That Ole Song

Oh, Billie.
Still I can't play her song.
That ole haunting melody that reads
rather than sings no matter
how easily my sheet music opens to it.
I should be able to feel it,
but my ear denies the attention
as my brain makes demands to my hands.
I try to remember, she's a lady.
She runs from too much mental masturbation;
but, on top of that, my fingers are bandaged.
I'll improve my improv, Monklike.
One day you won't know me,
under a hat that hides everything
I'll be in a world built for me.
Oh, Billie.

Gramatica Reincarnated

“To say 'lay down Sally' would imply that someone should grab Sally and lay her down. If he wanted Sally to rest in his arms on her own, the correct line would be 'lie down Sally.”
-Grammargirl.com

She never gets laid, but
she's incredibly right.
His grammar sucks.
Although, at some point
everyone comes around
when Language inserts itself
inside you. Young people
speak that forever tongue.

Why I Smile a While

I measure the passage of time through the life cycle
of my toothpaste tube. Although, you may argue, it's arbitrary;
With a wide, healthy smile, I say, no more arbitrary than the start and end of any day.
You say, one rotation of the Earth is the measurement we will use;
and I say, that's for the farmers. Enough time passes between each tube
that I can judge whether or not I've been living my life.
Toilet paper provides too quick of a cycle, and might only help me judge the health of my diet.
Shampoo provides too long of a cycle, and depends too much on the money I've had to pay for a haircut.
The toothpaste cycle, although not measurable by any device,
is fairly consistent because the same amount of toothpaste is used every day.
Even if there are variations in this cycle, they actually help me pass judgment on my life's activity.
Perhaps, I've been traveling, waking up in strange beds, drinking myself past the point of caring.
If the tube lasts long (and my teeth are still white), my life has been active and plentiful.
If the tube doesn't last, my life has been too much about work.
Too much consistency has always been a scary thing for me.
When the tube becomes a crumbled spiral from
too many steam-rolls on the edge of the counter
I've milked every last possible day from the current cycle.
It's time to smile and start over.

First Laundry Day Since We Met

I wore all my favorite outfits in the first week I met you,
all my colorful socks, all my best fitting pants.
The paint never washed off from the first ploy
to get you in my room and paint nonsense on the floor.
And the washer only made the tears worse
where seams ripped from shirts worn thin.
Thankfully, you don’t mind thrift-shop clothes someone else broke in.


Our first summer could unearth
my collection of shorts.
When the time is right, reveal the variety in my underwear drawer.

Homemade King

I lie in a bed that I made
by pushing two twins together
to form a king. I wait
for her to fill the other half.
Sometimes I sleep
on her side. If not, the sofa
swallows me up. In that place
I can hear his rumbling snores.
From a distance they form
comfortable repetition like waves
in an angry sea smacking against a dock.
My backbone aches when I sleep there,
away from my homemade king,
too many nights in a row.
Too many sleepless nights
away from her. I begin to wonder
if I have one.

Quitter

Most people know that I consistently set up shop and leave prematurely making the memorable moment the day of departure.
Most people think that's it.

That's it.

Stranger Angel

A man on the bus reminded me why
we run from wisdom we can't see.
I couldn't convince him that I believed
neither one of us completely understood
love in its current form. So we reasoned
through the logistics of selling cold air to
people in warm places. Packaging, we agreed
was the crucial element for selling nothing.
I appeared his negative image, with a sun tan,
but I'd be purple, like a people-eater, I thought,
before I understood love. I turned red,

thought he might convince me to
travel the world with him;
but, at the next stop he disappeared

into a crowd in Center City.