Tag: poetry

birdman

there’s a grosbeak in the pines,

and he asks me, “tee tee tew?”

so i answer, “i am fine,”

and inquire, “how are you?”

*

as a birdman, i will say

that he understands my words–

but they might put me away

for talking with the birds.

–photo by me

one life (archives)

seventy-one times around the sun

(a forty billion mile run),

i’d clung to earth both day and night

as thirty thousand times it spun.

*

and now, at four or five dogs old,

my body’s grown by thirty fold–

no matter how you add it up,

it comes to just one life, all told.

Belittled

I left the party and started walking

Down the road toward town.

I’d show her, belittling me like

That in front of our friends!

Overhead, the starry night sky

Was one big beautiful mess.

Myriad stars were haphazardly

Strewn across the celestial dome

As if some great chandelier had

Fallen and shattered, scattering

The broken shards of glass

Throughout the universe.

As I walked along, gazing up

At the heavens, I suddenly

Felt incredibly small–

The world under my feet

Was but a speck of dust

In the vast depths of space.

I was infinitesimal!

At that point, I turned

Around and began walking

Back to the party.

–Photo by Aaron

knowing things

knowing things

is why you don’t

join the conversation;

it’s why you

can’t have faith;

it’s why you

stared out the

window in school,

and why you’ll

never make anything

of yourself

in this world.

knowing things

is a crime you

willingly carried out,

and now you must

do the time.