poetry and prose by stephen chute

Friday, May 12, 2023

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

two boxes of thin mints

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i've been living in this house so long that the little girl who used to sell me Girl Scout cookies is now grown up and dragging her daug...

who told them that?

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i pick up the phone to see if it's still working. i got nothing, just a dial tone. not a single message left for me. where the hell is e...

leave it all behind

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don't look back. keep walking. keep going. leave it all behind. drop the weight. lay down the burden, it's not yours anymore. see ho...

our secret lives

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there is so much more than meets the eye. so much going on that we don't know about, or notice. take that ant for example carrying a lum...

hey Nineteen

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who are they, my date asks me, as a Beatle song comes on the radio. i tell her who they are. you know, John, Paul, George and Ringo. they so...

dazed and confused

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i hold the door for a person i think is a woman, but she's not, or at least, not yet. the wig fools me and the dress. flowered and yello...

off the top

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there's another article in the paper about the mayor's assistant skimming money off the top of construction contracts. despite his ...

her bedside manner

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i know she's not a nurse, or a doctor, or even a physician's assistant. i know she doesn't know head from tails when it comes t...

Coney Island Photos

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we take a trip to Coney Island, not for rides, or the food, the hot dogs with mustard and relish. not for the ocean either. it just seems li...

the gypsy people

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anyone that keeps moving, packing, relocating, constantly with the tape and boxes. storage units, changing of addresses, settling down again...

do the math

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my brain is itching for math, longing to solve an equation of some sort. to add and subtract. i have an urge to multiply and go forth, to fi...

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

the weight of what we're doing

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let's keep this between us, this whispered secret. no one needs to know what we're up to. let's sin in darkness. avoid the light...

mercury

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an idea slips into mind, a clever thought, a mercurous notion, gold in the moment, but not written down. lost in time.

the x-ray

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it's a dash, a mere ghost of a mark on the thin silver photograph revealing bone and marrow. lungs and heart, all of it in black and whi...

the bright side of the road

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his head was bandaged like a wounded soldier at Antietam. there was a tube in his neck, wires and what not connected to his arm, his heart. ...

a dozen to go

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will this hot greasy donut rolling off the conveyor belt at Krispy Kreme, make me happy? the chocolate one, the creme filled one, the one dr...

don't go out

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don't take the subway at night, don't go out, don't walk that street alone, don't linger near an alley, or make eye contact...

we ran it over, not me

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what was it in the middle of the road staring back at us with red eyes? a lump of furry life now still and settled, it's mind made up o...

Monday, May 8, 2023

bone on bone

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the doctor tells me that this will burn a little, or maybe a lot, as he sticks my knee with a syringe filled with lidocaine and cortisone. h...

high top whites

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we rarely are on the same page with clothes when we go out to dinner or a show. if she has on her leather skin tight pants and a see through...

a paler shade of grey

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the job is delayed. they can't decide on which shade of white they want on the walls of the house they're selling. so don't come...

the road map

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what's that tattoo all about i ask her, pointing at the sun on her arm in red ink. it's about the sun, she says. i love the sun. and...

Sunday, May 7, 2023

see you on Sunday

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it's just a dream mixed in with other dreams, but i appreciate the call from my mother. she sounds good. she tells me what's for din...

who gets the dog

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i remember how the neighbors were quiet, not yet decided on whose side to take, peering out their windows at the truck, excited by the news....

did you hear?

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the story had legs, had arms, had a torso with eyes a mouth, a tongue. it became a life all its own. just a word or two told out of school, ...

captured by the prey

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she tells him what sign to make for the march. pink ink. what shirt to wear, what flea market to go to that day. what mall? what vegetable t...

worthless worry

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weathered, aren't we all at this stage, this age. a lot of wind a lot of sun, a lot of worthless worry about things we couldn't cha...

it isn't over, not yet

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purple almost, this blue chop of water under the bridge. how is it that sand is cold. wet, a marvelous place to end things. to leap, to swim...

in her barefeet

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as you walk towards your car, carrying your shoes, your bag, you look back and blow me a kiss. the glow of light upon you. it's early, ...

fixing the darkness

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so what, a storm. electricity, who needs it? we have candles, we have matches. we have the spark of each other under moonlight. let's pr...

leave nothing behind

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the underworld is near full. the unnourished, the unfed, the unloved. the unkind, only you and i are left. let's eat, let's leave no...

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Etienne's mother

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i see my father stretched out in the July sun, his shirt off, covered in tanning oil, his madras shorts on. it's ninety degrees in the s...

any plans for the day?

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the nice day urges you to get up and get out, to do something called fun. the old town and cobblestones, perhaps. a walk to the river, along...

a good memory

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is there not a good memory attached to this warm sunlight upon my face. none that i can think of. so let's be still, be quiet and keep i...

wait it out

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why watch the news anymore? why read the paper. why care when there's nothing you can do, but board up the windows, lock the door, stor...

following the script

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the doctor has a script to follow. at a certain age, a certain weight within a certain range of blood pressure or cholesterol, well, we hav...

punch the clock

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as they burn and riot, protest the raising of the retirement age to 64 in France, it's hard not to laugh as i climb the ladder with a br...

forbidden fruit

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is there such as thing as original sin? can we be born already tainted by a rash decision made in the garden of Eden. is the bite of an appl...

Friday, May 5, 2023

ship ahoy, nah

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whatever you do, she told me one day while we sat on a bench in the warm sun, was, when you retire, don't buy a boat. your whole life wi...

making babies

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men don't like babies much. they like making the baby, but the rest of it is hard. tough. diapers and strollers, putting the crib togeth...

fly me to the moon

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it's wise not to live near an active volcano, or on land below sea level. up north you have the ice to worry about, deep snow, so don...

eight ball side pocket

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was it a sad day when they came to take the pool table away? hardly. it took up so much room in the basement, though useful for folded cloth...

in a fixing mood

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not me, but some prefer to fix things. to get out the wrench the can of oil, the tools to tighten up the screws. fill the tires with air. ma...

preparing for battle

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i open the window for ten minutes and every spider and his sister is rushing in to make themselves at home. flies, and bugs of an unknown or...

easy street

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he was handsome and smart. strong too. he had more degrees than a thermometer. well bred. but he was always looking for a puddle to slip on ...

the blue door

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i can see the brush strokes, he says, holding the door open in the sunlight, freshly painted, still wet to the touch. what can you do about ...

sand castles

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as we built our castles in the sand, the morning still cool, the ocean at our feet, i remember staring at you, lying on the blanket, neither...

Thursday, May 4, 2023

a sound sleep

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ah, the good sleep is everything, isn't it? what problems? what troubles? that was yesterday, that was long ago. almost forgotten, some...

the fool

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the fool goes back to being foolish, lying to themselves that things will fine. hard to stop him or her. they forget what happened the last ...

todays lesson

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the wrecking ball took down the old school, at last. years abandoned. rubble now. brick upon brick. old desks, even books among the ruins li...

the cold sandwich

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at six, for dinner, i'd sit at the coffee table with a cold sandwich. maybe a glass of milk, or maybe a beer if i was in a mood to argu...

the summer pool

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we weighed next to nothing. gangly lots, pale boys, with crew cuts, skin and bones. feathers in the summer light doing back flips off the hi...

let's hope so

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was it obvious they were in love? the way they held hands and smiled, the way she kissed him for no reason. his hand around her waist, the w...

two sides of the coin

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we have two sides. two voices in our head. be good, be bad. it's a daily struggle at times. do this, do that. go there, stay. the relent...

i need a new dress

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i have nothing to wear to this party tonight, she says, standing in front of one of three walk in closets full of clothes. i have to go shop...

everything has changed

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it's not what it used to be. but what is? what hasn't changed? we reminisce. we remember fondly the old days. we nod our heads in un...

back space your life

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thank God for white out, for erasers. for the backspace and delete. thank you Lord for the second chance, the mulligan, the annulment, anoth...

the heart of the city

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there is no easy way to the heart of town. no back road, no freeway. no straight route as the bird flies, as they say. it's stop and go...

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

have at it

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it's better to rip and tear, crush and burn, break things up into an unfixable mess. it feels good to release that anger, to throw somet...

get in line

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there's a line down the block. it leads to a door on the side of the building. no signs. no clue as to where the line leads, but i get i...

pass me the aspirin

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is any of it real. are we dreaming, imagining this life. will we wake up in the end and begin again. is there more? is there less? why are w...

almond stuck in my throat

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are you okay, she asks, as i try to cough up a dry sliver of an almond caught in my throat. my eyes are red and tearing up, my chest hurts f...

when the basket comes around

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when the basket comes around during mass, i realize that i only have a twenty dollar bill, so i make change with what's in the basket. t...

regrets

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after buying the new car, i can't help myself and wonder if i should have bought a different car. maybe a different color, something mor...

morning celebration

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i throw myself on the mercy of the court. i plead my case. not guilty. innocent of all charges. but to no avail. the jury convicts me of my ...

land of the free

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what can we eat or not eat? milk and bread? meat, fish and fruit? what about Doritos? what about skittles and junior mints? something sweet...

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

stop for one minute

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these damn clocks, always with their ticking, their constant swing of arms. moving relentlessly forward. even the dead get no reprise from t...

a man in uniform

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i like a man in uniform she tells me over martinis. something sexy and sharp about a man in uniform. army, or navy, it doesn't matter. ...

the Joneses

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the neighbor gets a new car. so we get one too. a new fence, a new roof. a dog, of course we follow suit., they have children, not just one ...

her featherbed

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i sleep better in a different bed. away from this. from that. i need the comfort of another to bring sleep into my head. no longer with one ...

sugar town

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do i miss sugary things like cake and ice cream. cookies and donuts, pudding and pies. sweets in general. all full of sugar with no nutritio...

the wedding gift

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do i get him a wedding gift this time around? third wedding. he has money, he has a blender a toaster and a nice coffee maker. i don't k...

peeking out the window

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i find a swab of make up on the front room curtains. it's old, dried out like mud. she used to peek out the window to see if i had left ...

ancestry.com

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someone, somehow finds me through the spit i sent off to ancestry.com.. i want to get to know you better the note says. i think we're re...

odd treasures

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everyone seems to collect things. porcelain animals, wooden toys, comic books. stamps and what not. pigs or cows, small trinkets of no true...

Monday, May 1, 2023

the kid next door

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i see the kid next door driving his father's car. he's wearing a suit and holding a bouquet of flowers, like he's going to the p...

the red wheel barrow

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i don't own a wheel barrow, but i've often thought of buying one. not because of the poem, by William Carlos Williams, but just bec...

fast changes

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i had a pink wall once in my house. hot pink. not my idea. but when it ended, the first thing i did was paint that wall white. the rest soon...

do i hold the door?

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do i hold the door for her, do i pay for dinner, do i stand when she arrives, tip my hat? do i pull her chair? do i tell her she looks nice ...

losing the will to live

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clams and oysters don't thrill me. the chance of a painful bacterial death is near. no matter how much you doctor them up, or cook them,...

can i have your jello?

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she was always coming up with fun things to do, that i said no to. thankfully her father was an orthopedic surgeon. she'd say, let's...

swanson tv dinners

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it was primitive no doubt. the tin, the foil, the separation of carrots and potatoes. there was the turkey in some sort of thin gravy, there...

a promise i can't keep

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i look at my iron in the laundry room. the green buttons reading, hot, hotter, steam, etc. . it's on the shelf next to a jug of bleach t...

girls and horses

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when she sees a pony, she wants one. she's a five year old girl inside a sixty year old woman. always with the pony. we have to stop the...

before the light changes

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can you spare a dollar the woman says on the corner. she's wearing a wedding gown while holding up a cardboard sign. and playing the vio...

already May

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i'm still in April, all day, i think it's April. i have no clue that the calendar has turned, that we're on another page. i have...

babies and bathwater

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you see babies all the time being thrown out of windows with the bathwater. it's what we do to survive in this world. tired of trouble. ...

Sunday, April 30, 2023

she scares me

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she tells me, bringing out her diary from under the left corner of her mattress, she tells me that we made love twenty-nine times last month...

walk away

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shall we not be kind to the unkind, patient with the impatient. nice to the rude? shall we not turn the other cheek, and let fools be fools....

no one reads poetry anymore

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no one reads poetry anymore, and why should they? why should they unfold the pages of books thickened with dust and mold, Longfellow, please...

the pink snake

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it's a pinkish coat, with a coppered brow, checkered and hatched, the dot black specks for eyes, a slither of tongue, the sly waggle o...

as if they never left

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it's a dream full of ghosts. the dead visiting as if they never left. friends and lovers. people from your past., some present. they spe...

worry some more

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you need to keep your curiosity, your worry in tact. it keeps you alive, stirs the blood. worry about food, and shelter your money. love, or...

the bullfighter

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Hemingway's mother dressed him in girl clothes at an early age. dresses and tights. so he spent most of his later life disproving the no...

getting free

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i give up on the knot and take a pair of scissor and cut the lace in two, in threes. there are lots of knots in this world. but it's eas...

it's just water

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it's just water. just rain. just the ocean rising and falling again. turn your face into it, drink it. let it soak you to the bone, it...

Saturday, April 29, 2023

the Woke march

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it's not exactly 1984, or 1939, but you'd better watch your step, your words, your thoughts, your actions. the wokes are out there k...

it's too early to start drinking

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i spend an hour or two with a screw driver and screws, molly bolts and a new towel rack for the bathroom. the other one fell down, of course...

will the buttons hold?

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i detect a note of sarcasm in your reply to my question as to whether or not you like my dress, she says, lips pursed, her brow furrowed. no...

you know you're crazy, don't you?

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after another bold face lie and betrayal, i tell her, you know, you're really crazy, nuts, you know that don't you? i make the swir...

who is this?

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i didn't think you'd pick up, she says, after i say hello. i thought you blocked me. made a vow to never speak to me again, or see m...

abandoned

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i'm curious about the empty house on the corner. the rusted bicycle left behind, the swing set broken. the chain around the tree, the br...

see you on the flip side

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i cancel my subscriptions. one after another. i reduce my credit cards down to one or two. there's always a loose one floating around so...

press one

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no use in trying to talk to a real person anymore. press one press two press three, even hollering out agent doesn't seem to work anymor...

the shine was everything

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i find the old shoe shine kit under the sink. palettes of black and brown. the chamois cloth, the brush. i can't remember the last time ...

too much talk

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less is always more, in most things, of course. too much food or drink takes its toll. the buttons tight, the belt too short. whereas too mu...

no need to look

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when young, we're prone to preening. checking out our reflection in the mirror, or a store window. we admire the image of who we are, at...

don't leave the house willy nilly

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when you get old, you carry things around like flashlights and binoculars. maps, change for the meters, maybe a Swiss army knife if so incli...

the maid's last day

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the safe is open and empty when you get home. there's broken glass on the floor, the sink is full of dishes. the front door is open and ...

Friday, April 28, 2023

it was a very nice place

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somehow. we're just the right distance from the sun so that we don't burn up, or freeze to death. there's just enough water and ...

what are you?

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i accidentally used the wrong bathroom at the mall the other day. the sign on the door was confusing. it had a question mark on it. but i re...

yellow sticky notes

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the sticky notes were everywhere. reminders stuck on the mirror, on the fridge, on the door going out. on her purse, her books, her desk, h...

be walter

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it's just the news. read the news off the paper and don't give us your opinion whether left or right. be walter cronkite for once. t...

Thursday, April 27, 2023

spill it out

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every word counts, each thought uttered, it's all part of it. better to be unfiltered and spill, than to hold back and be in the dark, w...

there is karma

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don't believe in karma? that in the end, or middle, or sooner or later, you get coming back to you what you've given. trust me there...

first class trip back to Ireland

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he finally tells his girlfriend of ten years, that he's breaking up with her. that it's over. he offers her a car, some money to fly...

where's the cheese?

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there's a beep in the house, a light, but persistent squeak, but i can't locate it's origin. the cell phone, the microwave oven...

the exploding blueberry scone

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i drop a blueberry scone onto the floor, being in a hurry to stick it into my mouth. it shatters into a thousand crumbs. i sweep up as much ...

you were once flush

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it was a thing back in the day, when once out of the jump and on the street again, you hung on to the largest pay stub you ever received to ...

old habits are hard to break

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finally, God says, enough, he speaks out in a loud resounding voice that can be heard all over the world. no silly burning bush, no partin...

the girl off route one south

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she liked her cigarettes and fast cars. her trans am with the big bird on the hood. she liked to swear and have sex, use a lot of hair spray...

is that you Zelda?

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there's a giant mosquito in the house. i can hear it licking it's chops, buzzing, floating, looking for a place to land on my body a...

return to sender

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as i get out my check book, my envelopes and stamps, my bank ledger and return address ink stamp, she asks if maybe i should join this centu...

a turtle laying eggs

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there's a box turtle in the yard laying eggs. i go out and speak to her. is this a good idea? i ask. laying eggs in my yard. there's...

conditional love

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i'd do anything for you, but that. anything. tell me what you want me to do. i'll do anything for you, but that. tell me, make a lis...

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

making the nest

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i see a bird with a twig flying to the tree, then again, with a strand of straw. all day he's getting the nest ready. it's that time...

spelling doesn't matter

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when teachers could no longer discipline students, that was the beginning of the end. when they took prayer out of school, the pledge of al...

do you know who i am

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stuck in traffic means nothing to the black car weaseling its way down the emergency lane, in an out of traffic. his windows darkened, his f...

she's not in the office right now

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i want a doctor on call, someone who makes house visits, someone available by text or phone. someone in the office not out playing golf. i w...

what could go wrong?

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it's a bad idea, flying cars, or cars that drive on their own. it's a crazy notion. letting machines figure out the roads as we sit ...

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

the oil for food scandal

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i should have seen the red flags, married to the felon who betrayed his country doing deals with Saddam. oil for food, as he skimmed millio...

is there room for me?

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if I knew someone in Paris. i'd call them all the time. it would make me feel good satisfying my curiosity. i'd ask them to say thin...

make your bed

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i used to underline passages in the Bible, during hard times. so much so that the binding broke and the pages fell out. i was usually looki...

dropping like fies

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the young man in the paint store, as he's mixing up my order, asks me how my friends and myself handle old age. diet, exercise? i laugh ...

in a serious voice

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in mid conversation, talking about the weather and traffic. the news. sports and music, she suddenly stops folding the towels on her table a...

shed a tear or two

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it's been awhile since i shed tears. being a man, i don't really want to talk about it. but the last time i had a really good cry wa...

something to look forward to

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the girl blind in one eye tells me that she has a stripper pole in the basement. the house came with it. she adds in that she's very fle...

don't click on the link

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i have it tattooed on my hand. don't click on the link no matter who sends it. no matter how funny or strange or interesting it might be...

i guess we have to talk now

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apathy has set in. i see it in the trees the way they sway with indifference. i see it in the clouds, neither dark or white, just few strand...

coming and going, soon

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i drive by the old house, the two tall trees dying beside the driveway. the curtains drawn tight. there's no flowers in the garden. no f...

why i never took drugs

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i start with monstrous bowl of buttered popcorn and settle into the couch for a binge night of Netflix. it's two in the morning, but ma...

a few dollars more

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yes, the price of meat is up. eggs and milk. everything is five dollars more. gas is up, cars cost more. a vodka tonic is twenty dollars now...

fish in a bowl

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do we see eye to eye, ever? or are we two goldfish in a bowl perpetually swimming past each other, hurrying through our days, never stopping...

star gazing

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the nearest star is still too far to away to get to. we don't have the light years in us to travel that quickly, that far. so we'll ...

Monday, April 24, 2023

i want a sandwich to go

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i don't want to put things together. i don't want to read the directions and lay out the nuts and bolts, the various parts and metho...

out of ink

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i'm shocked that this pen is out of ink. how is that? it seems impossible. i have three hundred and seventy-two black pens that all look...

down at the dojo

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when i came home from work and she was dressed in a white karate outfit, i asked her if it was Halloween already. she said no, she had signe...

her one mistake

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when she asks you to go on a picnic together, you immediately think of sex. it's a given. that the relationship is about to to take the ...

the grill master

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you can tell he's in charge. the big white hat on his head gives it away as he overs over the grill flipping meat. he's the grill ma...

la dee Dottie

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la dee Dottie and everybody is lining up to be the next president. they're coming out of the woodwork all shined up for the show. what p...

despite good bones

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the restoration is slow. where to start? the walls and floors for one the plumbing, the wires, the roof. windows and paint, appliances and m...

Sunday, April 23, 2023

his hand trembled

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when his hand trembled while it rested on the table, no one thought he'd be dead in a year. he was tall. handsome. full of life. and the...

just one night, please

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it was a small room in an old clapboard house at the side of the road. rooms for rent the sign said. it was raining. i was tired. there was ...

public swimming

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there was always commotion. chaos. with whistles blowing, parents yelling to stay out of the deep end. don't dive off the side. don'...

she brushes a leaf away

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you can see that they are in love. he holds her hand. she brushes a leaf from his shoulder. no need to talk in the moment. like food, they e...

Saturday, April 22, 2023

getting beach ready

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i'm working on my pecs i tell Susie, my trainer down at the gym. nice, she says, flexing her tanned arms in the mirror, loading up weigh...

her baby

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the dog traveled everywhere she went. a small dog with a rhinestone collar. white and fluffy. she had a carry on cage with a pink cushion in...

365 days

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it was a year of hard time, little sleep or food, no love or affection, little conversation. the bed was hard, the walls and floor cold. the...

flattery will get you everywhere

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i like that shirt you're wearing she says. touching the sleeve as we prepare to go out for the evening. cotton? hundred per cent, i tell...

temporary kings and queens

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you can't be king or queen forever. there is this thing called death and aging, that gets in the way. at some point health and beauty qu...

three inches of pollen

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i take the vacuum outside to vacuum the pollen off the new car. it's about three inches thick. caterpillars are burrowing down into the...

the good and the bad

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the traffic can be bad around here, but we don't have lizards and alligators. which is a good thing on the golf course, or out walking t...

the therapist's office

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i stop by the therapist's office to give my old therapist, Dr. Freud, a painting and wallpapering estimate, she wants to jazz the place ...

Friday, April 21, 2023

grape jelly

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i live with this spot of purple jelly on my white shirt all day long. a splatter from the butter knife when making toast. i hadn't notic...

the crack of dawn

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i regret the rooster i bought at the farm. he remains nameless as he prances around the yard. although the neighbors have chosen a few when ...

lucky stars

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i make a cold wish on a falling star, drop a coin into the well. i rub my rabbit's foot, and avoid ladders at all costs. i bend knee in...

the perfect yard

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i envy the neighbor's yard. his artificial grass, so green, the bricks aligned in neat rows. the fire pit in the center, four chairs cov...

a chicken in every pot

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it's almost time again, the season of promises. the suits are pressed and clean. the shoes polished, the dresses new. the hair done. the...

the daily news

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it's just tv, i tell her, it's just a show. it's not real gore, and violence, robberies and gun fire. all that crime you see, th...

triple paned windows

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do i miss the bugs crawling in to fly or bite, do i miss the breeze searing in of a window not sealed, not tight, do i miss the conversation...

the best years

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for some, the early years were the best years, childhood or high school. they peaked. they were king and queen of the prom. whatever they we...

Thursday, April 20, 2023

what other secrets do you have?

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i find you in the bathroom nibbling on a dark chocolate easter bunny. one ear is already gone, there's chocolate on your lips. startled,...

meh

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more and more, it's ambivalence that sets in like a warm blanket on a cold night. you just don't care anymore about so many things,...

don't shake the machine too hard

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don't shake the machine or me too hard, i tilt when shaken. keep the ball alive, use your flippers wisely, be patient, but quick. tap th...

as Nero fiddles

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i think it started with beatniks, although i might be wrong. perhaps the roaring twenties, or before that when Caligula had it going on. the...

it's just nature

where's the milk

heavy breathing

early sunlight

why vote?

when you reach the age of reason

grey angels

farewells are better

an ordinary day

what love isn't

the long hot bath

the refrigerator list

cold feet

walk in my shoes

the golden age of thievery

the inspection

they're watching us