Electronic Tomes of Eccentric Poems

More Cake

2007-04-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

More Cake

When life
gets you down, just
think; there are only so
many cookies but there's always
more cake

poem written 4/18/07

Ode to Casey

2007-04-18T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ode to Casey

It seems
unfair to me
in spite of your skills we
only recall that one measly
strike out

poem written 4/18/07

Ode to James Brown

2007-03-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

Ode to James Brown

They say
'The Godfather'
and know that they mean you
pouring soul in your songs so we
feel good

poem written 3/5/07

A Different Perspective, I

2007-03-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

A Different Perspective, I

Ten men
stand together
in staunch opposition
to the oncoming forces of
the strike

poem written 3/5/07

Grounds

2007-03-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

Grounds

The facts
on which you base
your defense for this charge,
in fact your entire case, is grounds
for coffee

poem written 3/5/07

Poker

2007-01-24T02:04:00.000-08:00

Poker

This game
feels like hours
of waiting with fleeting
moments of absolute and sheer
terror

poem written 1/24/07

Blind Eyes

2006-11-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Blind Eyes

Neighbors
who look through blinds
like prarie dogs peeking
through linoleum and keeping
close watch

poem written 11/2/06

Broken Glass

2006-11-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

Broken Glass

Our house
is made of glass
and we were happy there
but our parents had to go and
throw stones

poem written 10/23/06

The Monster in the Woods

2006-11-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

The Monster in the Woods

They say there is a monster in these woods.
It lumbers as it fells the trees in swaths.
It leaves behind two oily leaden paths
that stand where leaves of underbrush once would.
I’ve heard that some, in stupor, stopped and stood
to watch it gorge and spread its tyrant’s wrath
and, trudging on, release its vapor bath
dispensing fumes beneath its angry hood.
The people once tried to do all they could
In an attempt to slow the Jagganath,
but men in suits as oily as the paths
denied them, claiming for the greater good.
And, Loki led, the monster blind as noble Hoth
Kept killing brother Baldr, armed with scythe and snath.

poem written 11/14/06

The Jaguar

2006-11-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

The Jaguar

He sits
on the subway
like a vicious jaguar
you know he's just waiting to steal
my purse

poem written 11/13/06

Commercial Break

2006-11-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

Commercial Break

The climb
to crescendo
builds until we can't stand
any longer but first a quick
message

poem written 11/13/06

Meditation on a Passing Shower

2006-11-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Meditation on a Passing Shower

The panes
of the windows
patter like typewriters
writing stories in the trickling
water

poem written 11/10/06

Progress, I-II

2006-11-13T15:49:00.000-08:00

Progress, I

They cut
the last one down
because we could not see
from all we've learned the forest for
the trees

Progress, II

A plane
flies overhead
leaving puffy white lines
that criss-cross the skies and turn them
dark gray

poems written 11/9/06

Ode to Bob Ross

2006-11-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Ode to Bob Ross

You paint
a perfect scene
the strokes that let us see
your trees are happy and then so
are we

poem written 11/2/06

Meditation on the Earthworm

2006-11-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

Meditation on the Earthworm

We die
and you dig in
so then we understand
none get to Heaven before your
say so

poem written 11/2/06

Cartoon Physics, IV-VI

2006-11-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Physics IV

You stare
at me confused
but I am so hungry
your head has started to look like
dinner

Cartoon Physics V

Somehow
the dynamite
that should have destroyed me
did not and merely turned me black
and smoky

Cartoon Physics VI

Though he
has looked both ways
and no car is in sight
the moment he touches asphalt
road kill

poems written 11/2/06

Burglary

2006-11-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Burglary

You feel
as though you have
been cheated by someone
but I say that you were asking
for it

poem written 11/1/06

A Poem I Don't Understand

2006-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

A Poem I Don't Understand

This poem
is supposedly
metaphorical deep
and dictactic but I just don't
get it

poem written 11/1/06

The House That Dripped Blood

2006-11-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

The House That Dripped Blood

Thier house
is dripping blood
from every crack and pore
but no matter how long it bleeds
they stay

poem written 11/1/06

Soldiers

2006-11-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

Soldiers

The men
march maim and kill
without regard for us
only knowing thier orders to
walk on

poem written 11/1/06

Companionship

2006-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Companionship

In life
it's often said
no one gets out alive
but maybe if we work as one
we can

poem written 10/30/06

Contemplations on America, I-II

2006-11-06T03:04:00.000-08:00

Contemplation on America, I

A house
in New Orleans
once called the Rising Sun
flooded and became our source of
ruin

Contemplation on America, II

They fell
and we were scared
and now as Patriots
through your Act we are neither safe
nor free

poem I written 10/30/06, poem II written 11/2/06

Growing Old Together, I-II

2006-11-06T02:57:00.000-08:00

Growing Old Together, I

The hair
he used to have
receded years ago
though the locks are long gone the love
remains

Growing Old Together, II

Beauty
like she once had
may have faded from her
but pales in comparison to
our love

poems written 10/30/06

Writing

2006-11-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Writing

They say
write what you know
and since I knew nothing
I poured out my soul onto the
blank page

poem written 10/30/06

Two Pens

2006-11-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

Two Pens

This pen
punctures my skin
injecting life in me
and this one in turn gives that life
meaning

poem written 10/30/06

Criticism on a Grecian Urn

2006-11-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

Criticism on a Grecian Urn

What truth
what beauty could
this simple painted pot
hold within its cold earthen walls
for me

poem written 10/30/06

Grandpa's Chair

2006-11-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

Grandpa's Chair

There is
a chair outside
where Grandpa liked to watch
his grandchildren play in the yard
and rest

peom written 10/30/06

10:54 am

2006-11-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

10:54 am

All eyes
are on the wall
pencils on desks grow loud
counting ever slower these last
seconds

peom written 10/30/06

The Newlyweds

2006-11-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

The Newlyweds

The words
sit on the page
like newlywed couples
ever waiting for new children
to raise

peom written 10/30/06

Coffee Cake

2006-11-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

Coffee Cake

My great-grandmother would try to make the coffee cake
taste the way my great-grandfather's father used to
but she could never get it right.

He would go into the city to work in the steel mill every Monday
and every Friday he would return home with a little piece of heaven
wrapped in an old tattered napkin.

Every week, every week for what seemed like forever
he would finally come home at the end of the week
for a few days with his wife and son.

Every week, every week for a half century and change
she would once again attempt to get the coffee cake right
so her husband could taste his childhood again.

My great-grandfather's father died when he was twelve,
leaving him alone to take care of his mother
and a single last piece of coffee cake on the kitchen table.

My great-grandmother died some time later
but left him alone just the same,
with her last batch of coffee cake put away in a cupboard.

The services were short and sweet, and at the reception that followed
friends and family came to comfort my great-grandfather
but he knew they couldn't do anything for him now.

A few days, a few days that felt like an eternity past by
and one morning for breakfast he took down the pan of coffee cake
that was never quite right.

He took one bite and he saw his father walk in the front door
bending down in his uniform, covered in soot, to give his son a hug
and a tear appeared in his eye.

Ah, this is how coffee cake is supposed to taste.

poem written 11/1/06

9:00 pm Friday

2006-10-31T21:19:00.000-08:00

9:00 pm Friday

We drink
on the weekends
and go out with our friends
to parties full of people that we'll
never know

poem written 10/23/06

Waiting on the Corner of Main and Maple

2006-10-31T21:15:00.000-08:00

Waiting on the Corner of Main and Maple

The bus
will come by soon
pick me up at the sign
pick me up and take me away
from here

poem written 10/23/06

All Nighter

2006-10-31T21:07:00.000-08:00

All Nighter

Some nights
I stay awake
for no reason at all
other than the fact that I'm just
not tired

poem written 10/18/06

Life of a Road Runner, Coyote

2006-10-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

Life of a Coyote

He hides
behind that rock
for the trap to be tripped
constantly waiting with his fork
and knife

Life of a Road Runner

He sees
the bird seed lure
and the box propped above
but before the trap can cage him
he's gone

poems written 10/18/06

Cartoon Physics, I-III

2006-10-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Physics I

I am
about to fall
but before I look down
I can just as easily float
above

Cartoon Physics II

I know
the hole is false
painted there on the rock
maybe if I believe I can
go through

Cartoon Physics III

He shot
these holes in me
and now I cannot drink
without the water pouring out
through them

poems I-II written 10/18/06, III written 10/23/06

Fibonacci's Sequence; a poem

2006-10-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

Fibonacci's Sequence

one
twice
then two
and then three
with five coming next
followed close thereafter by eight
and then thirteen and so on and so forth forever

poem written 10/23/06

Simplicity and Comfort

2006-10-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Simplicity

Perhaps
the world is just
what we see it to be
a little blue planet spinning
in space

Comfort

Perhaps
the world is what
we thought it to be
the creation of beings far off
watching

poems written 10/12/06

COMS 103; a poem

2006-10-30T12:46:00.000-08:00

COMS 103, Public Speaking

If you could see me slumping here
then you could plainly see
that I am not a big fan of
the class COMS 103.
It’s Public Speaking, it’s 12-2
it’s up in Lasher Hall.
Inform, convince, deliver, and persuade;
I just can’t take it all.
I guess the Prof is nice enough,
my classmates all seem cool.
The subject matter’s just so rough; so
I fall asleep and drool.
I dream of ponies, candy, toys,
of unicorns and rainbows.
I dream of that guy from the infomercials
who tries to sell me Tae-Bo.
I’m off in my own little world,
but that fantasy’s soon gone,
for the Prof drones on and on and on
and on and on and on.
The next assignment has been posted,
it’s worth 55.
Less than 2 weeks to be completed?
I’d better act alive!
12 days I’ve toiled, 12 nights I’ve worked,
I can’t take anymore.
The end is near, I’m almost done;
this is all such a bore.
It’s done! It’s in! I can do no more!
I am so relieved.
I volunteer to go first;
this will be easier than first believed
I deliver well, I garner applause.
I sit back down with out a peep.
I find that a wry smile crawls across my face,
for now I can go back to sleep...

poem written 10/8/04