Bit Off and Overchewed You've got you monolithsStick up strongKeep your jaw out andWhen I look at you all I see is flashy greyBut Athena doesn't come hereYou don't have her state of mindFor your city state up keepKeep upIf I had the time in the world I wouldStill keep time with the beat ofYour sturm und drangYour sickness and dope fiend bodyRacked in the morning afterWhen you see heavy brows creasedCrow's feet lids wide openYou go out to the graveyard and seeGutted engines propped on cinderblocks andIn your bowls you feel that city slicker shit boilingThe horror the horrorLet's talk about you."Sometimes he goes too far. He's
And When I Speak "We don't abide by lies here."Simply stated and passed down from my mother's motherTo my motherTo me.I inherit this persona-follow the narrative.Conviction will carry me through.When close to caught in the act of stealing kissesI supply a saccharin smile and salute"Nossir, Poppa Bear is the only man in my life!"Credit to some stroke of grace that he shuffles offas Goldi knocks to be let back in the window.My sister told truths better than any.She offered them to you gift wrapped in mythIn return please assume she knows all things butShe talks too muchToo open, too friendly-Homer never did tell how he lost his
The Dog Was Put on the Mountain, The Wolf Beside They think that girls won't fight like dogs.When backed up the bitches start to snarl and snap-I know this.Through foaming mouths and twists and howls-I know this:We have everything to prove.--Today I spoke back for the first time.Against the leash, the clip, the collar-I riled.The hand that feeds is too often a fist-So when the order came…I sat with my mouth wide and laughing,Tongue cool and eyes open,And I did nothing but look them in the faceAnd show teeth.--Now when they come to the kennel it is mine.Before they leave they will see me raise my lips and hackles-Not a milk-drowsy child anymore, W
Ice to Water. Water to Vapor. If we wanted we could runSo we walk-A steady ploddingAmiable and quiet(I wish she would just say something)
Private Persephone Private ate pomegranates because he had heard a story in Latin class in 5th grade involving one."She ate four seeds and only stayed in Hell four days." Private, who was only ever called Private, explained."Four months." Private Stern corrected."Four months." Private corrected. Yossarin listened because Private and Private Stern had no accents and no visible difference to set them apart from each other. They were the same person. Dunbar listened because they were boring."Why four?" asked Yossarin. Dunbar watched his milk jug. He was waiting for it to turn into cheese."She ate four seeds." Said Private triumphantly. He took another bi
The Argument I don't care why I'm here. What I care about is the continued existence of either me or my brother. What I care about is the fact that you are trying to take away someone extremely important to me. You are telling us that the other doesn't exist. I cannot believe that the person I have lived with my entire life was a figment of my imagination, or that I am a figment of his. Even you should know he exists. Didn't you check him into your "hospital" and tell him I am nothing but erratic personality change caused by stress. Look at me now and tell me: "You don't exist".I have taken over in order to inform you that this "behavior therapy" will n
Asnmt 1- The Window The Window We are pissed off now, mostly you, but it takes two to converse and that means we are stuck staring out our respective windows, sighing. There is only so much fun to be had on a road trip, the kindling for an argument, however, is everywhere. You had yelled at me earlier and, I'll admit it, I yelled back. It was about how I kept playing with the window. You wanted it closed, I liked the on/off feeling of the wind. "Knock it off!" you said. "Stop talking." I said. It is a fact that the wi
It's Living You have to wait for the quiet.There is never total silence, know that that is an impossibility, the near silence is just as good.Find it in the mornings. At four the world is still. At five the inky blue begins to brighten. At six the sleepers stir. At seven the sun breaks the hilltop and the quiet is gone. Small rotund birds plump themselves up further and chatter. Coffee brewed under muttering hands.Stay silent, keep waiting.Now listen for the near silences: the pauses between the hiss of the shower and the curse of their scalded occupants. The emptiness after the alarm clock was smacked down. The lulls have a rhythm and hold withi
Knowing One night Jacob's neighbor died. He heard the sirens and the frantic cars shook open his eyelids. He didn't mind and slept until morning. He didn't know.At seven he woke up and left his home, walking past the house she used to live in.Jacob slowed, looked at the door, and stopped. He did not know she was dead. He walked to work.When he came home at five, her lights were off and she was not on the porch with her dogs. He stopped for a second time and this time he walked hesitantly to her door.There was no reply when he knocked. Not a reply when he yelled hello. The dogs did not bark and the lights stayed off. Jacob waited for another m
NeverAlways Left Behind I’m going to marry a sailor-Stand dignified as I Quietly patrol my widow’s walkMy light house will shine thousands of miles out to sea so thatHe always knows what he is sailing for
Knats Knats. They sing around my head and keep me sleeping at night. All the time, humming. I dream of them, fear them, are they there when I wake up?They look like horses, little breakable silver horses, and I am afraid to reach for them. (If they should happen to shatter!) I couldn't bear to see its fierce little fractured body, snapped between my calloused hands.But these knats, they hum like lazy summer. They hum like feet in cool grass. I dream like feverish cold sweat when they are there.They are my tiny kelpies, hippocampi who have shaken free of their bridles and now swim above my head. My bed is my grave and they dart about above me,
Like Silver... You shine:Metallic and cold.
Book Burn Restart 1i. What people don't know about Worms is that they are cowards. Worms don't use guns, like they had done back when they had nothing to be afraid of. My brother had taught me about Worms when he taught me the story of books, from the first epic poem to The Burn. Through this basic education, he told me what he knew of the modern Worm, tried to pass down his terror of them to me. I recognized it as an uninformed fear. Instead of fear I felt distaste. Justice should not be ashamed of itself. Justice shouldn't hide itself. Whatever Worms thought they were, they were not my justice. I learned f
Before You Said It Your words died in your mouthThey lay twitching on your tongue-In their early graveThe dead words rottedBecoming unrecognizable until you think of themAnd claim: "I would never say something like that!"Your words died in your mouth-That is why your teeth look like tombstones
By Yourself Sit quietly in someDeep blue corner you claim as your ownAnd talk about how youCan't take the painRhyme more abut how you lovedHow you weptAll the shame you paint in Shades of greenHow the easel broke your heart andHow your lyrics don't make sense to anyone but "him"Doesn't matter to the rest of theBright red artistèsFind your own little nicheStay there for a whileIn your case of grey self disapproval
During a Fall My feet flew farther from the groundIn the steady arc backwardsI watched the sky, looked for cracks in the surface.By the time the horizon line came aroundMy fingers were scraping pavement andPraying that much harder for an acrobatic miracle.I knew as soon as the puddle pulled me downThat sidewalks were dangerous.
z26 There are miles in between obscurity and obscenityAnd I walked them all to seeJust how the meanings differ.The longer I walkedThe more I sawThey were the difference between letters and numbers
Yard Sale There he was:Wide-eyed and staring at meMaking facesHe looks at me and I turn to a cracked lava lampAnd a gaudy lawn ornament-A gnome in ceramic trousersHe said he thinks I'm beautifulAnd I look down at a ten cent flamingo bodyGrounded in AstroTurfAnd I can't remember when my neck first bent downOr how I came to be so pink and rigid.
Feathered Frenzy "Let's start a riot!"Chimed a host of birdsAnd then decided to take it below the Corn BeltDown to the dirty southBeneath their feathers they sweatBeneath their feet there was nothing to clawSo they stayed there a few monthsSpring came and they flew backClaiming that:"We spent all winter in the hospital…But you should have seen the other guy."
Fist Folk The fist fight folk songBroke out through out the cable carCrescendos reached with a robotic "Doors closing" announcementLike a tide we spill into the street,Angry jigs and lazy swing dancesThe kicking and yelling is barely heard over:"Get on the ground with your hands in the air!"
Highway Dad points out oak trees growing in the roadBut I coast along at 80 mphHoping that the faster I gothe slower I will arriveI miss an elm by incheswhile dialing the radioThe loud punk beat shook the branchesmaking me skid and screamIts willow I fear the mostWhipping the windows and mini sonic boomswhenever a car comes close
Got Lost Today I took a left at the "Game Over" signKept riding a bitter dirt bike that bites me and tells me I am too fatKept going through levels of miscarriages and over dosesIt got old after a while and the bitter dirt bike kept bitching at meWhen I finally revved the engine and went just that much fasterI ran over a road runner and some coyote comes up to congratulate meI don't understand him though because he speaks in growls and whimpers
More Than Eyes Can Say I come from halfway between have it your way and take it or leave itFrom a backyard of witches and a neighborhood of old crones and croniesI come from sit down, shut up, and eat your greensWith a good all around dose of suck it upI come from a house lacking sound-proof wallsFrom where everyone knows what everyone doesn't need to knowWhere the ceilings hold more secrets than the closed doorsI come from half way between religion and rebellion, conservative and radicalTwo parts of the same state, two sides of a countryI come from being stuck in the middle or from the far reaches
All I Learned "I see it feelingly"So said Gloucester And the bird singing steadily by my own sturdy perch"I see it feelingly, and strongly."You said when we knelt over its broken bodyIts ugly broken body"I see it feelingly, and strongly, and through the experiences of others."And that being all I learned from epics and ShakespeareAnd from the winged and the scaledThat was all I learned
It's Raining You Know Bring down the window panesthe rainy days when the sun is smotheredWe opened our windowsOpened the doorsAnd run down the stair cases to hide togetherWhile in the attic you snore gentlysmile when the raindrops stroke your faceYou are still sleepingBut we don't know
Sta.sh
