23rd & Dowling

what I pass off as my worst
is a fiction, well rehearsed
until an old metallic thirst
begins its acrid prowling

grab your coat and leave the key
get picked up in a dim brasserie
the one place you don’t want to be
is Twenty-Third and Dowling

it’s nothing you can argue with
this parasite that gnaws my pith
the grain of truth in every myth
the fear behind the growling

swirling in my vacant eyes
droning like a swarm of flies
a dark and menacing surprise
on Twenty-Third and Dowling

stop asking me to let you in
stop trying to give me medicine
you’ve no idea where I’ve been
or what it is that’s howling

stop sobbing that I’ll be all right
just turn around, turn out the light;

there’s murder
in the air tonight
on Twenty-Third
and Dowling

Elktr8

It takes years of politicking
to be ripened
for the picking;
it takes pretense and precision
to provoke us
to decision -

Washington and Jefferson
Adams and Monroe,
it’s hard to read your writing
so we’ll call it as we go;

We lost a king in Dallas
we lost one in Tennessee
and your country’s turned to asking
now what can you do for me

We want promised plans
to pay us
a commander
of the dais
to protect the
constitution
to defend the
Lilliputian

We need you to understand
we were dealt this losing hand
we need cowboys, queens and aces
to redeem all these disgraces

We pay down our debts with credit
blame the bank if we misled it
tell us that you have an answer
for recession, crime and cancer

Sell us national
defenses
with some billion
dollar fences

Tell the rich
they’re under-serving
those whose needs
are more deserving

(It’s getting hard to see
through all the bunting
on the porch
but it seems that
Liberty is blind
and that Justice
stole the torch)

You’ll get my gun
when you can pull it
from my cold dead
star-striped mullet

Were there a car
in every drive
and chicken in
each pot
we’d demand
a bullet train
and vegan food
for thought

we’re fighting wars
with abstract nouns
so one should turn
this ship around

Pachyderms
thick as molasses
lay with obstinate
jackasses
in a congress
bought and bent
to bear us
a president;

Perhaps there is
far less to fear
in who will be
sworn in next year
than in the people
of by for
holding out our
hands for more

in the nation
for by of
out of money
time and love

than in me
the of for by
allegiant to
an alibi

the busted making
one more bet;
the free
the brave
electorate

Good Night

Softly sings the wind
a song so sad and sweet
about the man up in the moon
and who he has yet to meet

The stars are winking down
telling me to steal a kiss
so forgive me if I do;
they put me up to this

The winsome pines are smiling
and the chatty birds are still
and time carved out a moment
that we were made to fill

Softly sings the wind
a song so low and true
about the man up in the moon
and how I was made for you

The grasses there are stirring
and the crickets’ violin
moves us to this moment
from everywhere we’ve ever been

Your face here in the half-light
and your eyes as deep as seas
chase away the shadows
of the scented soaring trees

Softly sings the wind
a song borne by the night
about the man up in the moon
and how he finally got it right

Miss Appropriation

sorry – this poem has been removed due to some delusional endeavor to get published. i’ll put it back once i come to my senses.

Impulse Purchase

I picked up a pint of ice cream,
you reached in for frozen peas;
we looked up and there we were,
frozen in our pleasantries.

Very nice of you to say
I’m looking very good these days,
very big of you to grin
and to ask me how I’ve been;

I could see you size me up
trying to measure my success,
and I caught you eye my finger
as my eyes fell down your dress.

You asked about my folks
and I asked about your work;
we held our breath and tongues,
the civil bitch and gentle jerk.

And for a quiet moment
that seemed twenty minutes long
we thought about how right we were
before we went all wrong.

An awkward take it easy,
a little coughed take care,
pretending that the coolers
put that shiver in the air;

And no, time has not touched you,
and yes, I’m doing fine,
but I put the ice cream back
and headed straight for Beer & Wine.