WHAT IT DOES

when you're not

watching me

i pour a glass

of Asian tea

and read the books,

you never read

i am a

pompous cat.

and just before

you come back

i put the books

back on the rack

and i slip off

your fancy slacks

and clean up all my crap.

so when you open

up the door

and see me lying

on the floor

you'll think i'm just

a little cat

with nothing there

but fur and fat.

The Bells that Graze

incredible bells

ring beside me through the snow
into my chest and sink below
my lungs and push out a breath
that i've kept...
from long ago.

colors in my clothing fade,
the soul gets old as the shoe decays,
have you put enough dollar bills away
for your...
parent's graves

and yet I feel the creases graze
across my eyes each passing day
like the sound of kitchen plastic
crunching...
in my hand.

not from age, from walking on
a crooked ladder whereupon
I balance, weary, grasping at
a rail...
made of sand. 

and so i stumble, shuffle down
from suit to white, hospital gown
with pictures freezing memories
for...
the mind's decay.

and all i ask, is when i fade
to see the path my parent's laid
and hear my mother speaking out,
"do not
   be afraid."

Electrified

sometimes you get so worked up
that you find yourself hooked onto
a car battery
with your whole body vibrating
and your mind on a stair climber
and your logic
speeding so fast down the highway
that every safety cone
is laid to waste.

sometimes you don't recognize yourself
nor do you want to.

sometimes it feels like every person you speak to
is a colliding world
and it's a miracle
if you survive just one encounter.

sometimes you scream at nothing.

like a bunch of animals in space.

sometimes
you stick a
"do not disturb sign"
on your ear

and yet they still come a knocking.

and they tuck the sheets in too tight.

sometimes
the salt pours too fast
and
sometimes
you can't sleep at all.

and sometimes
you just don't care how flawed
you are
or how many clients may

read

your

secrets.

sometimes you just have to let it fly
with tired eyes
and just shake your head
and hope for the best.

because sometimes the day owns you.
and
sometimes the night is rough.

and sometimes you
just have to hang up your coat
and retire
worn,
dazed
and
defeated.




 

Speak it and Mean it?

If you speak with conviction and purpose
people will listen.

Not everyone will listen,
but some will.

And it's very possible that when you do this,
whatever you're saying,
will crest the peak of
what some may call
"a colossal pile of horse shit".

But if you say it with
conviction and purpose,
and a tear in the eye,
people will listen.

Because speaking from the heart
will ALWAYS turn some heads.

Even if the words were formed
completely in your ass.

 

The Little Things

I enjoy cracking open
a crisp, new deck of cards.

I love unwrapping the pristine, tightly folded paper
on an uncut block of butter.

I love peeling the gift wrap skin off a fresh tomatillo.

What does all this tell me?

Is it the little things that matter?

Maybe so.

Or perhaps it's time to get off my ass
and find some bigger and better things to enjoy,

like
WATCHING A FRIGGIN' VOLCANO ERUPT,

or
RIDING IN A LAND VEHICLE AS IT BREAKS THE SOUND BARRIER

or
EATING AN ENTIRE WHEELBARROW FULL OF ICE CREAM?

Maybe it's time to start enjoying the BIG things
and stop being such a pussy.