Tuesday, May 31, 2011

supermarket

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you see them lean towards the store, on canes, bent with years. exiting the white bus with the wide doors and hatch that let's ...

ten nine...etc.

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let's pretend it's new year's eve. here, put on this hat. take this horn and blow it. let's start the countdown, i...

waiting

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low clouds move over the green fields. no cows are moving, no wind is turning the leaves or lifting up a flag, or clothes hung to ...
1 comment:
Monday, May 30, 2011

your news

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you read about war, but you don't know what it is, not really having ever been in one. someone tells you about the burn on the...

glass of water

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the only lights are those on the street, with a pink bloom coming in like flowers through the blinds upon her white skin. there ...

let's stay home

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it's too hot to think. to argue, to eat or even cook a hot meal. let's lie in bed, with the fan overhead and make slow so...

her gloves

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you know these things about her, before you know who she is. she will leave her gloves on your table, like unspoken words. she will ...

lost confetti

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at night while sleeping the streets were cleaned. washed and swept. the debris of the parade is absent when you awaken the next mor...

blue pools

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you submerge yourself into the blue pond of affection. you are in over your head. you let yourself sink into these dark depths of w...
Sunday, May 29, 2011

smokes

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you read someplace, such as in the new england journal of medicine that over six hundred thousand people die in this country alone...

ducks or ten pin

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she thinks she's so funny, when i suggest an afternoon of bowling. she'll say things like, and then can we go to walmart, or,...

rainy day

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you sink deep into a good solid book on this rainy day. the couch holding it's soft arms around you in the shadowed light. you ...

clean sweep

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you have decided to clean the cupboards of your life. sweep away the friends that aren't truly friends, and only want their ne...

the days

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the burial of time, the days that slip by, with no fanfare, no announce- ment telling you of their demise, is constant, for what ...
Saturday, May 28, 2011

staying hip

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you've resisted for so long, growing up. it's been a daily struggle of holding back the hands of time. of bouncing the ball. ...

a woman's purse

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a women's purse is a lifeboat, a bounty of things to keep you going, to save you, a lesson in survival. the flare, the mirror, ...

that summer dress

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when the sweet red melon cut and shiny red in the june sun drips down your chin, on your cheek, and i see you in that white dress...
Friday, May 27, 2011

fishing trip

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it's so nice out honey, it's a beautiful sunny day. let's go fishing, she says. with glee and does a little happy hop in...

calligraphy 101

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my son's handwriting is horrible. it has not improved since the age of three. it's like a chicken stepped into a puddle of ink...

june bugs

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i'm done with the month of may. i'm ready for june. the marrying month. work is sluggish. it's hot as hell already, and i ...

turning over a new leaf

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she says, i'm turning over a new leaf. i sigh. i let out a small, but audible laugh. again, i say. yes, she says. i'm serious a...

adaptation

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i dreamed that the earth hit a bump and was thrown off course, just slightly though. suddenly there was snow in july, and to me, yo...

early in the game

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if you only knew what i know and if i only knew what you know, we'd have a chance at meeting someplace in the middle. but we ar...
1 comment:
Thursday, May 26, 2011

the fried chicken prayer

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she was hungry and we were on a road trip from cape may to ocean city via the ferry across a purple ocean roiling in a christmas wak...

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keep your eyes on the road, she tells you, and your hands upon the wheel, there will be enough time later for that, that is if we ev...

the color blue

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you prefer blue, radiant shades and dull dark hues that hold no light. you prefer the cool shadows of color underwater. the soft kis...

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can i offer you a drink. please, come in, sit down. it's so nice of you to visit. i love that dress you are wearing, saks fifth...

dust bowl

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my stanley morgan broker just called and said, don't quit your day job, or that part time night job, or the extra work you do ...

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as she opens the mail, and the bills keep coming making her more aware of what little she has to pay them, she closes her eyes and...

less of religion

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the angle of light from the sun upon the water as it rises at early morning speaks less of religion and more of things that men ca...

go to sleep now

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you can go to sleep now. the day is done. it's finished. you can stop the worry, stop the work, stop moving and waiting for th...

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this crowd of trees where poets come to sleep, to eat, and sometimes read their work out loud to anyone that will listen, pay no m...

the hunger

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the news print on your fingers reminds you of a time when you awoke at five a.m. in the cold and went out to cut the strings on the ...
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

the light

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there is no future in this, she tells me. there is no hope or money in poetry. you can write all you want, but the world will not c...
1 comment:

in the middle

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you have seen men grow old with tears in their eyes still longing for young women, still wanting to work, to be a part of this worl...

get in the car

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she pulls up to the corner in a black mercedes. the window goes down and she whispers come here. so you stop eating your hot dog, wip...

these hearts

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how they go away, what shall i compare them to. leaves falling, no, too cliche and boring, waves that wash upon the shore then subsid...
Tuesday, May 24, 2011

hello, are you still there?

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she says don't you remember me. we talked sometime before. i believe your phone died though in the middle of our conversation. yo...

tourist

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i'm a tourist in my own city. there are lots of pigeons and squirrels. everyone is in a hurry. i walk around with a camera and ...

the nuns next door

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a group of nuns move in next door to you. there is a catholic church just around the corner so it's a convenient place for them...

the green fat pickle

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please don't eat that green fat pickle afloat, prodded and poked and stabbed out with a fork by the grisly man with skinny ar...
Monday, May 23, 2011

mirrors

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i can live without mirrors. i've seen enough. i'm tired of looking in. figuring things out. i can do without my own refl...

water and words

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don't read this and think that it means anything of consequence. don't analyze or ponder these words. go stare at the strea...

the blackbird

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your cup is cold in your hand as you sit at the table with the open window, there are no children in the yard, it's the middle o...

towards the end

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we've reached the point, at this stage and depth of our relationship that we no longer need words to communicate, our thoughts ...

the easy way

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i believe everything you tell me even though i know half of it is a pack of lies, but i go along with it just the same. why make wa...
Sunday, May 22, 2011

squirrel stew

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i met a woman once, online, where else, who had three dead squirrels in her icebox. they were in sealed plastic bags with their hea...

direction

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my left hand has informed my right hand what it is doing, but they aren't talking. they aren't speaking to one another at...

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you have the ability to play checkers all night long. you don't mind driving, you can dust and clean with the best of them. you...

the unknown

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it's not the sound of your voice that intriques me, nor the length of your legs or pucker of your lips, it's not the softn...
Saturday, May 21, 2011

the party

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we were having an end of the world party. balloons, noise makers, cow bells, someone brought a drum and a golden trumpet. there was...
1 comment:

slide rule

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she writes to me in a hurried text. are you good at math, can you help me measure this room. plus i'm having guests and need t...
1 comment:

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your single red glove lying on the sidewalk outside your door tells you just about everything.
Friday, May 20, 2011

stained glass

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you visit your church, well it's not your church exactly. you barely touch base on the holy days. but you want it to be more, t...

road rage

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you fear the open road. the tail gaters, and angered red faces pushing, pushing towards someplace they need to be. over the limit,...

the quiet meal

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you smell something wonderful cooking down the hall. a roast perhaps, potatoes, carrots and onions. there is garlic in the air, and...
Thursday, May 19, 2011

the decorator

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my friend patrick used to wear a full length black bear fur coat at the first hint of winter, before ice, before snow. he didn'...

hot air balloon

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i see her in the hot air balloon, waving. she is always smiling, especially when she's leaving. i worry about the power lines, ...
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

the home stretch

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you put all of your money on the wrong horse. number seven. she died on the home stretch despite the jockey whipping her hindquarte...

punctuation

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your feet are cold beside me curled and otherwise warm. we are two commas, on a plain white sheet. inked in for the night. there...

too much

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you give me too much food, there is too much on my plate. i could never eat all of this, despite how good it tastes. it's overwh...
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

fearlessly

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she liked to paddle down strange rivers, where snakes would hang from trees and hiss like hoses sprung a leak, while in the distance ...

night fever

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you dream one night that you are back in the seventies. you are wearing your purple bell bottoms and your womanly silk button down bl...

the boiled egg

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i'm having plumbing issues my sister says at the table on Easter. do you know a plumber, she asks as she peels away the blue shell...
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don't look back

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don't look back, or forward, but live in the moment your guru, the young barista with rings in his nose and ears tells you as h...
1 comment:

keeping order

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how carefully you've arranged your drawers and closets. your shoes, brown on one shelf, the other black. the summer clothes sepa...

it's funny

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that once everyone had a camera in their cell phone that there were no more sightings of alien space ships, or big foots, or ghosts a...

you look like someone

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you look like someone i used to know, your mother says to you when you visit her and bring her magazines. and you say, it's me. ...

coins in the dryer

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you hear the change rattle in your dryer as it spins and spins for an hour, it's money, clean and washed flushed from your pock...

handicap parking

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you don't see the handicap sign, a large tree in full bloom has overgrown and blocked the blue imprint of a wheelchair. there is...

it's easy

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it's easy to fall in love you tell your dog who sits at your feet staring into your eyes, wagging his tail. just look at you for...
Monday, May 16, 2011

checking the stove

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you take one last look around before locking the door. the truck is packed and full of all of your belongings. the house is empty. f...

while sipping tequila

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on a balcony overlooking the bus depot, she says my cup is full. always at least half full. i'm a positive thinker, a happy go ...

the birth of you

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the birth of you, comes in a dream. it's your dream. you are less than who you think you are, and more than what others might b...

what's next

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it's hard to listen and watch the rain in a storm, and not think of it without meaning, or portent. you don't need a gyspy to ...

the waiting

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when we were young, and our memories younger still, there was always a tomorrow to lean towards. always a bluebird about to land. a...

burnt offering

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toast is your morning burnt offering to the new day. it's charred woolen bread stiffend black will never see a swab of butter, o...

to the other side

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it isn't far to go, from here to there. you've known others who have made the leap, fell fast and deep into an unknown slumbe...
Saturday, May 14, 2011

setting the bar low

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your ten dollar ticket, five dollar box of stale pop corn and three dollar box of candy, your four dollar soda, or water, and the movi...

serenity now

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i get a random call late one night from the old girlfriend. i'm new and improved she says. i've finally found my happy place. ...

sock sorting saturday

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your poems make me sad, make me cry sometimes, she says over her walkie talkie. she's in the woods, hiking rag mountain. a bee ju...

don't answer the house phone

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it's a number you don't recognize. international it says. it could be anyone, or someone selling windows, or love, or a time s...
Friday, May 13, 2011

Knick Knack Space

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there was a time when i came home from work and saw ten sealed boxes of books sitting in my livingroom. mark twain, catcher in the ry...

cat scratch fever

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it doesn't take long for the claws to come out, the teeth to bare, the hair to rise along the once smooth back of a velvety spine...

isn't it strange

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isn't it strange you say to no one while staring up into the starlit sky, how nothing or no one seems to be out there. and as you...

tomorrow is today

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you can go now. i packed you a lunch. your books are in your back pack, go quickly the bus is coming soon. i'll be here, at home,...

the yellow dress

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the summer yellow dress you left, in the closet like a flower on a wire hanger catches a breeze from the open window and slips easil...

another round

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and as the conversation wanes, and what needs to be said has been said, and the celing and walls have more interest than the person y...
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

tuesday night 9:57

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bored, lazy on the leather couch, stretched out. the house is a mess, sunday's paper everywhere, a dish, a cup, an empty bottle o...
1 comment:

to hear the splash

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your words are cast out into the world and yet you don't hear the splash. there is the coded silence of water, the woods that lie...

chain letter

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you get a chain letter in the mail giving you fair warning that if you don't send it back out to ten or more friends then you will...
Tuesday, May 10, 2011

indigo

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she doesn't have the blues, no it's something darker, a richer color, deeper, some shade of indigo a bordering on purple hue...

Settling

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first of all you are an admirer of yoko ono. you think that tofu is really a food. everything flys right over your head. your polit...

the good knife

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she says where is your good knife and i say it's in the drawer with the other knives. the drawer by the stove, be careful sti...

King Street

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with cymbals on his fingers, and the glaze of another world in his eyes, messianic musings eek madly from the street corner prophet ho...
Monday, May 9, 2011

in a perfect world

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in a perfect world, the moment the phrase, 'it is what it is' is spoken a giant red tomato soft from being two weeks off t...
4 comments:

the world is in a hurry

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your arrival and departure is measured in minutes. black swings of the long and short hands of clocks on the opaque terminal wall. ...
Sunday, May 8, 2011

worm in the apple

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not every apple has a worm, although at times it seems that way and your determination to go through the whole barrel to prove t...

identity theft

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i found the person who stole my identity last week. he was in a bar, siting alone waiting for his date to arrive. he was drinking an ...

Hallmark Holidays

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my dog looked up at me the other day, angry, sad, a little bitter about something, i could see it in his big brown eyes and i said,...
2 comments:

cowboy

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you sell your house, you buy a pair boots, cowboy boots, you google horses online, and pick one out, a palamino. you know nothing ab...

the elderly

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you had to beat the elephant to get him back into his cage, he's resisting, and after all he's done for you, and you in turn...

don't tell me anything

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don't tell me anything, i can't be trusted. i can't keep a secret. it last as long as a piece of candy in my pocket. it...
Saturday, May 7, 2011

your news

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your daily news is more about the falling leaves, the wind and hail the rain as it tumbles from soft grey clouds out of the north. y...

the game

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as the old men gather at the end of a game, a game stretched well into years beyond playing well, but with spurts of glory still a...

rib eye

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i've had enough carrots for one life time, she tells me. i'm sort of done with vegetables. i'm sick of lettuce and cucum...

fork and knife tattoo

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while your truck idles in the lot and you stand in line at the seven eleven scratching at your new tattoo on your shoulder depictin...

goodnight

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your frozen mug, stuck from stroke, the edges of your rebel lips tilted forever down, no smile to rise, and your eyes, so horrifica...

no ice

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stale bread on the counter, growing blue, warm milk, the melting of everything with the power out has taken place. you have been gone...

attic

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each stamp, a foreign stop along the way, by train perhaps for someone who was in india, or spain, once pressed by tips of fingers,...
Friday, May 6, 2011

giddyup

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when i was out riding my horse this morning, his name is bukowski, sipping on a cup of coffee, just strolling along some back roads i...

a new planet

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the new planet that they've just discovered has been hiding behind a cloud of space dust blocking the reflective light of tel...

polished apples

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these apples shine on the morning sill, polished hard to catch the light before the first hand chooses one, and takes a hungry bit...

dark wind

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this black winged flock of birds that cloud the horizon, swim the air almost as one, without voice or visible signs of purpose. like ...

red slice of melon

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you have become a cliche she tells me via e mail, a jaded man just looking to get laid. you have no heart, no soul, you've lost t...

same thing only different

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behind someone in traffic who is moving his head to the beat of his loud radio playing some sort of gangsta rap, or something you...
1 comment:
Thursday, May 5, 2011

beans

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i'm not a big fan of the bean she tells me as she stares at the menu shaking her head. anything but beans. no kidney beans for m...

no parking

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there is no parking here. or there. the garages are full. every meter taken on the street. for miles around there is nothing. no pl...

strangers in the night

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when i see you outside my house, bent over the rear tire of my car letting the air out, with a sharp knife lying on the ground, wit...

the wish

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as you lean over, holding back your hair, and close your golden eyes, and purse your lips to make a wish, with the candles lit, sho...

the business woman

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i'm not really into whips and chains she says, while strapping on her thigh high leather boots, and cracking her knuckles. they...

the long way

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you take the long way home. it's a nice day, why not. the clouds have parted. the radio is playing music that you like, songs ...
Wednesday, May 4, 2011

charity

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i'm out of money, bone dry. just lint comes out of my pocket when i reach in to give you a coin or bill, or some token of valu...

the guest room

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you can sleep in the guest room. the one down the hall, we used to call it the yellow room when the previous tenant lived here. let...

the river's edge

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not far from here, just a mile or two across the road over the bridge, is a path that leads down to the river where we used to go wh...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011

after the breakup

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you satisfy your urge for candy by eating more candy, but this doesn't help, so you buy it in bulk bags and boxes at the local w...

black and white cat

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there is a black and white cat up in a tree. she can get down if she wants to, but for now she is perfectly content to sit and lie ...

swim out

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swim out to the open sea. spread your arms, kick your legs. propel yourself towards the sun that rises as if from the bottom of th...
Monday, May 2, 2011

when you follow

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instead of leaving, you sit, you endure, you break every promise you've ever made to your self to never stay when you get bored,...

you know better

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seasons fool you with their trees and flowers, coming back after a hard winter below snow and ice. and the sun rising warm, finally...

everything will be just fine

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at the age of ten when you see your father drunk again twist your mother's arm until it breaks, it sort of does something to yo...

car crazy

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you can tell someone's state of mind, or heart or spirituality by how they drive their car, or bus, or cab, or bike. i truly bel...
Sunday, May 1, 2011

a bag of chips...

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i want to get married again, she says. staring at the television as the prince and his bride kiss beneath the raised veil. i want a ...
1 comment:

dream world

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you awaken with the moon still in the window, the curtains parted. the white sheets are snow, and cold around you. a red numbered cl...
1 comment:

starting point

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there is dancing and singing, crying. laughter finds a way in as well. four one act plays with lights flickering on and off to a c...

the ladder

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don't fall, she says, as you climb up your ladder towards another window on another house in one more month and day of your dwin...
1 comment:

unclear windows

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the clear glass window that you so carefully sprayed and wiped clean just the other day is blurred now. the trees outside are a dull...

the mechanic

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your neighbor who is always working on his car, an old wreck that he's bought at some auction, some far away place where he had ...

she used to fly

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but her wings don't tilt any more, or flap or fly, or take her north for the summer. she's in florida to stay. she found a n...
Saturday, April 30, 2011

no moons

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there are no more moon's to land on, at least in our lifetime. and mars is too far, too distant and dangerous, and what would we...

chainsaw

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i borrowed your chain saw the other day, found it in the shed. i had a dead tree in my yard that was tilting towards the wires. hop...

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what isn't rare is this, let's start with sand. there's enough, or so it seems when you see it stretched out along the b...
Friday, April 29, 2011

i want

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i want faster service, my water, my bread, my meal, my drink refreshed. i want a quicker train, a speedier cab and bus, i need you ...

slightly ajar

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you are a slip of paper that i won't chase, a white thin strip caught in the breeze of a blue morning sky. your name, your voi...

Giants

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these giants come slowly, slow enough to hear their foot steps thunder in the ground. you see their shadows before you see their leg...

house going down

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thin as reeds, bone thin, like a blade of grass, a shard of glass. a sliver of sun behind an eclipsing moon. a last thin breath ...
Thursday, April 28, 2011

letting things unfold

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there are no more clothes hangers for which to hang these new shirts. things are getting tight. each closet is filled to the brim w...

the line

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a line forms and i see you standing in it. it wraps around the block. you nod at me as i stop to ask you why. what's up. what ar...

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sick of the gas prices your wife talks you into going out and buying one of those tiny little cars. you feel that it's a smart t...

bee sting and scotch and soda

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her hand is swollen and red, a small lobster curled and about to be dropped into a boiling pot of water. is the stinger out, i ask he...

to lie down

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the man with the tilted grey cap, in the woods along the path, bent with a stick in his hand, moving slowly. there is no rush. the r...

sweat

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it's a long night, even with the windows open wide there's no wind, only the slight breath of an overhead fan swirling down...

crossing

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this dog follows you home, he keeps about ten feet behind you though, wagging his tail and panting with that dog like smile on his ...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011

house for sale

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this house for sale, with the old furniture in the yard, the boxed albums and books, and photos awaiting another closet to rest in...

championship bout

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why do i feel like i went twelve rounds with a heavyweight boxer when you leave here. my ribs are sore, my mouth bruised, there are ...

surrender

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i saw you in the sky, caught up in that wild funnel of wind. that tornado that took down the power lines, and sent rooftops flying....

the wrong kiss

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your kiss on my cheek means everything. it's not the kiss i want. the way your hands hold my shoulders back, your stance keepin...
2 comments:

thunder

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how strong the thunder is in the black clouds. the silver thread of lighting letting you know who's in charge, not you, by any ...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

the waiter trips

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and you hear the first dish drop and break and then the next one and a glass or two, once full, shattering on the sidewalk at the cr...

madmen

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at what point do you stop, and turn, and become a madman talking in riddles on the street, or finding yourself fast asleep curled ...
1 comment:
Monday, April 25, 2011

the farm

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your father in the field, his white hair aglow with the two oclock sun. you see his arms go up, go down, doing what he has to do to ...

let's not keep score

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this puzzle of you, so many pieces scattered. the tiles tipped over, some blank, some impossible to ever use with the board so full,...

renunion

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the e mails for the reunions are endless. highschool. every year, twice a year, every week a notice in the mail, come, dance, drink, ...
Sunday, April 24, 2011

implants

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she's pondering larger breasts. my friend, amelia. when she sees the blonde across the bar in a bright red dress, she decides th...

she's hungry

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she pulls a rotisserie chicken apart like nobody's business. it doesn't stand a chance. she's that hungry. legs go first, t...

sixty years gone down

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she puts his bow tie on the table, the red one, and then beside it the blue and green one. plaid. those being his favorites. she plac...
1 comment:
Saturday, April 23, 2011

sign posted

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lost cat, six pounds, black and white, a jingle collar around his fluffy throat, a shortened tail, a scar on his forehead, he limps...

the passing train

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you don't travel well. you get bored with looking out the window. it's interesting at first. but after the second or third tow...

the apple

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you cut gently into the red apple still wet from the sink, the sharp knife holding the overhead kitchen light, and a part of you, mo...

flood water

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what the flood doesn't take away, is left behind. everything you don't want. at least not now. you've watched what you va...
Friday, April 22, 2011

above the earth

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you pour me a cup of you beneath the moonlight. silk is not as soft as your shoulder, or the light coming in as white, like milk a...
1 comment: