Rocking Chair
I bought a rocking chair
from a lovely little farmhouse.
I bought it to have somewhere to sit
and also because I want to skip this part
and go straight to being old.
I want to collect my little check
from the government and sit
rocking while I read a book.
I’ll need a bright lamp.
(I need a bright lamp now.)
The words shrink as I get older.
I don’t want to do this next bit.
The part that keeps me alive until
the provisions made for old age take over.
I always joke that my retirement plan
is death, but I think I might get some
good years in as an old man before that.
But this part? Alone again and working
and giving money to a landlord?
This part you can keep.
In 11 months I’ll drive to Kentucky,
throw myself on the mercy of the
Abbey of Gesthemani,
see if it’s not too late to discover
reserves of piety I’ve kept hidden
even from myself.
For now I’ll watch the bumblebees,
listen to two guys talk about the Red Sox,
and dream of a time when all this is over.
/ / /
15 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
Category: NaPoWriMo2023
Delayed Gratification
To think daily of the end
without acting to hasten it —
like the experiment in which
a child is given a marshmallow
but told if it waits five minutes
it can have two marshmallows —
will this make the darkness sweeter?
/ / /
14 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
the aroma of a nearby fire
fades in the steam
of my morning tea
/ / /
13 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
sun & Star Wars
green tea & dogwoods
: a loved one’s voice
/ / /
12 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
waiting
(for my phone)
to die
/ / /
11 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
Ninety Seconds
Today the folks in lab coats
moved the doomsday clock,
or is it Doomsday Clock,
anyway they moved it to
90 seconds to midnight,
but luckily my life is set
to Doomsday Saving Time
so I have an extra hour
in which to watch
the rest of you go boom;
but don’t worry,
I’ll be right behind you.
/ / /
10 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
Meeting
How odd to sit silently
contemplating the infinite
or making a grocery list
or wondering how
everything that
happened happened,
waiting for the voice
of an unlikely god
or the soft clearing
of an elderly throat,
until a man across the room
asks if there are any
announcements, then says
it’s time to rise.
/ / /
9 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
we fight the monsters
with little streams
& viburnum plicatum
/ / /
8 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
it’s cold and rainy outside, too
/ / /
7 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
today I watched a bee
generate enough breeze
to move little clumps of dirt
/ / /
6 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
“Phil Collins On The Rocks”
I kept ordering it at bar after bar,
giving each bartender an incredulous look
when they told me they’d never heard
of a “Phil Collins.”
“No Jacket Required?” I’d ask.
“Face Value? Hello I Must Be Going?”
Then I’d ask for a Shirley Bassey.
/ / /
5 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
all day long in the vice grip
— one word from a friend —
the night air is warm on my skin
/ / /
4 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
The Age I Am Now
It’s the nickname for people who rushed west
in search of gold but really fleeing
from the horror that all the days to come
would be like all the days behind,
hoping instead that the rivers ran with possibility
that could be dragged glittering into the sun.
/ / /
3 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
last night in the van
where it’s not my choice
(podcasts in the dark)
/ / /
2 April 2023
Charlottesville VA
the lights go out
dragging the comedian
down to our level
/ / /
1 April 2023
Charlottesville VA