soul, a sole soul
thanks for readin and believin
thanks for coming to my drumming
thanks for making me think the echo is a voice who cares

#1319 boutin' me

feelin holey
wantin to feel holy
wholly holy
wishin i could voice this feelin and
let it wash out through the scuppers of my mind
second guessing all my words and actions
wishin i could re-write a million moments
so i could build this world into one in which i wasn't an idiot
thinkin they're all thinkin, bad about me

#1318 ink

i see a word tattooed on her arm
chinese characters on caucasian skin
i imagine what it could say
gramma because that's the arm that carried the coffin
daughter because that's who she misses most
fuck because she has a sense of humour
taylor swift because she's a fan
"can i take a picture of you tattoo"
she plays it cool and says "Yeah, sure"
acting all better-hurry-i-have-important-people-and-meetings-to-see-to
but her interior shows through
proud and impressed that someone wants a picture of a tattoo
"what's it mean?"
"i dunno, i just like the way it looked"
"cool"
i show it to my only friend that can read chinese
(does that sound like i only have one friend?
anyway, she says it is a nonsense character, holding no meaning
but i want to believe that even nonsense characters, hold meaning

#1317 surrounded by crap

humanity trumps humans
humanity is predictable and kind
not random and mean
humanity loves all
humans love themselves
humanity is beautiful and admirable and holy
and there is nothing
to stop humans from becoming a living humanity

#1316 re-gret

you makin me gret again
and hopin my world can be, great again
make me feel good again
begin again
and again and again
you makin me gret all over again
and say, like ol' Blue Eyes,
i did it my way
but those words hold an empty achin, feelin
i'm home alone grettin in the chair again
please make my word great again

#1315 truth in sound

music changes time
time changes music
tune out the world with your headphones
or share your new best find with a friend you know will "get it"
music is for those who love to live
for those who struggle with the void between this world's reality and its potential
music identifies problems and solutions, and sometimes both
music doesn't make the world go round
but it does change the free ride

#1314 re:

motions to be gone through

like the lost&found bin

discarded, forgotten

what good is a single mitt

meaning is gone

time to rethink, re-envision, reinvent

#1313 13

the leftover uniform
the blame
the avoidance
how is 31 fine
even though its odd too
and two is even

#1312 1,2,3 up!

moving furniture makes old rooms new

new look, new perspective

spin a couch around

fill a corner

clear a space

making old space new

#1311 5:19pm

clouds fight sunset

fight with their dark story

against the light and the beauty

but, somehow

they only add to her beauty

as she shines through anyway

#1310 like monopoly

how did rudolph do it
the guy had a flashing nose
a flashing nose
like a zit that could be seen from the moon
he was the bottom
the other deer didn't even want to be seen sharing a carrot with the guy
and then, he made it cool
how did he do it
sure he had some help from the big guy
but he had something special himself
and not just a bright nose
something more special
something inside

#1309 the sound of a beer opening

somewhere is a quiet evening alone
a beer and a book
waiting
and maybe a snack
somewhere is a quiet couch
with no to-do lists
or guilt
or ringtones
and i need to find it soon
just for a little while
a beer
a book
and maybe a snack

#1308 blood

you are not my family
you never saw me in second hand diapers
never sent photos away in the mail to be developed, forgotten, and returned
you are not my family
we never played with pre-school sticks in the woods
we never played with adolescent matches in the same forest
you are not my family
but we build a fort
out of new memories instead of childhood couch cushions

#1307 white rabbit

smoke in my nostrils
too close to the fire
tires burning
smoke rising
with memories and stories past
smoke, filling my view of the night sky

#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