February 2013 K Poems

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“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”

--Plato

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“Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the

whole aim and end of human existence.”—Aristotle

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“We re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”--Orson Welles

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“I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.”

--George Eliot

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I just finished dusting. I need to

dust far more often. Zen begins at home.

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"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."--Larry Bird

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“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

--Dalai Lama

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

--Mahatma Gandhi

“The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.”

--George Washington

“When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others. “--Dalai Lama

Alcoholic

When you are in your fifties

and still drinking heavily

it is no longer called “partying.”

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She lives in a cage.

I wonder what it’s like

to live in a cage all your life;

to constantly climb from side to side

and never really get anywhere.

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Take care of yourself

I see this guy no older than late fifties

riding through the store

on one of those electric wheelchair type things.

He’s got clear tubes running out of his nostrils

and I say to myself that I am glad

that I take better care of myself

than it appears that he has.

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Waiting

I wonder if all the people

seated in this waiting room

are as crazy as I was

twenty one years ago

when I first took a seat here?

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A difference between birds

A pigeon flies out in front of me

from the patio of a restaurant

where I imagine he has been

scavenging for scraps. I think

of my bird at home,

how her wings are clipped

and if she flaps them

she gets nowhere.

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Cognitive Dissonance

There are questions

that I wish that I hadn’t asked,

but didn’t realize this

until I had already asked them.

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We have considered your submission carefully, and unfortunately we are not able to use it in The Threepenny Review. Please do not take this as a comment on the quality of your writing; we receive so many submissions that we are able to accept only a small fraction of them.

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Growl

It’s the big dogs that we often fear

but I learned a long time ago

while delivering pizza

that it is the little dogs

that you really have to look out for.

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Scant

Just yesterday, or the day before it

or maybe it was the day before that

or last month, maybe. I don’t know

but I do know that until you came

along Love of the sort that you have

given me had been scant.

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Strange Configuration

I didn’t do my best.

I need a second chance.

I need someone to show me

how to get blood off of a broken heart.

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Tangled

Topless place.

Beer.

Bob Dylan knows

how to tell a story,

or he used to.

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Buffoon

I bought a secret

but I gave it away too soon.

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Conceptually and beyond

Each note has a place

in a song; just like

each cell in our body

has a function. Heaven

and Hell may just be concepts.

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Dear Mikel K:

Thank you for giving us at Black Warrior Review the opportunity to consider your work. The editors have read your submission and regret that it does not meet our present needs.

We wish you the best of luck placing your manuscript elsewhere.

Sincerely,

The Editors of Black Warrior Review

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All is cool here, baby

On the second day of the new month, I turned a page on my new calendar. I thought that January was going to run on for years. I’m slam dancing in the kitchen, unable to wait until Peace Train plays. I’m not searching for a Hard Headed Woman. I got one ate home.

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No homicide

L.A. Woman never fails to turn me on.

Niether does my woman.

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The certainty of uncertainty

Plans change,

so does my mind.

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Feeling bad like toxic man

smoked a pack today

didn’t give a damn that

I killed a fifth before I went

out to the club.

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Justice until it hurts

The evidence won’t be won.

The obvious victors lose.

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Show me your better way

The light is mine.

The night is yours.

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Lack of return is inevitable

I won’t be coming back;

there is lack of reason for such.

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Innuendo

Name a name I’ll drop it.

Commit a crime’ they’ll stop it.

Dirty dishes; car needs gas.

In the spring we’ll cut the grass.

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The Daily K Feb. 3, 2013

I was up at five minutes until 4 a.m.; wide awake in the bed I was so why lay there? It is 5:03 a.m., and I am going to lay back down.

We are going to celebrate Joan’s granddaughter’s first birthday, today, at the home of Joan’s daughter, and her family. That granddaughter is named Ava Jean, and she is one of the most precious babies that you have ever seen:

inquisitive, knowing, mostly a wide grin on her face, or laughter emitting from her existence.

The Super Bowl is this evening. I don’t really care who wins. I guess I should want the 49er’s to lose, since they knocked our Falcons out of the competition but my revenge urge is not strong so far this morning.

It is Sunday, another Sunday in our lives. How many more

Sundays do we have? Which Sunday will be our last Sunday?

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How many more do we have?

It is Sunday, another Sunday in our lives.

How many more Sundays do we have?

Which Sunday will be our last Sunday?

Yesterday was Saturday, another Saturday

in our lives. How many more Saturdays

do we have? Tomorrow is Monday. How many

more Mondays do we have? Tuesdays,

and Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and Fridays.

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Not what you are doing

I am supposed to be doing

what I am supposed to be doing.

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Squawk Squawk

“Well, I got this guitar, and I learned how to make it talk.”

--Bruce Springsteen

My guitar is not yet talking;

it is still squawking.

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Talk soon. Be safe. Love you.

In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love.

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Would that be unkind?

What if he worshiped

your body, and not your mind?

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Sometimes

enough is not enough,

and the going can get rough.

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In twelve step circles they say, "There, but for the grace

of God go I." I am blessed, so very blessed, in so many

ways. I should be dead, or locked up, the way that I

carried on in my late teens, twenties, and early thirties,

but I am here, healthy and happy. Thank you, Lord, for

letting me see the new day, breathe the air of a new day.

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A thought or two on getting old

“So you’re scared and you’re thinking that

we ain’t that young anymore.”—The Boss

I don’t feel old, thought I may look old.

I may act old, though. Often, I am in bed

by eight. I don’t act the fool anymore,

which saves me a lot of trouble. I am wiser

than I once was. I feel the same as I always have

‘cept for some arthritis pains in my right knee

and right hip. I have a fake hip, too,

which I didn’t have when I was younger.

The need for that hip says that I am old

though I don’t feel old. I really don’t feel

any older than I’ve ever been. I really don’t.

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On her page she put down

that she was in a relationship,

but she wasn’t: she just wanted

to be in one so badly that she

was hoping that if she imagined it

it would be so. But it wasn’t.

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The cold is not after you

There’s a reason the seasons

turn blue, after being red, orange

and yellow.

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Something I missed

Plastic kiss.

Rainbow lips.

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Give me love.

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Dressing

I played catch up.

I did not play with the ketchup.

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Coffee stains obscure

I brush my teeth,

and smile into the mirror.

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Let God pay you the 20%

I believe in service, you are

indentured to me.

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I believe in leading

by example, so you can’t see

most of what I do.

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Unconventional Wisdom

Listen to the conversation coincide

not with what you’re thinking.

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I am all about you

I will never

make a move

without you.

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Smile before you kill

Don’t get me wrong.

I ain’t that kind of man.

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Giving Thanks

From institutions and jail cells

to this; I landed on my feet rather well.

I look at cops, these days, and it is

someone else in the back of their van,

oh Jack Daniels, I pray that I never drink it, again.

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Then It Is Ours

"Well my husband's got a boil on his butt. His brother has herpes. And my name is Emma Sue, and I got the syph, but I'm not going to give it to unless you hurt me. Then it is ours."

—A Paroinoi rumor maybe started in

a struggling writer’s mind.

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Get down on that pussy for The Lord

Rub that pussy and start praying to The Lord.

And when you start to come, start murmuring,

“God, God, oh God.” And as the intensity of the

orgasm increases scream, “God, God, God,” over

and over getting as loud as you can. Ok? It’ll be

a good way to praise The Creator.

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In return for?

They want to build

their empire

on your back.

Your words

they take them

and give you nothing.

And you let them.

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See you at five

“I’m like Hunter Thompson, I could listen to, “Mister Tamborine Man,” by The Byrds, until the trip was over, back when I was tripping, or until it is time to light me on fire.

Maybe it was Dylan doing the Dylan thing that he liked, and not The Byrds. I’m not sure. Hunter Thompson is dead. I don’t know if that is current or pertinent news, but we wanted to report it to you today. Our marketing dept. has determined that Thompson is still hugely popular author and we want to cash in on it. See you at five.

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"When given crap, make crap mudpies, and feed them to the enemy." For AMP.

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"You can't talk about it. You have to do it."

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My time has come.

No need to run.

Now open up that door for me.

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No fortune in his cookie

Most of my life's been a storm

Nobody forewarned me of the things

I would see, say, and do.

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The recovering violent heart

It's like a recovering violent heart,

that is only, now, coming around

to The Way of Love.

Do you know how many times

that guy got beat up?

Do you know how many times

he got burned, busted,

how many times his heart was broken?

Geez, I hope that it’s not too late for him.

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He doesn t send daily email messages does he?

I’m hoping that my Guru, if I had one, my man

a guy who is mostly sparse with words but makes

a great deal of sense to me is not guilty of any

Tony Robbins-like atrocities. That would suck.

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What if you wanted your daughter

to be a business woman, and she wanted

to be a cheerleader. What would you do?

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Him and I

The singer on the song sings

that he wants some easy money.

I want some food with no calories

that would taste real good, right now.

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Talk Soon. Be Safe. Love you.

In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one path way

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and

that is Love. In the end there is only one pathway

through this thing called, “Life,” and that is Love.

One pathway.

I wonder if his Dad used to say it to him

“You’’ll never amount to anything,”

is not a nice thing to say to anyone,

but my dad used to say it to me all the time.

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Mine died

The last words he said to me were,

"Well, you certainly turned out

other than I intended." Weep. Weep.

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Panhandling your girlfriend in an IM when she is at work

If you can score a free gyro, I would give you a kiss and a hug for it, but don ‘buy it. Never buy anything from anyone. Everything must be free.

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NOTHING in the mail box

Again.

No big fat book contract.

No publication acceptances.

No letters from adoring fans.

Just another attempt by

The AARP to get me

to give them sixteen dollars;

and a newspaper full of coupons

that I’m not interested in.

Sheesh.

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I skipped a nap here today to hop in the sack with you

cuz I know that you love it when I sleep next to you

and I like laying in the bed with you, also.

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It sucks when

bad things happen to you,

but some people would say

to you, “Tough luck sucker,

better you than me…” Not me.

I realize that if it can happen

to you it can happen to me,

and we both need to keep on happening.

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“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

--Aristotle

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Down on butt fuck road

I used to stay there

did the same things

over and over

right after saying

I’d never do them, again.

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But I wasn’t.

Should have been.

Could have been,

but I wasn’t.

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“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

--Aristotle

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The eyes have it

You caught all the days of my life

and I never made you my wife.

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"A man is already halfway in love with any woman who listens to him."--Brendan Francis

Yes. Because we are dickheads.

And morons.

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Understand?

Got a fifth of Jack Daniels

Ain’t never gonna take even a sip.

Got a carton of cigarettes

over by the bourbon. I ain’t going

to take even the first hit.

Got a gun in the bedroom.

If you break into my house

while I’m there with my wife,

and children, I’ll shoot ya to kill.

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I just finished dusting. I need to

dust far more often.

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The Next Big Thing

I have given up thinking

that I might be the next big thing.

It’s Monday: I have to take the trash out.

I have to empty the dishwasher.

I have to feed the dogs, cats, turtle, frog,

and bird.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COPIED TO BLOGGER.COM HERE, DEAR.

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Isn t Valentine s Day sometime soon?

It was really hard for me not to raid the bags of Valentine’s Day candy that Joan had laid out on the kitchen table, this past weekend; bags that were supposed to go, full, to her grandkids. I was sorely tempted to sneak the equal number of candy out of each bag, but I didn’t, and, now, I deserve a Gold Star, or should get some chocolate, or something.

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I been cruising down the highway of life for a large number of days, now. Obstacles used to be in my way. I used to be mean; mad at myself all the time, sure that I had turned out to be no good for anything like my father always said that I would be. Today, I don’t hear his voice; and those things that used to cripple me are not even in the memory of my past. Now you might ask, why should I care?

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Journey

My fingers won’t do the talking.

I’ve got to shut up and do the walking.

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Solitary Confinement

I picked up some bad habits

and they, finally, landed me in jail

and those that had warned me

of where I was headed, certainly,

weren’t going to pay my bail.

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Count the paint marks on a highway

Bird in hand can’t smile.

Those less talented might go

the extra mile.

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Random Notes

I am better at baking banana bread

than I am at playing the guitar.

I bleed, sometimes, when the bird

bites me.

I listen to talk radio, but not to Rush,

Sean, Laura, or Glenn: they make me puke

as they insult my intelligence.

Geraldo and Imus are entertaining.

I can hang with Huckabee.

I don’t much agree with him,

but he is not a schmuck.

I like to walk my dogs,

but not today: 37 degrees is way too cold.

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Idle Threats

You say you are the next Superstar

but nobody knows who you are.

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I hate poets who don’t have poems

on the internet for me to read. Well,

I strongly dislike the situation, if I

can rephrase that, and try not to hate anyone.

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But I’ll get back up

Push me around.

Take me down.

I’ll fall to the ground.

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The priests are going to hell

and The Pope who ignored what they did

hideous things to young boys who trusted them.

They are going to the hell that they taught us about;

the hell that they obviously don’t believe in for themselves.

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“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”--Jonathan Swift

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”

--Jonathan Swift

“We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”--Jonathan Swift

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Pens are, sometimes, casualties around here

I can’t call it tie-dyed

but altered would certainly be

a good word to describe the laundry.

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Proverb

When I was younger

information came to me

that you cold lick a toad

and get high. I found it

easier to go to the liquor store.

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Looking down from the clouds

must have God been frowning

when you were downing Quaaludes?

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According to the channel of weather

there is zero chance of rain today

which gives me a one hundred percent opportunity

to take the dogs on a long walk.

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Stop the blood

The bandage has come loose

its grip was like that of a noose.

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You have to take love where you find it

The turtle eyes me

as I set up her feeding tank.

She is not happy to see me.

She is not thankful that I am here to feed her.

She will pitch a fit

when I lift her out of her water

trying fiercely to bite and claw me.

The bird allowed me to clean her cage

looking upon me as if I was the hired help

and when I was done she began to yelp.

The frog did not even stick his snout out

when I dropped live crickets in his cage.

The dogs are gathered around me

wagging their tails ready to walk.

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For you experiencing a loss

I wish I had the words to make it all better, to put a smile on your face that wouldn't go away, even when you are alone. As good asI think I am there are certain situations that I can’t break through: words are inadequate at times; no metaphors, no rhymes would work to make you not depressed in such a time of sadness. Time is a healer and time it will take. Just know that your time is precious

and that there is, supposedly, a reason for everything, that reason, often, being out of our reach. You are loved, and you give love. Love will see you through.

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The consequences of listening to bad advice

I was told that I couldn’t dance

so I didn’t dance.

I was told that I couldn’t sing

so I didn’t sing.

I was told that I couldn’t play the guitar

so I didn’t play the guitar.

I was told that I couldn’t write;

I said fuck you.

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Sometimes romance is psychotic

I broke her vase

because she broke my heart.

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There is no rebellion in cheerios with banana and milk

The dog likes popcorn and the woman

brought some pop corn home, so I

fed the popcorn to the dog.

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You change your profile picture

like I used to change my underwear

only I don’t wear any now.

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One more poem before I get back to the movie

I can’t justify my existence

if I am not cranking out the poems.

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Poor Joan came home from work, early, today, with what she thinks is a stomach virus. At times like this I feel so helpless, wishing that I could cast a magic spell on her to make her better. I was left to cook dinner, tonight, as a result of her infirmity. She coached me through the process, saying to add lemon, and old bay, to the butter that I was baking fish in. I am no Joan, in the kitchen, but dinner turned out pretty good if I do say myself, and I do. Give a shout out to Joan for a quick recovery, will you?!

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Till words come to me

I will do something else

like watch a movie

or listen to a song.

I might even watch the news

but to watch too much of it is wrong.

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No ifs ands or buts

The bird loves peanuts

Cleaning up after her could drive you nuts.

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In heaven

we will get what

we don’t have here

say people who

have have and have.

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Sanctuary

Some of us

never find it.

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Have a nice day

I didn’t mean to appear rude

but when she said have a nice day

as she was leaving the building

she caught me mid-gulp.

I almost choked on my coffee

trying to reply to her.

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Inheritance

I should be more fucked up than I am. The last words I ever heard come from my mother’s mouth to were, "I want nothing to do with that little illegitimate bastard," talking to my son's mom about my son. The last word’s my father ever said to me were, “Well, you certainly turned out other than I intended.” I was hitchhiking up the East Coast when I had dropped in, with long hair, to see them. My dad died several months later.

The effect this had on me was to not treat my kids like I was treated, to shower them with love.

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I’m kind of happy right where I am

I might not make it into Heaven

but I’ve been to a 7 Eleven.

The sand at the beach is currently

out of reach.

I am reassessing my dreams.

I might not become who I thought

that I wanted to be.

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Shiny is the garden that grows

until God Government or Monsanto

shuts it down.

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When you’re out in the hot rain of a summer

where the heat seems to have no end.

When you’re in the cold of winter

and it seems like you haven’t a friend,

just remember that the reason that you are here

must come from within.

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One note at a time

You can’t make the bird sing

but the music can.

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Fuck

Things were going along, here, this morning

marvelously, wonderfully, and then Love discovered

that one of the dogs had pissed on her art supplies

that she had stored on the floor in the basement.

……………………………………………………….

I am sad that he is gone

He was often sneaking off

for a cigarette

at family gatherings

he was a wonderful man

but the cigarettes killed him early.

………………………………………………………..

They know it’s me

looking for their sympathy.

The only one holding me back is me.

…………………………………………..

With a nod to The Dead

My love is bigger than a Chevrolet

you might hit the brakes but I won’t go away.

………………………………………….

In the booth I told the priest

that I had killed a man.

He was silent and then said

do a hundred thousand Hail Mary’s.

I added that the man had a million dollars

that I had taken and I was going to give it

to the church. Father said forget the Hail Mary’s

let’s go have lunch.

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The other side of the other side

Death will take you.

Love will make you.

……………………………………………

I won’t quit until I can play

I need a new pair of hands.

The ones that I have won't do

what they are supposed to do.

Maybe I need a different guitar;

a bigger one, a smaller one.

……………………………………………….

“Your life is a manifestation of the thoughts in your head.”

--The Secret

We have 60,000 thoughts a day.—The Secret

“All we are is the result of what we have thought.”

--Buddha

………………………………………………………..

I had a basketball Jones

One summer, I talked my father into

buying me a 99 cent basketball

I wore it out on an outdoor basketball court

behind the school where I was going

to start six grade in the fall.

When I realized that a plastic basketball

was not what you played the game with

I talked the old man into buying me a real basketball

and I wore that ball out on the same basketball court.

……………………………………………………………

Day or night

I’m either cutting edge or trite

willing to give in or fight.

………………………………………………………………

What about today?

I was always waiting for tomorrow

trying to forget yesterday.

………………………………………………………………

What about today?

I was always waiting for tomorrow

trying to forget yesterday.

………………………………………………………………….

There is a lesson to be learned here

The birds in the trees outside our house, here in Mableton,

don’t seem to know, or care, this morning that it is cold and wet out. They are singing happily as if it was a warm spring day.

…………………………………………………….

The track I’m on

One person will say

that you are on the wrong track.

Another person will say

that you are on track.

It is up to you figure out

what track you are on.

………………………………………………………

I’m trying to cover up what you can see

Is it all about what you conceive it can be?

What if you feel lukewarm

when you’re supposed to be hot?

Can you make something out to be

what it is not?

…………………………………………………………

They know no gratitude

Some people live miserably

and die miserably.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013