Responding to Tragedy

There was no need for violence
but no one allowed that to matter.
We all buttoned our coats tighter
and redefined our boundaries.
My boundaries were presented
as obvious, with the caveat
that what is obvious is hard to pin down.
When they presented the security
measures I half-smiled.
I was joking but serious too.
I think they recognized the ironic
nature of my intent. I got some laughs.
Also, some people gently slapped
my back as they said Hello.
Well, hello, I said, in return.
It was the best I could muster.
They had these jewels
that I approached in a thieving
manner. The Lord of the estate?
Away. The chance of change?
Light speed.

Innovation Suggestions

I said to no one, who was
really listening to me,
Hey, I need you to create
a sort of apron,
a certain device for shielding
everyday clothing from
food splatters.
No one was impressed
or awed.
No one was anything.
It's the sort of invention
that gets overlooked
by, like, everyone.
Still, take something like
a washcloth. Without that,
we're all trying to wash
and dry things without
a squarish shaped strip of fabric.
Imagine!
Now, put yourself
in my shoes, with the
elephant in the room.
Look, we are all
very violent hunters!

Personal Responsibility

A person makes a commitment, or not,
and fulfills it, or not.

A person owns and operates a firearm,
or they do not.

It's hard to tell in most cases.
Some people make assurances.

Some people make reassurances.
Some promise to do something
but then don't follow through.

It's frustrating. A person doesn't have
to be a politician to discuss issues
relevant to the public discourse, but
it makes that discussion more
relevant.

Things get even more lively
when a philosopher embarks
on explaining bus schedules.

O humanity, the endlessness!

Still, there is you and your loved one
huddled beneath a single wooden
and brick structure, or separated
by miles of separation.

You must deal with this.
Only you can address it.

Trust me, there is no hidden camera.
No one will laugh or comment on
anything that happens, but
you.

So, you have to know!
Stop interviewing the neighborhood
and stare down into
your wavy bathroom mirror.

Lit a Sure

The whole downtown was strewn
with the weeds of the flesh,
the stringy foliage of death,
as we emerged, dedicated to a new desire
for life. O, how we wailed for it!
For my part, as a member of the organization,
I committed myself to a roar on par
with famous, animal roars.
A whole history of Africa ruptured
from my throat. Lions, tigers, trumpets.
To the south, green fields and leaves
that stuff puffy comforters.
There, in that golden slouch, the light
moves back and forth across the book
of landscape. Professors and artists
gather to discuss the particular color
of flame. Again the city assembles! Soon
enough a university is sitting in
the driveway. Soon young children
are reciting gruesome prayers. A whole
history enacts a sort of future history.
There, in the blue dawn,
women and men sorting something
that may need sorting.
There, a tender glance or a gesture
that is. What is is hard to pin something to.
For instance, her name, a collar to
be draped about the nape of the neck.
Her name was really just a thunderstorm.
A casserole to be baked. Man,
we're talking, like, Shakespeare!
Shit you wouldn't read if you had to!  

Black Sabbath

It was suppose
to be yesterday,
but it was today.

Doomed, I wrote
to the perky blonde.

There is no better
way to address me, she said.

So, again, I put the words down,
Not exactly doom, but
something like doom.

There are better
things to say than that.

Still,
I wrote,
Geezer Butler.

The Coming Clean

There they were, my children.

There, my son.

There, my daughter

There were also the neighbors
and the trees growing in their yards.

The lawnmowers humming
in slight distances.

There, the lawmakers
and city council people.

There, a cop car.

There, terror looming in a village.

There, my love, my wife,
standing above wings.

Everywhere, a dirty mirror.

Cracked slabs of dinner.

My children, those ape years,
are folding into napkins.

We remove the napkin
and place it under the brain.

The brain is damp
on the table.

Elsewhere, children
of servers,
of shopkeepers.

Everywhere, others.

My headed is scooped
out and the potato grows.

Where? Everywhere.
My kids? Wee maps.

Shading Requirements

I was in love with a specific
sort of shadow that appeared
and disappeared regardless
of the motion of the sun.
This shadow, an accessory,
a handbag, an earring, etc,
became a trademark that
distinguished me when
I found myself all debt-deep
and pissed off.
I mean, why wouldn't
a person be pissed?
All that time in the fashion
factory only to find
that your seven fingers
are making a gang sign
recognized by no gangs
or other groups which
require signs made by digits.
In that way, total crap.
The other route, sunshine.