Cape Charles
I send you a video
from the edge of everything,
watching a line of cargo ships
lay siege to the horizon.
A laughing gull interrupts
the recording — he doesn’t know
it’s you I’m talking to.
Midway through, I’m startled
by the ancient queen
of a half-glimpsed realm:
an osprey atop her nest in the bay.
You prefer mountains and that’s fine,
but for me it’s horizons every time.
But I could learn to love mountains too,
as long as I get to climb with you.
/ / /
20 April 2024
Cape Charles VA
NaPoWriMo Day 20
Jason Crane Posts
Fuck All Y’all
Fuck billionaires and bankers
and CEOs and CFOs and
whatever the fuck a COO is.
Fuck all presidents and prime
ministers and congresspeople
and senators.
Fuck all generals and admirals
and secretaries of war
and defense contractors.
Fuck all cops and prison guards
and FBI agents and CIA agents
and all the other agents of death.
Fuck all cops again.
Fuck all landlords and agribusiness
magnates and health insurance execs
and everyone who commodifies our needs.
Fuck all cops one more time.
/ / /
19 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 19
Defense
That little boy
in the shiny blue suit
couldn’t defend himself
from the much larger man,
so he built a wall inside, instead,
and sits quietly behind it,
hoping the monster
will pass.
/ / /
18 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 18
Flowers
The monster toppled under its own weight,
taking many of those it had terrified with it.
As the creature decomposed, returning to soil,
crops sprang up in its place:
ripe fruits shining in the sun;
nourishing greens covering the earth.
Where once had been screams there were songs,
knitting the past to the newborn future.
This is the way of monsters and of what follows:
Fear will lose to flowers.
/ / /
17 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 17
April 16, 9:30 PM
For S and H and L and H
On the radio, the Red Sox are
coming back against the Guardians.
I traveled in time today, talking to the people
of Wednesday and Thursday and Friday,
all while playing music
for the people of today.
I kissed the person I love in the morning,
hugged more people I love in the evening.
Times pass, memories fade.
The crack of the bat, the taste of chai.
/ / /
16 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 16
Wake Up To Find Out
In my late 40s I became
obsessed
with the Grateful Dead.
It happened just as everything
I counted on in my life died.
Again.
I took to the road
in a decades-old minivan,
no Tennessee to get back to, Jed.
It was freezing at night in Wilmington.
The winds blew a gale in San Diego.
I walked the road where James Dean died,
a little envious of his blaze.
In Monterrey, in Anza-Borrego,
in Key West, in Acadia,
in Falmouth, in Apalachicola,
I studied the road ahead for a sign.
/ / /
15 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 15
Daring
Today we widened the circle;
shared our patch of sunlight.
The gate might close on us.
Then again, we just might make it.
/ / /
14 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 14
Admission
All these plants
& photos
& little figurines
are how I cope
with the truth
of your leaving.
/ / /
13 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 13
My Plan To Create Mystique Through The Use Of Publicly Posted Cryptic Verse,
Or, How I Thirst-Trapped My Way To A Love Life
I’ll just keep writing poems about you
until someone asks me who they’re about.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I’ll say.
Then I’ll smile cagily and walk away.
/ / /
12 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 12
Faith
You’re growing flowers for the first time.
Seeds to seedlings to holes in the ground.
It’s an act of faith, to leave them there.
To trust in growth, in earth, in rain.
To believe that in the end beauty rises.
This is a holiness worth worshipping.
This is a sacred rite to perform.
/ / /
11 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 11
Bargaining
They sit across the table
negotiating, bargaining.
I’ll cede the overnights
if you’ll agree to—
It never works out.
You can drive around
the cul de sac as many
times as you want.
OK but what if we—
They start again,
thinking surely this time
they’ll uncover a new angle.
The narrow beam moves
across the timeline,
illuminating them both,
but not together.
/ / /
10 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 10
The Upstairs Neighbors Stomp
The upstairs neighbors stomp
like they were never taught to be quiet;
were never told they were taking up
too much space;
were never given love
only to have it taken away.
They crash across the hardwood floor
like people who are sure they belong;
who expect others to make do;
who deserve not just physical room
but sonic space as well.
The downstairs neighbor listens to music
with headphones after a certain hour;
doesn’t do laundry at night;
tries to close doors quietly.
The downstairs neighbor knows
it can all go south at any moment;
the solid ground can melt away;
the love once thought permanent
can steal away in the night like a thief.
/ / /
9 April 2024
Charlotteville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 9
Another Eclipse Poem
I’m trying to write
a fancy poem
about eclipses
and love and long odds.
I’m trying to obscure
the details,
change the names
to protect the innocent.
But you shine
through every line,
and no amount of
obfuscation
can cover up
your brilliance.
It leaks around
the edges of the dark,
seeps into the corners.
I don’t need special glasses,
but sometimes I still
cover my eyes.
/ / /
8 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaNoWriMo Day 8
Love Is
Love is watching your friend get a tattoo, then going for ice cream from the gas station.
Love is “I’m going to kiss you,” right there on the street in front of the whole town.
Love is learning to make the Gen Alpha heart sign with your index and middle fingers.
Love is picking up pads from the store.
Love is sitting on the lawn because it’s been a tough day.
Love is El Comalito and a good book read aloud.
Love is unexpected and awe-inspiring and also tiny and subtle.
Love is your hype crew.
Love is the shoulders you cry on.
Love is a quartet, two duos, four solos.
Love is the beginning of this poem, and it’s ending.
/ / /
7 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 7
Crook
Leaning in the front yard,
single foot jammed into soil,
arms unencumbered,
my purpose unsure.
Squirrels search at my base
but it’s too late,
they’ve carried off the bounty
they themselves freed.
Across the street a cousin,
metal-skirted,
holds aloft
the birds’ delight.
I long for my turn.
/ / /
6 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 6