The Poetry Marathon

Sleep

I have not forsaken thee

My brain corralled my body bright

To stay awake the chunk of night

and hover through the live long day

to where we sit at nightly bay

Oh, shriek, Oh sing

I take my leave

to let my heavy body heave

to meet the bed

perchance to dream

a lovely dream

of sleep

1:19 AM here

Quiet has returned to the space outside my window

My leg vibrates

shaking the last of its caffeination into the floor

The desk jiggles

Neither of us so confident

of our support above the garage

Prescription drugs ever-present watch

from their cloistered plastic box

Snacks galore will survive for many days hence

The Apartment Across the Way is vacant now

unlike one year ago

more could be said but

suffice to say that

some of the darkness has passed

Please, landlord, burn some sage in there

for the sake of all of us remaining

Tenderness, she said

Alright tenderness, he said

And don’t forget kindness

Of course

But passion is okay, right?

Sure, as long as it’s tender kind passion

I totally agree

But what would that look like?

Hmm?

Tender kind passion. What would it look like?

It would be slow

respectful

tender

building

kind

lovemaking

So, controlled

No, no. Deeply monitored.

By both parties

Of course

In sync

So tender kind slow respectful aware

Aware?

Yes, both parties building in sync

Deeply aware?

Yes. Spiritual.

Wait, spiritual?

Yes.

Okay, I’m down with that.

We don’t use the word down.

(Sigh) I am so up for that. For reals.

.

We were 16

pattering across the long high bridge

over the Aare River

in Berne

It rained and I dared

to offer Diane from Illinois half of my umbrella

Bumbershoot we called it

don’t know why

we’d heard that somewhere

and it was a romantic notion and

a funny word for two teenagers

estimating the distance

between them

the distance even greater all these years hence

I no longer use the word bumbershoot

ATTENTION POETS:

Pursuant to the use of metaphors

Cease and desist immediately

All poets found to be in violation

will be subject to unicornucopia

We’re serious about this so

you need to just stop it

or the consequences will be swift

as stated above

I was an actor

I was going places

I stepped up into the shoeshine stand

in the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Center

up high where important people sat

In my youthful hubris

I knew this is where I belonged

I vowed I’d never shine my own shoes again

This was almost true

for a certain period of time

but this oath proved to be premature

An alternate island called to me

No need for shoeshine these days

where I live

no shoes required

I wear slippers

My participle is dangling

my modifier misplaced

look under the hood

supercharger disgraced

un-muddy the waters

that flow through the brain

and ring in the new year

with a merry refrain

If coffee can do

what coffee say do

I’ll make it to nineteen

and so will you

It’s not often

not ever

that you see a BMW

with a fishing pole

on the roof rack

but there it was

in line at the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru

It had a modest fishing hook dangling

tied to the tip of the rod by nylon line

a short piece that did not extend

to the reel

The car was not old/not new

the vapor clouding out the driver’s window

messing with my stereotype

Who was he trying to kid?

Not my question to ask

Each person on Maui

each car

each fishing pole

engaged in reinvention

with a pile of used-to-be’s

crowding the rear-view mirror

this included me

I was not immune to the view

The screen is loose on the window I rarely open

Through it comes the busy whoosh of the shoreline

Wave sounds indistinguishable from the next

A helicopter pulls its gentle growl across the northeast sky

flightpath passing close to our neighborhood

Rock doves coo

The other window offers additional sound

Birds I can’t name chirp

Roosters announce dominion one street over

A cheep, an electronic device indicates a delivery for someone

The background wash of a busy street two blocks away

a dog barks

and somewhere in Alaska kolea, the golden plover

remembers Hawaii

and the migratory drive which will

convey it to our state for the winter

a welcome link between First Nations

Coffee

7-Up

Water

An embarrassment of Peanut M&M’s

Deli turkey on croissant sandwich with Caesar salad on the side

Peanut butter pretzels

More water

Water

As if possible, more Peanut M&M’s

Next up, via my gracious wife, rotisserie chicken with a scrumptious side dish or two

See what happens when I’m let loose in the marathon zoo?