July 2013 K Poems
"It's better to lose some of the battles in the
struggle for your dreams than to be defeated without ever even knowing what
you're fighting for."--Paulo Coelho
“Mikel--We have come a loooonng way since that meeting at
Kinkos were I said "Your work reminds me of Bukowski"!--Thomas Dodd, artistic photographer
"You're one of the least sociopathic people I know,
Mikel..."
--Bill Brown, author and singer-songwriter
“Let's see - submit poetry to a new journal that charges a
reading fee, suggests a purchase of a subscription and to read a few back
issues before submitting, but offers no monetary payment or contributor copies
upon publication... No thanks!”
-- Marie Lecrivain
“It takes as much stress to be a success as it does to be a
failure.”
--Emilio James Trujillo
Fitting In
Sometimes, we are not
as big a part of some things
as we thought we were
but, at least, we were part of them.
No one has shed a tear
War’s not begun
so why let it?
Nobody’s dead.
Nobody’s bleeding.
What I'd like to say to America
I believe in you
despite yourself
despite ourselves
I believe in you.
Pretty voices are waiting for you.
Will you listen, or continue to
let the angry voices engulf you?
2.
When I say I love you
When I say, “Love you…” to my bird, one of my dogs
always comes up and sticks its nose in my hand. I think
that it is beautiful the way the dogs pick up the sentiment
in my voice and how they want to be part of this.
Lemonade
Her neighbor banged on her door
at 4 am telling her how much he loved her.
I told her to unrequit his love by dialing 911.
She said he said that he has been thinking about me.
It’s one thing to think about someone,
another thing to bang on their door
in the middle of the night.
He's a marine, she said.
"Not a good soldier," was my reply.
How little I know
She came to me from the bathroom
tinkling she calls it not taking a piss
her fingers were moist as I kissed her
wet lips. “Is it pee on your fingers?” I asked
and she giggled, “No, I just washed
my hands.” I didn’t know that women
touched their dicks when they peed, “ I said.
“No silly,” she said, “We wipe ourselves
with toilet paper when we are done…”
What did I do to deserve this?
I just took a walk, in a light rain,
with my dogs.
My love is fixing us breakfast.
We have air conditioning when
it is hot; heat when it is cold.
I have new shoes.
I have a good attitude.
I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your
temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is
the spirit.--Khalil Gibran
You can talk to God anywhere
I often pray standing
in the driveway under
the morning moon and stars
not in a church, a temple,
or a mosque.
Nearly biblical proportions
It feels like it is trying to rain
for 40 days and 40 nights,
though it has been, only, about
a week.
Super Glue will not help
By keeping my best pair of sun glasses
in my pocket I broke them. They are like
Humpty Dumpty.
More than enough
It’s actually not enough
the first pinch of dried shrimp
that I gave the turtles; like some love
I think, glad that I have love
that is more than enough.
"Everything in life has its price."--The Alchemist
Do you find yourself ever acting silly in life?
I realize that, at times, in the past I have put
expectations onto people, and when they didn’t deliver on these expectations, I
got mad at them. This seems really stupid, and I hope to never repeat this
mistake, though I realize that I am not perfect. Most times, people would not
even know that I had put expectations on them, which makes the whole thing even
more ludicrous. I don't want to be silly. I want to be sane. I want to be
happy, not mad.
Love, love, love…all the time
It is wonderful to have love.
It is wonderful to give love.
Saving you from worse
Through the sand you may go
and find no shells. It was the
jellyfish who stung you who held
the lesson that you had come to learn.
The circle is full
Boxers fight, turtles
roam the earth
searching for love.
This does not mean
that boxers don’t love
or that turtles don’t fight.
Osmosis
Looking into the light
he saw darkness. Through
the dark he found his path
to the light.
Coming into fall
I am in my fifty sixth summer
and life is not a bummer.
Down the cobbled road
He could have been a dancer
with the answer, but he smoked
one cigar and it gave him cancer.
I am nothing without coffee
I drink coffee
like some people snort coke.
I drink coffee
like some people shoot heroin.
I drink coffee
like some people gamble.
I drink coffee
like some people go to AA meetings.
I drink coffee
like some people horde money.
When I am out of coffee
you can find me trembling
in the corner; stevia and half
and half, alone, just don't cut it.
Inconsequential
I am a blurb on the face of it all
minor in consequence yet mostly
I am all I feel. I can not be an orange.
I cannot be an apple. I can only be me.
I’m going to Sapelo
I’m going to take the ferry
to Sapelo. What I’m going
to see there I don’t know.
Ain’t no water. Ain’t no electricity
at our campsite on Sapelo.
I can’t plug in my C Pap machine.
We won’t have hot coffee in the morning.
We might be missing out on certain things,
but I’m looking forward to going to Sapelo.
Reflection at this particular moment in time
Sometimes, I do things that are good for me.
Sometimes, I do things that have absolutely
no effect on me.
Sometimes, in the past, I did things bad for me.
It’s raining inside
Flowers will blossom
once again, one day.
I’m tired of seeing rain
in my window.
Try to write a happy poem
when you are down.
Why am I the way I am?
When the pills kick in
I’ll smile again. When
I’ve swallowed my dose
things will not look so bleak.
I'm working in a naked bar
looking only at people in clothes.
Go figure
Where you are is where you are
and where you are not is where
you are not.
Mood Swing
I’m an asshole, a turd, a useless piece of nothing.
I am good. I am love. I am peace. I matter.
I blacked out and don't know who won the game
I'm in decline in the recliner.
I'll have another beer to feel better.
Who's going to fall?
You can't know it all
because I know it all.
Leaving insanity behind
Because I have burned bridges
I am careful about what bridges I cross.
In the sandwich
Sandwiched between then and look forward
is now where you are supposed to be putting
the mayonnaise on your sandwich.
And the days are all the same
On good days, I have what I need.
On bad days I have nothing that I want.
Opportunity knocked me down
I saw an open door.
I went out of my mind.
Decision
I’m going to walk the dogs.
I don’t think I’ll walk the dogs.
I’ll do the dishes.
I don’t think I’ll do the dishes.
I’m going to take a shower.
I don’t think I’ll take a shower.
I want something to eat.
I don’t want to eat anything.
I’m going to take a nap.
I’m not going to take a nap.
White trash cat
I have a trashcan that is not a trashcan;
it is a receptacle for the newspaper that
I use to line my bird’s cage. Today, I found
one of my cats in the trash can that is not
a trash can. I'm not sure what to make of this.
