April 30, 2014

April once forgot to shower

Its stench corrupted

All May's flowers 

Dry-rotted bulbs dead in the ground

Wilted weeds, no songbird sounds.

So now, though it be illy timed,

April showers, hence the rhyme.  

April 29, 2014

The end of April forgets its spring. 

It presses, hard, against my back. 

Hand the size of a car door

Cold fingers in my hair

Around my ears wiggling 

Through the fibers of my coat

Cold front trying to bowl me over 

April 28, 2014

Wet pavement 

Flower petals strewn rotting

Trash littering sidewalks

Refuse on display

Waiting to be carted away

But not before we breathe deeply

April 27, 2014

Some cut flowers for their beauty

The vibrant purples, pinks, and reds

The fresh aroma of spring returning 

The gnarly winter at long last dead

Stems submerged in crystal vases

Or routes in moistened floral foam

Lending life where life is fleeting

Intruding nature upon the home

Bouquets stand silent save for their scent

Nectar, pollen, irrelevant

From fairest creatures we desire increase

Some cut flowers for their beauty

But flowers are cut to wilt and rot

April 26, 2014

Standing room only

Sunny days and no one wants to drive

Clogging SEPTA with selfish adoration 

Of brilliant Spring and casual necessity 

Of travel

April 25, 2014

Making up stories about 

strangers on the street 

The man passing me with 

a cup of coffee from Wawa has lost 

his wife and will not make coffee on his 

own. 

April 24, 2014

Kittens

Keeping me awake

Cats always steal the best spots 

And you can't lie down for fear

Of smooshing them or scratches 

April 23, 2014

Trash tornadoes

Egg carton tumbleweed

City sidewalks bluster flower petals

April 22, 2014

Here comes Peter Cottontail

With baskets of sweets

Cheats 

Treats

To ruin any decent diet

And sweeten sin for those of us

Who deny self denial

April 21, 2014

Box fan whirr

Lightbulb whine

Dryer squeal

Defrosting fridge

House gossip

Says, 

"You should be in bed."

April 20, 2014

Highest the in hosanna

Glory your of full are earth and heaven

Almighty god lord

Lord oh you to glory

April 19, 2014

Once again

Failing to write on time

Another small stumbling block

Between me and commitment

April 18, 2014

Racing the clock

Trying to write a poem

Before midnight so

I'm actually on time 

Instead if playing napowrimo catch-up

April 17, 2014

Cat sneeze--one, two

A cold, it seems, not allergies

Curled up on my shoes

and up against my pillow

Children aren't this cute when they're sick

April 16, 2014

Locked myself out

Cats laughing or pitying at the window

Thank God for neighbors, step ladders, &

Stray pieces of PVC to jimmy locks.  

April 15, 2014

Weather vacillates between summer and

dampened freezer

Cramped buses 

Stench of undeodorized bodies

Cigarette clinging to clothes

Welcome perfume

Allergies--sneezing and running noses 

Are almost missed

When riding SEPTA

April 14, 2014

Jetstream X

Gray clouds and the dawning sun

The precious cruel radiance 

And abdominal cramps

April 13, 2014

Palm leaves, hosannas 

Malinois in the dog park

Japanese restaurant opens at 5pm

But mass wasn't that long

Family and tacos, brunch at almost 1pm

Cupcakes and a hot walk home

Roxborough and its cement foothills

Up and up from the muddy Schuylkill

Summer, back up, give a little longer

To Spring. She barely had a chance

With the polar vortex. 

April 12, 2014

Sunburnt shoulder

Cats chasing bumblebees

Through door screens. 

Summer rides in at a gallop

Dust clouds on the horizon 

As Spring makes ready

His frigid bride, the Wintered Earth,

To welcome his heated caress 

In humid nights under 

Ceiling fans and starlit windows

Until passion is spent in sweat

On cotton sheets

April 11, 2014

A brace of kinsmen lost

And neither mourned

More tears shed for

Slayer than slain

As though kin &

Friend mean little

When held, as a mirror,

Up to wedded bliss. 

April 10, 2014

Absolutely writer's block

The thing about poetry

You don't need to say anything

April 9, 2014

Sun heat

Winds breathe cold

Along the streets

In flights of plastic

Shopping bags

The issueless tumbleweeds

Of a city's center

April 8, 2014

Cream sickle poodles

Chocolate-covered Labradors 

Bad candy ideas

April 7, 2014

Eve of a potential SEPTA strike

Cat whiskers in my face 

Itchy needles

I'd love to go to bed tonight

And not wake up earlier tomorrow

But I won't sleep the whole night

Between cats, slinking from beneath

The bed to hassle and the irritated

Worry that I'll be walking 20 minutes

In rain to start my hour-long commute

And then home uphill 9 hours later

In the rain

April 6, 2014

The flow of pink to green

The dead man stumbles 

From the grave, feet bound, face covered 

Death's captive freed

Stars burst in your eyes 

I crave your voice, your breath 

Against my ear, my lips

The promise of tomorrow today

Renew me once more from within

Like pink sunrises flow to green fields

I wake within as does the day

And sleep in your embrace

As does the night. The whole of space 

Warm and cradled in your arms, a babe

And I, your lover, safe at your side 

Though infantile in my understanding 

Bound--hand, foot, and face 

You kiss my soul awake

With tender, ardent lips

And call my name to ecstasy

April 5, 2014

I once gazed down a wishing well

A pit as deep and black as hell

It swallowed sky & sun & light

Turning bright day to blackest night

Day after day I asked for boons

Wept tears of anger at high noons

When every plea I whispered down

With echoes & mockery resounds

The devil laughs at all my pleas

Gluts them down with greedy ease

Swallows light & sky & sun

Returns my wishes, all undone

Neglectful well, with cruel might

In brightest day you're dark as night

If I return at witching hour 

From your depths will light shower?

Light of heaven illumines all

The glow of wishes before the fall 

But prayers of angels in the pit

Are never heard, so to hell with it. 

April 4, 2014

See thy deed
He sees
Lies deaf
Seat a church
Lye
Jesus
Stay
Season
Beast season

Sea they deed hey seas lie deaf seat a church lye Jesus stay season beast season

sea .. (th)ey dee(d) (h)ey sea(s) (l)ie (d)eaf sea(t) a ch(urch) (l)ye Je(sus) (st)ay sea(son) bea(st) sea(son)

pound sea .. pound they - th, deed - d, hey - h, sea - s, lie - l, deaf - d, seat - t, a church - urch, lye - l, Jesus - sus, stay - st, season - son, beast - st, season - son

pound see .. pound ey dee ey ee ay bee ehf see eych ay gee ey see bee see

pound c .. pound a d a e i b f e c h i g i c b c

#c .. #a d a e i

b f e c e h i

g i c b c

three point one four one five nine

two six five three five eight nine 

seven nine three two three

⠼⠉⠲⠁⠼⠙⠁⠑⠊⠃⠋⠑⠉⠑⠓⠊⠛⠊⠉⠃⠉

3.1415926535979323...

April 3, 2014

writing backwards

around cat tails

curious satisfaction

lying like poetry

the Kosmos

moving through us

frame of reference

cat tail

cat paw

warning or

dullery

Acedia

STRIKE!

only plays

sleep

dream

wake & wander

coil & stings

stings slings

outrageous slings

springs & coils

Raindrops

window unit

ceiling fan hum

whine

flow

breaths

purrs

waves

lapping

Rocks

concrete

banks of

bayous

or—

wash of

traffic sound

on ramps

off ramps

cat face

teacup

cream

we are not driving

not moving

ebb & flow & ebb

mattresses

matrimony

happily ever after

a cat lying on paper

cat

lounging on

paper mattress

mattress of paper

The cat sprawls

like words on a

mattress of paper

Who

cares

nothing for

litter pebbles

lounges on stone

or—

on sand

Ebb &

writing

backwards

between

two boxes of

litter &

a lamp

or—

beneath

the lamp

litter granules

beneath

paper

reminding

of pebbles

in shoes

or—

princesses &

peas &

piles upon

piles

What this poem looked like while it was being composed; I have 4 cats milling around my house...
Yes, one did lie on my paper at one point.

April 2, 2014

Drew quickly near. The fates willed that his soul
Should be disbodied, and contrived the means
Tobin or Frank
Right on Elm Right Again
S. Post Oak
Mile S. from S. Main--
8:00
8:19 Jaquet
666-2323
Fairnaer Bissonet Exit
Margaret Anne King
Interiors
ask for Russell
Russell King
Rick 10801 Hammerly
108
Beaneew Brittinare
Grall Gen.Cart
Rick:
Wedns. or Thurs
Between 9:00 & Noon
Spk. w/ Missy
Ask to Speak w/
Bill w/ woodcra
R/C
Deck Co.
Office Wherehouse
To drive it out, against which destiny
Availed him not at all, but on a day

April 1, 2014

Caffe

Café

Кофе

Kohi

Coffee

Cha

Чай

Thé

Té

Tea

Sucre

Azúcar

Zucker

Сахар

Sugar

Молоко

Leche

Lait

Latte

Milk

March 31, 2014

Tomorrow I'm supposed to start writing poetry. This is the only decent, artsy picture I've ever taken of anything, so I thought it might help me along to have some other kind of art on hand to remind myself that I'm not horrible at everything artistic. 

For the record, this is not a poem, at least not in my opinion, but you should expect bizarre poems from me over the course of this month. I'm drawn to "experimental" poetry and struggle to see the artistic value in any of my own work that seems to try too hard to be poetry... So, this very well could count as a poem in not being a poem, depending on whom you ask. Fun times lie ahead. 

Thanks for reading!