boxes of blank paper (2005)

boxes of blank paper

(he checks the skirts like)

most,boys do

i feel kinda sorry for him

he wears the required:shirt

it's black,polo

and carries a box to punch things into

as he works.on unloading

boxes of blank paper

unlike the coral white neck-lace

and skateshoes that say

life is for-fun

or at least beer and balls

(8/18/2005)

I wrote this one a few years ago while sitting at my desk at work, looking outside my window. I had a lovely view of the nearby city park through the alley access to the building where I was working at the time. Generally I wished I was down there doing something more fun and interesting and alive, instead of sitting in front of a computer contemplating how I was going to keep doing a good job as the odds seemed to get stacked more and more against me and my ability to stay interested in my projects waned. In reaction to the moribund company spirit and my own boredom and feeling of not wanting to be there, I was writing more poems just as a way to help keep myself sane.

I have a "wandering eye" for all sorts of beautiful things. I think this poem is a reflection on identity and a feeling that your life is divided up in ways that maybe you wish could be more unified.

You Know

You Know

You know how to get through a cold really fast?

You know what you do to get better?

Drink fruit juice with vinegar, that will clean you right out,

Flush the toxins you've stored up away.

Vitamin pills in a massive dose

Put you back on your feet in a beat.

Your head will be clear as a bell on the wind.

That's what to do if you want to get well.

Rest up and fluids and hot chicken soup.

If you want to get better, you're needing that broth.

Well maybe, I think, I'm impatient as any

to get well and keep running my marathon pace.

But maybe, oh gosh, I don't mind feeling ill.

And maybe I'll stop for a change and consider,

This wake-up call to slow things and just be,

A patience pill may be all that is what I now need.

(7/5/09)

Listen and Hum (2006)

Listen and Hum

What would I miss

(if I could)

after

I'm gone from this place?

Perhaps (others will

miss them in my place)

to listen and

hum along

with my favorite tunes

and my lover's presence

with me

drinking tea and

eating whatever is

for breakfast on the weekend.

(9/2006)