Wednesday, August 28, 2013

we're wobbly

we're wobbly
our bodies are apart
never heard your voice
someone said you were female
you wrote an e-mail
you didn't know a person
my misleading phonetic spelling 
two panes of broken cafe glass later
you suggest you'll visit
it must have impressed you
you told your comrades about me
interested in my knowledge
but fickle like a typhoon
sent my needless location
 changed your direction
fear me not the brain police
confusion's on our side
you can't figure us out
you don't have to be worried
only laugh at our disorganization
we are wobbly
 
8-27-13
 
 
 


Saturday, August 24, 2013

"we are the dead," Winston said

"we are the dead," Winston said
"we are the dead," Julia re-stated
"you are the dead," Charrington waited
  dread what's imbedded in your head
 
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
basic, safety, social, esteem
no one needs or believes your station
let the proles take a vacation
 
personal projects getting together
outweighing occurances' satisfaction
 needing friends and relations
 one big union's your only salvation

unity is power, scabs are useless
one or the other without any doubt 
without it you're toothless
you've got to be ruthless

you've come so far to pay your dues
an organization reflecting your views
 down the line pass the news
 sitting on it will give you the blues

"we are the dead," Winston said
"we are the dead," Julia re-stated
"right," said Charrington waiting
enjoy while you can, breath is baiting

8-25-13


 
 


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

i can't care for others that ignore me

i can't care for others that ignore me
i'd rather be harrassed, raped, or robbed
i just don't exist to this fifty year old stranger
not that there's anything wrong with that
but i'm not concentrating where he distracted me
with a choice of a million places to park
now where did he go; i didn't follow
and wasn't he here the same time yesterday
or was it another fairly new white scooter
he left his helmet on the floor board
now he's back, looking relieved
must have walked off to pee's what i think
now his helmet's back on, engine started
he's driving away on the bike path
 good riddance
 
i can't care for those who don't ignore me
the young man on a scooter who honks the horn
and shouts 'hello' as he passes by
the man on a bicycle who risks crashing to get a look at me
and the pretty young woman who is discreet
to talk and take a chance i'm disengaged
stops her scooter to see how i'll react
drives away when i don't pay attention
and when i look lost, oh what an opportunity
to meet, to help, to maybe befriend me
i wish i was lost but i can't make believe
i know too well where my going will lead
to death, enjoy life the best until death
with one partner, one rider, one lover
others may wish and look for it
i needn't any longer bother
 
8-20-13
 
 
 
 


Monday, August 19, 2013

in this part of the molding Han

in this part of the molding Han
starting to smell like a musty old mop
recent stones reveal covered lines of dampness
egrets take advantage of low pools
waters slowly and quietly zig-zagging downstream
across it a dog may walk without wetting paws
 regrowth weeds and wildflowers on shores
back-hoed away only two months before
the river pauses
awaiting the typhoon
the air above it sucked skyward
into the future vortex
 bicycle tubes turn mushy
as air pressure drops
the sun stinging the back of my neck
and perspiration evaporates with haze
 the days soon become dizzy with wind
the rain, torrential, covering all
but for now
egrets enjoy a free river meal
off the bumpy Han tablecloth

8-19-13

8-19-13


Sunday, August 18, 2013

i'm feeling like riding away

i'm  feeling like riding away
home's a tying me up
i'm bothering you, you're bothering me
when's it gonna stop?
 
i'm dreaming of another trip
you want to stay inside
annoying words from your mouth slip
there's no way i can hide
 
i'm seeing the forest for the trees
you want to settle in
you think our journey's over
i'm raring to begin
 
when you say i'm whining
you cannot hear my plea
i want you wine and dining
you want me across your knee
 
i cook the food,
i clean the house
and this is how you pay me back
for all my kind unselfish loving deeds?
 
well let's not wait,
 i'll find you yet
and when i do i'll put us in a P.L.A.N.E..
you lovely slut
 
and i'm going to take us away, ha-ha...

8-19-13
 
 


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

150 two-sided pages of 1984

where can i put 150 two-sided pages
of 1984
 singularly
that would annoy, alarm,
but not be ignored?
it would have to be among non-alphabetics
to stand out clear
in places that English is hated or revered
to be noticed
though uncomprehendable
even in Chinese, Arabic, or Urdu
one could plainly see
1-9-8-4
who would know what it means
without reading the words?
only thinkers
teachers in America
would tell students
it's about them - not U$
the world knows
it's U$
 
8-13-13


The only poem from Brooklyn

a fall from the bike stings the right leg
a bug bite itches the left
a dark cloud's squeezing a rain drop
out of two translations of La Sagouine
and i can't read the original French

a laugh floats over a fence between us
i hear it
you saw my flowers on your property
took them back and anger steamed
i don't smile as laughter floats

empty basement rooms
feel them one by one
like cracks in the wall of love
nothing leaks better left un-shook
what was that he took?

mopping up, making repairs
the fact i'm fixing shows i care
no one's moving in
and no one there

do i want to feel like it's complete
or incomplete with more to come
it's all fun and it's all sweet
watching it come undone

7-24-13

Saturday, August 10, 2013

what is making that annoying sound?

what is making that annoying sound
when i'm peddling the bike?
ticking off each revolution
ti-tick ti-tick ti-tick
it can't be gotten rid of
at least it's not my body
 it's in my head
ti-tick ti-tick dead
get it out, mechanical prick
like a factory worker's daily schtick
not a flapping of wings
or step by step stroll
ti-tick ti-tick ti-tick
 my woman whose ragging
her monthly wages
turning men into monsters
and fools into sages
 books full of pages
kept turning and learning
at least to conclusions
tick tick tick tick
Han water knows
it's better when it flows
8-11-13


George's hand shook violently

George's hand shook violently
to end the pain
that Lennie would have had
in an American court of law
or tied to a bed post
in a psychiatric institution
George used Slim's gun
that Lennie hadn't stolen
and said the gun
was Lennie's last feel
if life was real
but life's not real
when it's hand to mouth
it's really bad
really bad out

8-10-13

Mark drums the band

Mark drums the band
like i sing the river
his listeners drunk and smoking
my waters young and flowing
Mark cannot hear me sing
the bar is loud and noisy
i can't hear him drumming
the children are riding
our English rollercoaster
the barflies forget
the river remembers

8-10-13 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

tried to enter nature

tried to enter nature
know the forest for the trees
names of trees - what they are
smell the freshy cut hay in the pasture
realizing it's weeds tomahawked by fish gut
 i ride the bike path
the hell it is
 red brick road's not bricks at all
but red cement rectangles
 young motorcyclists
try to enter nature - just try
 need some cash to
 watch the Han flowing
retired in a foreign land
 canteen and kick-stand
try to enter nature
with nature out-of-town
entranced at the entrance
dream snapped shut
every time motor wheels whiz behind me
i face the river
hoping a door will appear
to enter nature
 
8-8-13
 


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

singularly none yet all be done

singularly none yet all be done
not a gang to call my own
home for a husband who is seeded
a place to win when a union's defeated
egg safely put into another basket
when the baggage that ties men down
leaves no choice but to mask it
 
stone upon stone the bridge be done
never a crew but still transgressed
a river to cross, somewhere to go
forded alone when the marsh is slow
see the path of your same old ground
give up hope that you'll be found
 
George had his Lennie to dote upon
and i a wife for all i can give
made it through, what does it do me?
random rocks singularly come
wherever a back hoe pushes them
there a river still runs
 
8-7-13