the problem with non-attachment
“You can sit
and stare at
the wall all
you want,”
David said,
“except that
we all, at the
core of our
being, need to
be attached
to someone.”
8 September 2013
State College, PA
Category: Poem-A-Day 2013
on the Black Moshannon
a flotilla of water lillies
floating on the Black Moshannon
each one a seat for a deity
my son picks one white flower
brings it into the canoe
droplets falling off the petals
the sound of our hull
as it strikes the lily pads
is like metal on metal
later, as we stop beside the dock
Jen and I hold the boat stable
while our sons step back onto land
7 September 2013
State College, PA
Drifting, PA
we’re midway through the haircut
when we start talking about local ownership
how a big company bought the hair salon
after the owner decided to cash in and retire
I refer to Regis as the “Walmart of hair”
she says she hasn’t been in a Walmart in 15 years
just like that, we’re allies, spilling our war stories
crouched down quietly behind the barricades
making our sotto voce confessions
she grew up in Drifting, Pennsylvania
though she’s tried to do what the name suggests
she keeps finding her way back to rural PA
she likes the woods, likes to garden
doesn’t like football, which in this part of the world
is like being an apostate in Vatican City
she has a pastoral scene tattooed in a heart
running from her wrist to her elbow
on the other arm, a tree grows from her wrist
roots tangled among the veins, the trunk
running up her forearm to a full crown of leaves
a reminder that enlightened people can grow in any soil
6 September 2013
State College PA
State College, 11:24 p.m.
the dog is snoring, sometimes farting
a country singer is selling trucks on TV
I should be in bed already
but I stayed up late to watch tennis
in five days I’ll be forty years old
a divorced father of two without
what many would consider a “job”
or, technically speaking, a “place to live”
some folks would find this upsetting
late at night, I’m often one of them
right now, though, I feel OK
I think I’ll get a haircut tomorrow
5 September 2013
State College, PA
moms
a seemingly endless line of women
in their late 30s or early 40s
each holding a travel mug in one hand
the end of a leash in the other
some are surrounded by a cloud of children
others wear children in front or in back
they talk about teachers and homework
managing careers and sports schedules
occasionally stopping in mid-sentence
to corral a wayward son or daughter
for a few minutes the steps of the school
are overrun like a beach at high tide
then they walk back down the path to town
leaving a lone employee to put away
the traffic cones and lock the front doors
4 September 2013
State College, PA
this guy is…
back in New York
eating Ayurvedan food
riding in cabs
walking around the Upper West Side
noticing the smells and sounds
crossing busy intersections
drinking chai with soy milk
feeling the pavement beneath his feet
sitting on a wooden bench
basking in the sunshine
photographing subway stairs
soaking in all the languages
loving the authentic accents
waiting for a bus
a little bit scared
3 September 2013
New York City
inside day
in the background
the television is talking
about baseball
outside the wind is
crinkling the windows
Buddhist magazines
on the bedside table
(enlightenment with ads)
on the desk: loose change &
a bottle of orange soda
slowly getting warmer
this is home until Tuesday
then we’ll see what happens
1 September 2013
Detroit, MI
big band
he came out from behind
the bank of speakers
headed down the street
just as I caught sight of him
the trumpet soloist belted out
a high screaming note
the man’s head snapped back
as if he’d been struck
a smile took over his face
he kept walking but every
few steps he turned back
to look, still smiling
31 August 2013
Detroit, MI
another farewell
after 37 moves you’d think
I’d be an expert at saying goodbye
but every farewell is bittersweet
with each handshake or hug
I leave a little piece of me
in the care of a friend
after 37 moves, I worry
there isn’t much left
but with each handshake or hug
my friends give me a piece
of themselves to take with me
30 August 2013
my last night in
Auburn, AL
kissing Jane
the entire poem
is in the title
except that he
never did it
28 August 2013
Auburn, AL
Alabama: space is the place
saw a Saturn 1B rocket
towering over the trees
as I entered Alabama
not far from where
Sonny Blount was born
27 August 2013
Elkmont, AL
bar
in the bar she said
how nice it is
to not be in love
with anyone
at the moment
I agreed
to disagree
26 August 2013
Nashville, TN
parade
it was the mid-80s
I was nearing my teens
she was midway through hers
there on the cover of Parade magazine
in a flower-print dress
reclining on a rattan sofa
I’d never seen anyone so beautiful
for the first time in my life
I understood the way someone
can take control of the beating
of your heart, the tempo of your blood
thirty years later, against all odds
it’s after 10 p.m. on a Sunday night
I’m standing in her living room
while she feeds two small dogs
one of whom barks if I stop petting him
out behind the house stretch
acres and acres of the kind of land
they write novels about
a great blue heron lives in the pond
soon I’ll be 40
25 August 2013
Nashville, TN
Jackson, Mississippi
where we sit in the yard
while the wind blows old rain
out of the oak tree
Mike is smoking a pipe
helping me solve all
the problems of the world
I’ve saved some stories
waiting for this afternoon
for the chance to tell someone
who doesn’t need exposition
later Gen and I watch
Cassandra Wilson videos
and swap music stories
while Jack plays surgeon
on a video game
outside a creature who may
or may not be a mouse
eats bird seed under the feeder
skillfully avoiding the dog
24 August 2013
Jackson, MS