24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
The thought of not able to see you
Causes me angst
The thought of not able to hold your hand
Causes me angst
The thought of not waking up to you next to me
Causes me angst
The thought of losing the memories we shared
Causes me angst
The thought of losing myself a bit everytime i am not with you
Causes me angst
The mere thought of losing you
Causes me angst
Teacher Angst, Night Terrors
Each year before school starts, I have horrible teacher
nightmares. These are images from just a few.
Too many students, not enough desks,
Forgot to read instructions for a state test;
Hard to teach when I didn’t plan a lesson,
A cellphone (my own) goes off during testing;
Have to ice-skate to my classroom,
Without previewing, I show an R-rated YouTube;
I’m not wearing a bra and my blouse is see-through,
What’s a middle school teacher to do?
When nobody’s listening,
Teacher’s defeated eyes are glistening;
Students are drinking wine and smoking cigarettes,
Wake up soon from these nightmarish vignettes!
Welcome to a new school year!
To be honest,
I’m not clear on angst:
Breadcrumbs under one’s existential skin?
Psychological unrest of
teenagers
quarter-life-crisis-ers
mid-life guys who grow their hair?
What, exactly, is angst,
beyond asking questions in a petulant tone?
But I am clear on this:
The “tone” of the question doesn’t mean
that the question no longer matters.
If you have
pimples
live in your folks’ basement
have a biker fantasy
are the steadiest of family persons,
Your question matters.
Found poetry: from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick
A damp, drizzly Noveember
there, in streets washed by waves
do you see? Thousands of
mortal men striving
in lathe and plaster.
how little thought driving me
stepping then with a flourish,
the ship now belted by
coral reefs, cooled by breezes
fixed days tied to green fields.
I couldn’t swallow you whole,
despite my mighty incisors.
You are such a fiery thing of music…
Hand a poet a box of happiness and they’ll write in crackers
Shove them a pin head of heartbreak…
And the libraries are on fire,
but that’s okay,
They can rewrite every word.
Three simple words change a life.
And even though I prefer all things even
in number,
in balance,
–inherent beauty lies in the even–
sometimes,
rather, someone, all the time,
when it comes to an odd-word-phrase,
gets a free pass.
–
–
Got a free pass.
Got a free pass.
Got a free pass.
GOSH, now I’m sad.
–
–
a trademark oddphrase, living in my heart and voicemail archives,
recordings can never be deleted.
If I delete, I’ll relive.
The loss, the heartache, the soulbreak, the lifepain;
–the loss of life pain–
remembering further darkens the ravine in my soul.
A loss only experienced once you can no longer enjoy the company of another, of one so lovefull, of one who seems an extension of yourself,
–remembering is not always kind–
With remembering resurfaces pain,
and always, when I remember, something just feels…
odd.
He was there
For almost forty years
Always heard but never seen.
Some might argue it was
The other way around.
He never brought balance
Or even much humor.
Yet we loved him still.
And now here he lies.
Always gone but never forgotten.
She ran behind the star
Clutching the jar and hope
Arching over the sky
It disappeared without a show
Her hands shook as she watched
Her chance walk away
She screamed when she saw
Another coming her way
To gather some stardust
And wish for a mother
She ran and ran and ran
After one or the other
Silly girl didn’t know
Stars are not made for jar
Yet she ran paying no heed
That today was a meteor shower
On the good day of the meteor shower. May we all get to see some of them.
Writing marathon–
halfway home, take break to watch
spider spin a web
So starts the day of drinking beers
And the melting of all of my fears
Where will my bravery take me?
Of which inhibitions will the suds shake me?
At the moment it feels like I’ll be fine
And maybe I’ll have a glass of wine
Or maybe I’ll stick to the brew
Until my drinking is through
Maybe a shot of liquor
But I’ve started with beer so I’ll never be sicker
Responsibilities and inhibitions cast aside
Come along with me on this ride
Follow this exploits of this fool.
I’m cracking beer #3 by the pool