KINDRED SPIRIT
Soft walk, low tones
Fading, gray-blond quiet
Sun-soaked truthstillness
The orbit shifts in time
half notes falling into
emptying wine glasses.
Later we drink green tea frappucinos
or passion tea.
Questions unasked.
MAN AND CHILD
Boys across the table
I like the simplicity of boys.
Old boys, young boys.
Eating chicken and cornbread.
Sam has a point.
Boys don’t do drama
(ordinarily).
I like the quiet of boys,
Who are quiet
Even when screaming
From the sidelines
As the ball rockets
Past the goalie.
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PAPERS ON THE BACK PORCH
Papers in trash baskets
Papers in boxes
Papers on boxes
Papers in buckets
Papers on tables
Papers under tables
Papers behind chairs
Papers behind bricks
Papers in laps.
Papers on books.
Papers under books.
Papers inside books.
Papers disguised as phonebooks,
When I came
One-by-one, I moved papers.
Recycle overflowed.
But the papers reclaimed
My new hole for a chair.
I say to my elderly parents,
Who are watching me as
I study the porch.
“Papers are everywhere.”
Mom says,
“Aren’t they supposed to be?”
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ZOO2
Tapirs, meerkats, emus, bears, giraffes,
no-zebras, gone-elephants, bored-gorillas
walk sprawl inside rugged display cages
boulders, pools, streams, ledges,
shrubbery disguises nappers, lurkers
Hiding, sleeping, ambling, staring,
Playing, climbing, diving, oblivious.
Where is the fish?
Where are the leaves?
They ask a few times each day.
ZOO 1
Toddler taps, bored-gorilla taps back.
Man, the Gorilla’s Videogame.
Stone barriers form the edges of his screen.
He must be frustrated at his lack of a joystick.
ZOMBIE PHRASE FOR THE DAY:
dUHHH BAHHBUMMM IHH GU-IWAH IHZZZ AHHHH AAHAHHAA EHHDD HAAWRWN MAAHHH DEEE.
The problem with gorillas is I always get hair in my teeth.
