poet, interviewer, musician, traveler
what’s around
cheap Chinese food
glass of ice water
empty bottle of Vanilla Coke
empty can of regular Coke
nori komi furikake
mala beads
two glass rings from Tibet
58 cents
keys
seven rocks, all painted
two books of poetry
box of Kleenex
six CDs
two sets of headphones
plastic grocery bag
expensive sunglasses
four used tissues
postcard
but not you
24 May 2013
Auburn AL
crazy angel
his thoughts possessing him
he walks into lampposts
unaware, steps into busy streets
he makes wrong turns
finds himself in dead-end alleys
on the Lower East Side
what he lacks
in the common sense of the streets
he makes up for with wisdom
the wisdom of one who has
seen the sun rise in the nighttime
heard the moon sing the city to sleep
wisdom like the Chinese sages
huddled in their caves
to escape the cold gaze of the emperor
he walks the streets like a crazy angel
shielded from the prying eyes of God
by the artificial mountains of Manhattan
he steps over puddles or sometimes into them
never noticing the water in his shoes
he drops coins in the cups of the homeless
coins in the fountains in the park
coins the last remaining payphone
then he fades like a shadow in the dark
23 May 2013
Auburn AL
sunset everywhere
all over the world
everyone is looking
into the sky
trying to read meaning
in the shapes of clouds
I’m in the backyard
looking up at the sky
glad that no matter
what I decide next
there are many more
decisions to follow
in love in New York
the hack’s medallion
caught in the streetlight
the chicken hanging
in the meat market window
thunder rushing
through the artificial valley
as we run from the subway steps
to the door of the 55 Bar
soaked by a spring rain
laughing the whole way
21 May 2013
Auburn, AL
tiger
at lunch the expedition
was interrupted
by the arrival
at the edge of camp
of a Sumatran tiger
a creature so rare
everyone leapt up
to catch a glimpse
it eyed the watchers warily
for a moment
then stalked off
into the underbrush
leaving behind elation
at its existence
disappointment
at its departure
fear
that it might never
come again
20 May 2013
Auburn, AL
mangoes
he’d asked
she’d said no
so much of life
happened after
it should have
faded away
like the last note
of
but she stayed there
a little melody
always playing
in the back of his mind
during the quiet moments
the peaceful times
when he imagined
the future
her polyglot voice
filling their home
where the kitchen
smells like
mangoes
2013
Auburn AL
moonshine: a love poem
I want to put on a Van Morrison record
from back in the day when the stage lights
caught the rhinestones on his jumpsuit
made them sparkle like the ball going down
on New Year’s Eve
then I want to pull you close to me
till I can’t tell where my skin stops
and your skin starts
I want your hands in my hair
our legs intertwined
and when Van starts singing about
“Moonshine Whiskey”
I want to kiss you until neither of us
cares anymore about breathing
18 May 2013
Auburn, AL
cut bird
the parrot was quiet all day
while the man and his friend talked
(they were at the friend’s house
where the parrot had lived
since being handed down
by the friend’s father)
then it was time for the man to practice
as soon as he blew the first note
the bird let out an angry squawk
so the man blew louder
but the bird kept pace, piercing the air
the man was angry now
this damn bird was going to–
then he remembered
when he played the saxophone
at his own home
he practiced with the window open
accompanied by the songs of the birds
in the oak tree outside
he’d learned one of the songs
now he played it on his saxophone
the parrot stopped squawking
started repeating the melody
the man tried little variations
the parrot matched him note for note
for the next twenty minutes
they danced around
long lines of melody helixed like DNA
this parrot, thought the man with a smile
just might be the greatest horn player
I’ve ever heard
2013
Auburn AL
/ / /
This poem is based on a true story told to me by saxophonist Brian Settles (interview). The image at the top of this post is from ‘s albums.
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you poured yourself onto me
like long lines of poetry
spilling down my skin
you’ve seeped into me
soaking into my blood
flowing through my veins
your tears, your laughter
the smell and the feel of you
running to the tips of my fingers
filling up the empty spaces
surging into all the hidden places
I never even show myself
16 May 2013
Auburn, AL
ifs
we put all the ifs
in a box
buried it out back
under a live oak
it sat there
untouched
for years
until
we opened it
the ifs were gone
replaced
by a when
2013
Auburn, AL
China, Maine
it was in 1797 when the Chinese sailors arrived
the land was still part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
a smattering of farmers and fishermen and trappers
who’d seldom seen a black man or an Indian
let alone these men from who knew where
the sailors didn’t speak English and of course
none of the folks in what would one day be Maine
could speak even a single word of Mandarin or Cantonese
but they used their hands and faces and both sides
little by little, made themselves understood
the Chinese sailors had wanted to circle the world
but they’d thought it was a lot smaller than it turned out to be
they hit some bad weather off Nova Scotia
next thing they knew it was lobster pots on a rocky coast
over time they fit right in — sea people are sea people
and lobster tastes pretty good with hoisin sauce
by 1820, when Maine became a state on its own
there was one town in it with more rice dishes than normal
where everyone knew how to eat with chopsticks
14 May 2013
Auburn AL
Boston
I’m listening to the Yankees because there’s nothing else on
(though to be honest the ads make me feel like I’m home)
this morning I found a poem I’d written for you years ago
I said three years feels like hundreds, you said it feels like minutes
you’re one of those people who’s been on the outskirts of my life
the one time we were together I saw how easy it would be
to jump into the river of you and let it carry me away
I doubt I’m the first person who’s been willing to make the leap
but of course you made sure I stayed safe and dry on shore
I just got back from the doctor, where I found out I gained
ten pounds in the past two weeks, all from stress eating
and now I’m building another raft, looking for another river
13 May 2013
Auburn AL
wall 2
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
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brick brick brick brick me brick brick brick brick brick
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12 May 2013
Auburn AL
wall
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick
11 May 2013
Auburn AL
Bonzo
throw a bucket of thunder
down a flight of metal stairs
into a stack of pots and pans
balanced at the top
of a pile of bowling balls
the whole thing topples over
onto a kiddie pool
full of cowbells
then the floor collapses
kit and kaboodle hurtle down
into the chandelier shop
on the level below
that’s the moment when
the walls give way
crumbling inward till
the entire building comes down
in a cacophony of shattering
windows, exploding concrete blocks
screaming metal bars
until finally a spark hits the gas main
and the whole thing blows sky-high
with a wrath-of-God boom
that can be heard for miles
10 May 2013
Auburn, AL
/ / /
This poem was inspired by listening to this:
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