Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Bottom Line


I will meet you halfway 
If that is what you want, 

But please don’t ask me 
To decide for you. 


Sunday, December 27, 2015

The Buffalos and Billy the Kid: Raymond, Washington, circa 1951


Sharp shooting pin- 
Ball wizards shoot 

Wads of nickels 
Into bellies 

Of blinking beasts, 
Then mosey on up- 

Stairs to vanishing 
Breed of past 

Prime whores still 
Alive but barely 

Kicking on dying First Street— 
Saloon’s mascot urchin 

Gets down on all fours 
Under Ballys— 

Has more than a hunch 
A few stray buffalo heads
 
Have yet to bite the dust. 


Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Reverse Arrested Development


Why is it 

My three-year-old 
Granddaughter can 
Entertain herself 

For hours on end 
With nothing save her 
Imagination when 

I try musing with that idea 
I end up with nothing 
But a dead end. 





Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Flesh Wound


look again— 


nothing too 

superficial— 


how even this small 

sliver working it- 


self out 

has to 


heal. 




Saturday, December 12, 2015

Troubling Inner Sanctum


Call me 
Quasimodo if you want, 
But whenever I feel 
I have to venture deep 
Inside the troubled 
Heart, I make doubly sure 
All doors are barred 
And the window 
Shutters shut tight— 
I brook no grotesque salivating 
Straitjacketed curiosity 
Seekers disturbing 
My mind’s deformed slant. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Kudos for Joe Blow


Congratulations, sport! 
In belated recognition 
Of your exemplary service 
Above and beyond the call 
Of the daily drudgery roster, 
You’ve been selected 

To receive everything 
Your heart desired but 
Never had time for before 
Now, but you must act now— 
Please sign on the dotted line; 
You can read your eulogy later. 


Friday, December 4, 2015

"Write a Poem for Me, Papa?"


If I’m reading her 
Three-year-old mind 
Right, this could mean 
Either she wants me 
To write another 
Poem about her 
Or for her or who- 
Knows-what but how 
Tell the difference, 
And find words 
To describe how 
Her mind works 
When she’s disarming 
Me so ingenuously right 
Now with that telling 
Look that’s looking right 
Through me as if to say 
It’s all right, Papa 
Whatever you write, 
You’ll still be 
The only grandpa 
I have who’s a poet— 
Whatever that is. 


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Snuffed, Or the Demise of Existentialism


When your livid 
Being’s being torn asunder
By frivolous absurdities

And you find yourself burning
All your candles before 
They come to an end. 







Sunday, November 29, 2015

Hopeless Romantic Aspirant


It appears 
I have no worldly ambitions 
In the least, at least that’s what 
My discerning, highly 
Esteemed colleagues mostly 
Accuse me of, and I suspect 
They are right—after all, 
All I’ve ever wanted is 
To make myself comfortable 
Before a blank piece of paper 
And make believe 
It’s my whole world. 




Thursday, November 26, 2015

Bald Eagle on Cloud Nine


Oh say if ever 

Those hawkish glorious
Talons of yours turn the world 
Upside down, watch out— 

You’ll always be a sitting 
Duck there on the top 
Looking down. 






Monday, November 23, 2015

Vindication of the Flash in the Pan


It’s true 
By the time you read this, 
I shall have departed 

Forgotten by all 
In a flash of a second, 
And my body too 

Soon dissolved into dust, 
But the mite-like words 
That swirled round 

The whirlwind I once was 
Tell me ungrateful ones, 
Are they not already 

Bedded down on the tips 
Of your bloated and too soon 
Forgetful tongues? 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Think Again


the voice 
you think 

you hear 
inside you 

thinks twice 
as hard 

as you 
and you 

never know 
it hears 

you, too. 




Sunday, November 15, 2015

Back to Square One, Misfits


From where I sit, 
The long and short of it 

Is that where 
We’re going everyone 

Knows but no- 
One’s falling over 

Backwards to be 
The first to fit 

A square peg 
In a round hole. 




Thursday, November 12, 2015

Spiritual Matters Do Count, Poet


Soul-wracked, sick 
To death of hearing 
About their exploits

In the outside world, 
You will not be there 
Upon their return; still

You wish to leave a message 
That will convince them 
You were there all those times 

When they were elsewhere; 
You have made sure of that 
By leaving your body as evidence. 


Monday, November 9, 2015

Paying Obeisance to the American Dream


Most poor souls who ended up 
Leaving their bodies here 
Came over because friends 
Or relatives wrote 
And told them it was not at all 
Like the old country; 

In this new world 
There was more than you 
Could imagine, plenty 
To do and more 
Money than you 
Ever dreamed of— 

All you had to do 
Was keep your head 
Down, stoop over 
And—without 
Missing a beat— 
Pick it up. 

Friday, November 6, 2015

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