Best Permitted Poems
I.
They are too much supper
And never enough. The stomach
Drops as does a basket of apples too heavy for the
Hands that carry it. Yet, each green orb is
So delightful, that to pluck even one from
Its woven nest seems wasteful.
I do not intend to feed the birds.
II.
Intensity of Romantic Hope never comes
To dinner without her companion, Fear of Rejection.
Their arms link in reluctant solidarity, and
Are perhaps the archetype for co-dependency.
Together they feed Anxiety, which is
Cyanide for hope, but Trust is
In the orchard climbing
Apple trees and filling baskets,
Her pockets, and
Calls down to her companions to
Bring the wheelbarrow too.
Spooling southward on shattered wing-
I ache to fold from life’s cruel sting!
(I’d rather die, than say goodbye)
Because I can’t repent this suffering
(A reinvention of 'No Assembly Required')
The traffic cop told me you’re in for a fine
You should not dishonour the speed limit sign
Which made little sense
My driving license
Said, (in black and white) tear along dotted line
"write, right?"
it was wrote
it is written:
it will be alright
as i
look
down
down
at my feet
but have to think
as if i'm Wittgenstein
those really are my feet, right?
but
even
if they
are or aren't
i can at least say not
just to please Hericlitis
i'm not stepping
in the same stream
as i had the day
before and
looking
down
downstream
i don't see any
of the same
streams i might be
standing in
any time
soon
thank god
there're so many things
i never want to repeat
but let the water flow over me
cleanse me and wash
my soul while with
one earbud in i'm
listening to Pete
Townshend
strumming
& singing
"Drowned"
but
when i
look up i
see you
and you are
to die for
both figuratively
and literally
so
if this be the end
then so it shall be
but it will be
the beginning
of that end
and
if my right
hand ever
offends
thee
cut the damned thing off
rathering to
lose part
of me
than to ever
completely
lose you
...
it was 5:29 a.m.
then 5:30 but
TIME
being relative
in relations to me
IT is
a long forgotten
3rd cousin on my 1st
step sister's side
because it's
the here
& now
NOW
the present
not a gift given gift
for in German
i'd then be
receiving
poison
and how many times have i told you
i don't like poison with my breakfast tea
so please
in the meantime
(which is neither
here nor there)
you
can pluck
out my eyes and
cut off my hands but
be careful because
i need at least
one ear
i'll try to do my best
impressionist impersonation
of van Gogh and
cut off
an earlobe
instead
but with that
being said
the ear that's left
NO
the right
one
i'll be listening to what i'm
sure would've been
quite frankly
a great Frank Zappa version
of the music of
the spheres
on an
earbud
the ones
you bought me
in Bogotá
while
i'm now
watching your
cows eat
my
garden
correct
me if
i'm wrong
A love lives inside
a tiny thought
that’s born inside
my heart each day
She’s more than a
memory, and a valued
part of the joy that
in my world stays
And the thought of
her is like the sun
which at the break
of dawn does rise
For just as the sun
shines its first
golden rays, in that
same way does shine
her eyes
And the thought is
a valued treasure
full of true love’s
eternal bliss
The thought will daily
cause deep hunger and a
desperate need to taste
of my love’s kiss
As she lives within
my many thoughts of
her which come alive
each new day…
She is the love,
the only love that
inside my heart is
permitted to stay.
He stood upon my porch
Poised and ready to knock
Yet, I had to open the door
Before his hand hit the surface
I immediately greeted him,
Asking him to enter, take refuge
From the seasons brutality
“Kind sir?” he started with a whisper
“Why have you allowed me loneliness in the cold?”
I have seen his face many times
But never before now, have I allowed him entrance
I replied, “It was fear, fear for that I did not do, ever before”
“It is with fear now, that I permit thee warmth,
Fear that if I didn’t, all my chances would be gone”
He smiled, placing a hand, gently on mine and saying,
“Fear not, for your heart has always held compassion,
It is with choice that you now share it. May the love
Of the season now keep you warm and know
The new year will be an even better one for you”
With that, he bid farewell and left.
Upon returning to my window later
I could see his footprints leading from my door
To the neighbors and to the many beyond.
Christmas had come in the form if this stranger
Who we actually always knew our whole lives.