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Category: My poems

POEM: when our grandparents were young

Published 11 July 2013 by Jason Crane

grampsband1small

when our grandparents were young
(for T.B.)

everybody took ballroom dancing lessons
or learned to play the accordion
they kissed under lampposts on street corners
had midnight burgers and milkshakes
there was a Crystal Palace in most towns
the bands would fill it when they played there
somehow all the fedoras stayed on in the wind
and you could still be a sex symbol
even if you played the clarinet
I wouldn’t go back there permanently
but I sure would like to take a trip there with you
see if we can spot our grandparents dancing
then dance beside them, silently, knowing

11 June 2013
Auburn, AL

/ / /

That’s my grandpa in the center of the top row.

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POEM: a million pebbles and one sore foot

Published 10 July 2013 by Jason Crane

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a million pebbles and one sore foot

without warning the rain starts again
a million little pebbles against the skylights
I’m at my desk, naked, typing, pausing
occasionally to look out the window
at the curtain of water, the dripping leaves
soon I’ll leave my modern hut, walk
with one sore foot to the center of town

10 July 2013
Auburn, AL

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POEM: be nice to bees

Published 8 July 2013 by Jason Crane

European_honey_bee_extracts_nectar

be nice to bees
(for Bonny Chen)

I don’t remember
much about bees
but I think it’s true
that when a bee stings
its stinger rips off
and it dies quickly
if that’s true
I don’t quite get it
it’s not a useful defense
if it’s fatal
so then I thought
maybe bees have stingers
to protect the group
not the individual
the defenders
sacrificing themselves
for the good of the hive
when this occurred to me
I started to feel
differently about bees

8 July 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

[Photo Credit]

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POEM: the blue crane and the yellowwood tree

Published 7 July 2013 by Jason Crane

Blue_crane_SA

the blue crane and the yellowwood tree

in my dream
I saw a blue crane
under a yellowwood tree
she was standing there
majestic and serene
like a silent song
I couldn’t get out of my head
I approached slowly
she moved away
but didn’t fly off
she looked at me
with eyes like your eyes
I stood rooted, expectant
the smell of mangoes in the air
I thought if I could touch her
I might wake from the dream
to find she was real
so I moved forward again
but it was too much
she spread her wings
sang one bright, clear note
and flew off into the African sky

7 July 2013
Auburn AL

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POEM: rainy season

Published 6 July 2013 by Jason Crane

walkway

rainy season

the walkway to the laundry is flooded
following days and days of rain
it’s pouring now, in fact
so I’ve opened all the windows
to let in the sound
my first full summer in Alabama
reminds me of Japan
flower petals covering the stones
wearing my outdoor sandals
to haul the bag of laundry back inside
when I arrived here last year
it was in the middle of a drought
I hiked to a waterfall but found
a trickle (and even that’s generous)
this is the part of the poem
where the metaphor goes

6 July 2013
Auburn AL

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POEM: Mission: T Minus 12 Hours

Published 5 July 2013 by Jason Crane

600px-Mars_and_Syrtis_Major_-_GPN-2000-000923

Mission: T Minus 12 Hours

they’re letting me take so little
a photograph (no frame)
an e-reader (into which
no new books will ever be placed)
the rest is in my head
there were so many questions
over all the months
they tried to get all the way in
uncover little seeds of doubt
or dissatisfaction that might
bloom in the Martian desert
I let them in, mostly
but I kept one thing just for myself
buried it as deep as I could
because I wanted this chance
and I knew they’d never let me go
if they knew

5 July 2013
Auburn, AL

/ / /

Starting on July 4, 2013, I’m writing a series of poems from the point of view of an astronaut traveling on a one-way mission to Mars. These poems were inspired by this podcast by the appropriately named Roman Mars. His show 99% Invisible is fabulous.

Photo credit

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POEM: Mission: T Minus One Day

Published 4 July 2013 by Jason Crane

600px-Mars_and_Syrtis_Major_-_GPN-2000-000923

Mission: T Minus One Day

some radio wag called it
“a homicide mission”
said NASA would be
murdering whomever they sent
but doesn’t murder imply
the murdered person is unwilling?
I am both the bullet and the target
about to be shot from this planet
on a one-way trip to see God
or at least the god of war
atop his red throne, shrouded
in a planet-sized dust storm
a few months from now
I’ll be digging a cave in the dirt
hoping my suit doesn’t fail
but today I’m turning in the keys
to my last-ever apartment
putting one photo in my wallet

4 July 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

Starting on July 4, 2013, I’m writing a series of poems from the point of view of an astronaut traveling on a one-way mission to Mars. These poems were inspired by this podcast by the appropriately named Roman Mars. His show 99% Invisible is fabulous.

Photo credit

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POEM: listening to Leon Thomas

Published 3 July 2013 by Jason Crane

leon thomas 07

listening to Leon Thomas

who yodels like Switzerland
is a planet orbiting a distant star
Leon its first astronaut

“every since the beginning of time
man has yearned to travel
to a distant land far away”

Leon is into some next-level shit
channeling the solar wind through
what must be a massive set of lungs

were we able to decode the waveform
of Leon’s voice, would it be a message
explaining to all of us how to travel
as one human race to the stars?

3 July 2013
Auburn, AL

/ / /

This poem was inspired by this performance.

Photo credit

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POEM: all the way down

Published 2 July 2013 by Jason Crane

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all the way down

turtles still make me think of you
I imagine they always will
even though I can’t remember why
or how the association started
but I know that every time
one of these quasi-dinosaurs
crawls his imperturbable way
between the lines of one of my poems
he’s bringing a message from you

2 July 2013
Auburn AL

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POEM: divide

Published 1 July 2013 by Jason Crane

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divide

Salida
Pie Town
Brush Mountain Lodge
the basin
Antelope Wells
chances are small
I’ll ever have a burger
or fix a flat
in any of these places
but I ride a line
through the mountains
every year
climbing and descending
with a host of
disembodied voices and
a collection of blue dots

1 July 2013
Auburn, AL

/ / /

Today’s poem is inspired by the Tour Divide mountain bike race and the call-ins on MTBCast.

Photo Credit: Tour Divide Facebook page

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POEM: gomukhasana

Published 30 June 2013 by Jason Crane

31_gomukhasana

gomukhasana

look at her and
remember:
even in the
fastest river
it’s possible
to be a rock
around which
the water flows

30 June 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

I’m writing a poem a day in 2013. During June, each day’s poem has been inspired by a photo of writer Arielle Brousse doing yoga. I’ve been a fan of her writing for years. Arielle writes the Unforgettable Detritus blog and curates The Sensible Nonsense Project, a collection of writing about people’s favorite childhood books. Today is the final day of this yoga series. Thank you to Arielle for allowing me to use the photos, and for all the entertaining and inspiring writing she’s done over the years.

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POEM: mayurasana

Published 29 June 2013 by Jason Crane

29_mayurasana_peacock_pose

mayurasana

I like to imagine
the many people
who probably caught sight
of one of these photo shoots

a woman suspended in the air
or balanced on one foot
or stretched in an unlikely pose

people walking the streets of Philadelphia
having whatever day they were having
nudged off the tracks
of their normal train of thought
by the sight of something uncommon
or the sight of something common
in an unusual place

switching places with Arielle in their minds
imagining a life in which its possible
to balance like a peacock
at the top of the stairs
no matter who’s watching

29 June 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

I’m writing a poem a day in 2013. During June, each day’s poem will be inspired by a photo of writer Arielle Brousse doing yoga. I’ve been a fan of her writing for years. Arielle writes the Unforgettable Detritus blog and curates The Sensible Nonsense Project, a collection of writing about people’s favorite childhood books. Thank you to Arielle for allowing me to use the photos, and for all the entertaining and inspiring writing she’s done over the years.

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POEM: salabhasana

Published 28 June 2013 by Jason Crane

28_salabhasana_locust_pose

salabhasana

all Icaraus wanted
was to fly
who can blame him?

28 June 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

I’m writing a poem a day in 2013. During June, each day’s poem will be inspired by a photo of writer Arielle Brousse doing yoga. I’ve been a fan of her writing for years. Arielle writes the Unforgettable Detritus blog and curates The Sensible Nonsense Project, a collection of writing about people’s favorite childhood books. Thank you to Arielle for allowing me to use the photos, and for all the entertaining and inspiring writing she’s done over the years.

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POEM: cosmic dancer

Published 27 June 2013 by Jason Crane

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cosmic dancer

when I was 16 years old
the first Voyager turned
in its flight through the solar system
to take one last photo of Earth
our world appearing as a dot
in the corner of the image
I was amazed at how small it all seemed
now I’m 39, looking at a photo
of a lone woman opening herself
to that same solar system
and I realize I was wrong
each of us contains everything
and in our moments of beauty
we outshine the sun

27 June 2013
Auburn AL

/ / /

I’m writing a poem a day in 2013. During June, each day’s poem will be inspired by a photo of writer Arielle Brousse doing yoga. I’ve been a fan of her writing for years. Arielle writes the Unforgettable Detritus blog and curates The Sensible Nonsense Project, a collection of writing about people’s favorite childhood books. Thank you to Arielle for allowing me to use the photos, and for all the entertaining and inspiring writing she’s done over the years.

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