poet, interviewer, musician, traveler
Q&A
you might be a mirror
but I hope you’re a window
you might be a hurricane
but I hope you’re the breeze
you might be a wall
but I hope you’re a door
you might be a tidal wave
but I hope you’re the tide
you might be a shout
but I hope you’re a song
you might be the darkness
but I hope you’re some shade
you might be a teardrop
but I hope you’re the dew
you might be a question
but I hope you’re the answer
24 April 2013
Auburn, AL
electricity
she is holding a long wire, thin as a human hair
he extends one arm, she pierces the skin
pushes the tip of the wire in, threads it
along his arm to his chest, down his torso
she sees it snake down past his hips
slithering under his skin
it reaches his foot, she pushes it up
the inside of his thigh
the wire surrounds his genitals
crosses his pelvis beneath his pubic hair
moves down the inside of his other leg
she keeps threading the wire, unspooling
more until his entire body is laced through
when this is finished, she cuts the wire
leaving a few feet exposed
she takes the end of this section
pushes it into her chest above her heart
his limbs begin to vibrate, his skin
tingles like a storm is coming
she moves in closer, touches her skin to his
so she can feel the current through the wire
so he can feel the pulsing voltage of her heart
23 April 2013
Auburn AL
why we waited
we knew each other back
when knowing each other
was all we could do
when other forces
were between us like
Wednesdays in a week
we had the occasional moment
warily circling in the kitchen
watching for a sign
waiting for an opening
wondering whether a visit
would be inappropriate
wishing the timing
were just a little different
who knew that if we
waited just a little
while longer, it
would be
22 April 2013
Auburn AL
colors
there are some people
who make all the colors brighter
make the salty things saltier
and the sweet things sweeter
they look at you and in that moment
you know no matter what
whether your ship comes in or sinks
they’ll be there
you look at them and think
you’d like to spend your time
making them happy
finding new ways to bring
a smile to their lips
a flush to their cheeks
that certain look to their eyes
when you find one of these people
if you’re lucky
they may look at you and see
one of these people too
don’t grab on, don’t try too hard
just spend whatever time you can
reminding each other
of what matters
love them as fully as you’re able
accept their love in return
and don’t forget to dance in the street
under the stars
from time to time
21 April 2013
Auburn AL
at the Boogie
we’re all crowded into a big field
banjos and washboards and dancers
cans of beer deep-fried chips
basil-lemonade popsicles
it’s everything the South should be
everyone we ever knew
in our whole life is here
the honest and the dishonest
the lovers and their spouses
all the people we could be
all the ones we want
children fill the trees like birds
laughing like the world is only this
20 April 2013
Waverly, AL
downpour
I’m soaked to the skin
because you can’t stand in the rain
without getting wet
or so I’ve heard
sure seems like a lesson there
somewhere
19 April 2013
Auburn, AL
the trick
is to figure out
what you want
and who
and then to do
those things
with that person
no matter what
18 April 2013
Auburn, AL
devotion
I can’t call it a struggle
not in the sense I would wish
I’m sure I don’t believe
in fact it’s hard for me to imagine
I ever did, except as obligation
and yet this morning again —
while walking the quiet sidewalks
of this Southern college town
listening to a priest read Herbert and Jarrell —
I imagined what it would be like
to say goodbye to all this day-to-day
to wrap my body in black
stand in the glow of stained glass
say the words I can still recite from memory
nearly thirty years after
I picture their faces, lost as I am
looking to me to make sense of
what cannot be made sense of
what a gift that must be
to sit at the center of so many lives
to reassure them that it all means something
that today is more than another spin
around an axis most of them
must also take on faith
I want to be the one the grieving family calls
the calm presence at the bedside
or the smiling face to those whose days
contain few smiles
I want to wear the uniform of compassion
to speak with the voice of righteousness
to say to the strikers, the protesters,
the homeless, the jailed:
you are not alone
and in that moment to see in their eyes
their silent response:
we need you
17 April 2013
Auburn, AL
rowboat
you are in a rowboat
floating
on the surface of a
still
pond
I am swimming toward you
slowly
steadily
I am not trying to surprise you
but your eyes are closed
so you don’t
see me
coming
when I reach your boat
I grab the side
to pull myself in
you sit up
startled
but I was so peaceful, you say
I’m sorry, I say
I just wanted to share it with you
16 April 2013
Auburn, AL
/ / /
This poem is very loosely based on this famous parable by Zhuangzi. As retold in this dharma talk by Josh Korda.
Leave a Comment
the woman in the crosswalk
she broke into a smile that said
seeing me was the best part of her day
we were passing one another
in a crosswalk on campus
I was sweaty after a long walk
listening to poetry in my headphones
but I could hear her say “Hi! How are you?”
as if she’d been waiting her whole life
for my answer, as if it would contain
the secret to unlock something
she desperately wanted to reach
I answered back, as you’d expect
neither of us breaking stride
as I reached the sidewalk I turned
watched for just a moment
as she walked away
I still have no idea who she was
15 April 2013
Auburn AL
boomslang snake with flap-neck chameleon
my ex-husband’s drug dealer’s roommate
took me out to the desert one April night
I want to show you something, he said
we walked out through the tall saguaros
they looked like those guards you see
in all the TV shows about London
the ones that nobody can get to smile
over here, he said, look beside this boulder
the moon was bright
even at night the boulder cast a shadow
at first I couldn’t see anything
then I caught some movement in the dark
it was a lizard. a chameleon, to be precise
a flap-neck chameleon moving slowly
almost invisibly, across the desert floor
that’s cool, I said, thanks for showing me
that’s not what I want to show you, he said
and then just like that, out of nowhere
a long bolt of even darker shadow
shot out from the boulder, jaws wide
in a second the front half of the chameleon
was gone, sucked into the snake’s mouth
its back legs flailing wildly in the cool air
I stood there like a stunned mullet
caught completely by surprise
that’s how fast things happen, he said
before you know it, half of you is gone
the other half left there, helpless, flailing
we walked back to the car, not talking
why did you want to show me that, I said
because everyone should see it, he said
so they don’t waste their time
14 April 2013
Auburn, AL
her eyes
are mostly green
with a bit of gray
they can pierce
all my defenses
slow down time
make the air warmer
turn the night to silk
remind me why
all of this was worth it
13 April 2013
Auburn AL
what I learned in the storm
last night in the storm
I was on the back porch
singing a song in Portuguese
trying to keep my ukulele
out of the sideways rain
at first it seemed the distance
was insurmountable
that there would be no
coming back from such
separation, such time
but children are resilient
even in the face of collapse
and love often manages
to stitch up the wounds
caused by life
last night there was thunder
and lightning and music and —
as on so many recent nights —
I felt like it would all be OK
like the next good thing is nearly here
Puddin’
they’re in a nondescript kitchen
in some soulless office building
dress shirts, ties, one in a sportcoat
the other is eating, always eating
people say watch out for the quiet ones
they’ll get you
but here the Loud Man reigns
leaving behind him a trail
of dead Nicaraguan cabbies
and a string of junior high kids hooked on oxy
it’s a dog-eat-dog world
Staten Island takes no prisoners
asks for no quarter, offers none in return
Los Angeles is no better
this city of fallen angels on bent knees
under the lunch table, pressed into service
while the Loud Man arranges another hit
meanwhile the quiet one is eating, always eating
11 April 2013
Auburn AL
/ / /
Today’s poem refers to one of the best things on the Internet, the daily live-action comic strip Puddin’. The poem, however, is written as if Puddin’ were a documentary and its events really occurred.
2 Comments
this poem
this poem is a stand-in
for an earlier, better poem
this poem has been watching
from the wings for weeks
this poem sees the scenes unfold
the same way every night
this poem wants only a chance
to step into the light
this poem is not as raw or
as honest as the other poem
this poem, however
is more palatable to the reader
this poem knows its role
knows also that roles are malleable
this poem does not say
what the earlier poem said
this poem is not covered in sweat
is not moaning and sighing
this poem will leave no trace
on the– but that would be telling
10 April 2013
Auburn, AL