DRAGGING IT OUT
The organ donor dies
over a very long time
and in a great many places
Not immortality exactly
but at least a lingering mortality
And for those of us
who find it so hard to let go
some comfort to know
that kidney that went to a child
might keep us going for another fifty
AMELIA IN FLIGHT
Amelia in this life
you have had wings on your feet
Wings that have taken you skyward in dance
Wings that have taken you away from these
prairies
and wings that have brought you back
In this life Amelia
you have taught so many of us to fly
If you go on to other wings
we must go on to other teachers
and to other students
Each with the gift you have given us
Each with a sacred feather
MAY 1ST MAYDAY
On my 4th birthday
I am pushed off the front page
by the announcement that Hitler is dead
A mere sixty six years later
they do it again for Bin Laden
Enough already
with all of this mass murdering
and pissing on my candles
BORN TO BE A STAR
Elizabeth Taylor
had eyelashes
that grew in double rows
(a genetic mutation called distichiasis
you could look it up)
Rather rare , and generally harmless
except when serving as they did
to frame wet violet eyes
And everywhere men falling
northward like the Nile
ROYAL WEDDING
War and famine fade
it just takes one great dress
Kate and William wed
DEPARTMENT STORE BLUES
I run the long gauntlet of perfume counter aisles
Reaching men’s wear I dare
my first breath
since leaving the street
Take my time picking up
and fondly fondling
warm winter socks
Should I buy two pair or three
two browns and a black
or two blacks and a brown
In no hurry to begin the return journey
so recently reminded of why
I had been driven here
in the first place
The odor of the old pair
BEER PARLOR 2 THE DARK SIDE
Inside all is sound and fury
old friends catching up
a tough week sliding away
drop by drop
Outside, son or daughter
watches the door
every time it opens it’s him
but it isn’t
With every neighbor going in
sending a mounting plea
“What about me”
BOOT CAMP
They cut the new soldiers hair
No-one wants a bunch of
Samsons in boot camp
Later it may grow back
It will not be theirs
MEXICAN DRUG WARS
There are a lot of bones
in the great wall of China
Some folks think
it’s a good idea to build
one in Texas
In all the border towns
they are stockpiling materials
TABBY LA ROSA
Horses are cats
they just want to be
petted and loved
Although
when you neglect to do so
they are much more likely
to send you flying
than piss on your best Persian rug
That sort of thing is reserved for cats
and cats are not horses
and deeply resent
being ridden
as every toddling two year old
in history (unable to read history)
will have to have etched
on the blank slates of their skin