POEM - Cupcake Ritual

The ragged paper wrapper

Dejectedly resting in my hand

Once embraced

In a protective shield

A diminutive cake

Delicious and inviting

This wrapper

That I hold a little too long

Carried the contents

From batter to bake

Caressed and carried

In a meaningful shared experience

I hold this wrapper

Gently in my cupping grasp

Waiting for that moment

When other eyes are distracted

When I invert the wrapper

Inside out

Greedily and stealthily

Popping it in my mouth

I chew the wrapper

Squeezing the last sweet essence

The delectable remnants

Of a once present cupcake

That now is no longer

My eyelids have wandered shut

As I savor and indulge

But I can sense other eyes

I was not as careful as I thought

The wrapper sits motionless

Mid chew

As I flounder for an explanation

She speaks first

In a conspiratorial whisper

                “I’m glad to see

                                I’m not the only one”

She says with a smile

Revealing in her light clutch

An inverted wrapper of her own

Joyfully she joins

In the sweet ritual

POEM - Summer Dilemma

Lazily the conversation

Meanders around the point

As you search

For a reason to cook

Where is the potato salad

And the holiday leftovers

That won’t heat up the house

That might prolong the reclining moment?

If it was just us we’d wait

Let the humid moments pass

But these darn kids

Are not as patient

Complaining of a hunger

More based in boredom

Than actual starvation

The message you send is desperate

            “Why don’t we have any good food in this house?”

I know that good really means easy

            “Maria gave us a box of corn

                        We have lots of corn!”

“Well, cook some up - the kids love it

Maybe ruin it with butter and salt, like in the old days

Or worse, with margarine

Like we were raised in the 70s!”

You let me know they had corn for breakfast

Such silly little reprobates

            “I am eating boiled peanut” you relate

                        “I am ashamed” is your confession

I laugh in text

            “Hahaha, you are Southern now! Sorry!”

But it isn’t a joke

There is watermelon in the fridge

Fried chicken for dinner

A farm outside our door

And overalls in my closet

And you just told me Maria’s trailer is “nice”

And I wonder when it happened

But summer is too hot

For anything so deep

And I’m jealous of corn for breakfast

And I was hoping

            To snack on those boiled peanuts

Cool and moist

            Waiting in the refrigerator door

POEM - Hard-Boiled

Crack!

The porcelain shell forms fissures

Surface tension broken, distractedly

I roll the oblong orb around my desk

Midway through recalling

The conversation I had just had

With myself

Planning my culinary day

“The eggs will be saved for lunch,

                Cut up in chicken broth for soup.”

I forgot because I picked up the blanched stone

Cool and comfortable

Crack!

There is nothing like the satisfaction

Of a perfectly boiled egg

Tempered in the rolling water

Where the shell almost leaps away

At the slightest provocation

Leaving the soft cloud white ball

That embraces the golden treasure

Crack!

Forgive me

For my premature advances

You thought you had time

To relax in the refrigerator compartment

Before being ejected

Noisily

From your perfect womb

I just love your sound

Crack!

POEM - Roach Space

A hole has formed

In the hermetic seal

This modern office boasts

And the cockroaches have noticed

All the way up they climb

To the second floor

Just to make a point

And on three consecutive days

The hallway has been accented

By the lone kamikaze

The message in sacrificial form

Reminding all of the voracity

Each and every element

Of the collective infestation

Possesses

We are not born to conquer

There is no permanence in humanity

We are born as squatters

Our space on loan

A temporary condition

As the architecture crumbles

Weeds and vines engulf

Always lurking and scurrying

Just under the exterior

Are the walls filled to bursting

With roaches bent on domination

Imbued with the patient knowledge

They are indestructible and un-vanquish-able

Like Time

Or an Hydra

POEM - Borrowed Smile

Sitting here

Feeling the years

When

We'd sit here

Side by side

And talk the twilight away

When the winter

Never chilled

And we laughed

In easy ways

When we could just be

Now I sit

Alone

As the sun washes out

Into the darkness

And the laughs echo

Almost gone

But I keep a smile

Borrowed from  you

From the times

When a smile

Was all we owned

POEM - Chops [Jazz Writing 005]

The dance floor

Crowded

In the tiny town

Local high school

Showing off their jazz band

It was crowded like no one’s business

The closing song

A final farewell

To departing members

And that band was hopping

And that country kid

Plays that sax

Like he was born

Attached to it

In NYC

Where electric air

Filled his lungs

Brought through the window

Heavy and powerful

From the clubs of Harlem

Everyone gets sucked in

Bobbing their heads

Clapping along

Awash

In the joyous noise

POEM - Sold on the Sound [Jazz Writing 004]

Bought that last line

Completely

I’m all in

For at least a few more

Cause it all just melts

In rhythms of the night

Ice and fire

Right on the beat

The licks come fast and light

Syncopated

A dance that takes

And we're gone, man!

Just gone!

POEM - Dangerous Notes [Jazz Writing 003]

Caught

Tight and close

This is what we feared

All along

The danger

Lurking in the long alley of the night

And we run

Just to stay alive

The journey catches us

A claw and a snarl

A flash of pearly whites

All within a smile and a nod

Beneath your tipping hat

A man that can't be beat

A sound that binds your soul

POEM - Attraction [Jazz Writing 002]

We passed the time

Alone and still beside you

And we left it all

Out in the night

When we kiss

The rain stops and sighs

The night fills with stars

And the atoms in our minds

Stop spinning around

As the whole wide world

Takes a moment to pause

And I am contained

In your eyes

Tell me love is fate

Or destiny or some undiscovered force

That draws us colliding

Across every distance

We can't part

We can't leave it be

And we sway and swoon

Lost in this love

POEM - A Wish for a Dance [Jazz Writing 001]

Done up

Cool down

Hot and smooth

And I wish I had the time

To swing and sway the night

All along

With you

POEM - Looking Out

A silly thing

A window is all

And solitude

Drifts

Out across the branches

Of the springtime trees

Putting on their chlorophyll robes

Ready to receive

Every toxic exhale

My waste their treat

And visa-versa

And all the world was a cube

But the glass opening

Shows circles that spin

In cycles of give and take

Breath into air

Thoughts allowed to wander

And that bad mood

That was boxed in

Can be cast off

Given to the trees

Caught by the wind

Dispersed in sunlight

POEM - Talking at Walls

That analogy

The one just out of the gate

I just need to insert this other one

Right before that other one

So you understand

Vividly

Precisely

In microscopic detail

All the subtle intricacies

Which brilliantly illustrate why

I completely understand the situation

Oh, and I just thought of another

Even better

Quintessential experience

That will really get deep down

Into those crinkly crevices

Of that mind of yours

That keeps figuring out

The dumb choice

                And picking it

                                Without fail

And maybe one more exhausting allegory

Will bore those foolish tendencies

Out of existence

Which is why

Despite the rolling eyes

I continue to continue

POEM - Getting the Right Fit

Could you bring me

My other life?

I think I got the wrong one

From the back of the pile

Under some forgotten rag

In the dimness

Of the early morning

It looked like the right one

But it just doesn’t seem to fit right

No hurry really

If you happen to be

Coming my way

Just drop it in the lobby

Leave it with the attendant

I’ll swing by at lunch

Leave the mis-fitting  one behind

The cleaning crew

Can just toss it out

With the other broken pieces

POEM - Mic Drop

Thank you for the applause

You really are too kind

It has really been a group effort

As you’ve allowed me

For the last 365 days

To borrow and steal

Some of our best moments

And saddest times

Your exploitation

And generosity

All in the name of art

Please feel happy

If you made it in

Don’t be offended

If you haven’t yet

As I’ve said before

And I will mention again

I am not hanging up my typing gloves

I am just giving my fist a rest

Having held this microphone

Tightly and passionately

Through the whole performance

Today I hold my arm out straight

Stare you straight in the eyes

Relax my grip

And turn away

Already in full stride

To the next idea

Before the cacophony erupts

POEM - Some Secrets Come to Light

At the end

I have secrets to tell

Revelations yet unshared

More than I have already said

On the road home today

Listening to “Blood on the Tracks”

I recalled a time

Hard to believe

When Bob Dylan was not my favorite

And another time

When I hated U2

I’ve repented of my folly

I know now

A deeper happiness

Having accepted these flaws

Manifest in the character of my youth

Of course there was a time

Long ago

When I wouldn’t eat avocados

And I slept on my front

Refused to brush my teeth

Thought the Beatles sang “Stairway to Heaven”

And avoided tomatoes like the plague

You learn to accept a few differences

And before you know it

You are making BLTs with avocado

And actually looking forward

To the tomato

Almost as much as the bacon

So I’ve changed

So what

It was bound to happen

I’ve never been one

To hold on tight

To every little tradition

I would not be the fiddler

Too off balanced

I am Tevye’s youngest daughter

Finding loves

That break the heart of tradition

POEM - Home Stretch

I do see the bright light

Shining

Comforting and warm

Telling

That the goal is near

It is a bright point

Not an end

A check mark

A small pile of stones

Set beside the path

To show the way

A deep breath

At the ridge of a hill

Before heading into the valley

Only to ascend the next rise

Because that new hill

Is entirely different

Than the one I just climbed

We may celebrate

Rejoice and cheer

When the prodigal son

Walks the road towards home

Because it is good

That he checked in

Let everyone know

He was alright

But he will be gone again

To new challenges

His homecoming only temporary

Another bright spot

Another stack of stones

Marking a safe path

A brief sanctuary

That light I see

Is a welcome light

Where I will also breath deep

Rest my head a moment

Rejuvenate

Then take up my load

Put my feet to the path

And climb, climb, climb

POEM - 10,000 Year Poem

The renegade internet tycoon

Is trying to make a mark

More substantial

Than the bits and bytes

His empire is built on

So he is carving massive holes

In a lonely desert mountain

Somewhere in the wilds of Texas

Getting ready to build a massive clock

That will run for 10,000 years

Cool plan

I think I saw the same thing

In “The Dark Crystal”

But I’m sure

This will be much cooler

Because it is real

Or something like that

All I can think is

This is the first step

To a world

A little more

Post-apocalyptic

When we start building permanence

That’s when the bottom falls out

Like when I try to write

A meaningful poem

And all I do

Is ramble

About clocks in the desert

The end of civilization

And futuristic fantasies

With words that might not last

But an idea that could

Unaffected by rust

Or the passing of time

POEM - Job Shadowing is Boring!

Going to work with dad

Should be a fun day

And she barely slept

With the anticipation

It should be a great day

But she ended up

With a sore throat

And a cough

And she was tired as could be

Because she hadn’t slept

At least not very well

Dad works in an office

A rather quiet and boring office

With lots of boring spreadsheets

And a big boring book

Filled with tiny boring numbers

Which squashed all excitement

With a heavy load of boring boringness

She tried to be positive

Didn't want to hurt dad’s feelings

But when you’re sick

You can’t always be nice

And everyone just needs to deal

Because she is ready to go

Has had enough

Of this so called fun

The paperwork is complete

The day is over

Come on

Can’t we just go?

Okay sweetie

You've been patient

Learned your lesson

Been on good behavior

Your sentence is over

The debt to society paid

Grabbing the keys

Turning off the lights

You shall be free

You shall be released

POEM - Groundhog’s Day is for Families

What does it mean

That so many things

Happened on the same day?

Did they plan this?

The biggest holiday of the year

Involving rodents

And weather predictions

That also inspired a movie

Had to share

Because the big game

Had to be played as well

The one with leather spheroids

That get kicked and thrown

And carried about a grass field

In violent orchestrations

By groups of padded millionaires

While somewhere in New York

A billion stories continued

And one famous story

Amidst a swirl of mystery

Came to a tragic end

All the while in my house

With my children close at hand

We watched all of these things happen

At a safe distance

Snuggled together

I finally had

A whole day at home

All present and accounted for

Within arm’s reach

POEM - Old Delivery Guy

My body still knows

How to move just so

To transport this piece or that piece

Of inanimate furniture

Make it dance and pivot

Jump and shake

Or pirouette over my head

To get nearly any furnishing

Into the desired location

Yes my body still knows the moves

But the price paid

Has become steeper

And unloading a truck full

Of my buddies household goods

Takes a toll I never knew

It’s the car ride home

That kills me off

I stretch and lift

And heave and heft

Then sit back and sink

And now when the gears stop grinding

They like to take the next step

And go ahead and seize up

Just to make sure

I don’t consider any more foolishness

Making sure I remember

That I am no longer that guy

That unloaded whole trucks of couches

Delivered sleeper sofas by himself

Then went home refreshed

And maybe play some racquetball

Just to be sure I got enough exercise

I may still be able to impress

By lifting my end of the piano solo

With four guys on the other end

But you should probably save that task

For the end of the move

If you want me to help

With any of the other boxes