20 october

wake up and shake up the takedown alligator – all stepladder and no waiting (as if all the teeth could talk with rock and roll side dishes—got the drifters? the coasters? the macramé toasters with apple butter marmalade and cinnamon croissants—all those haunts and unclosed parentheses – those friends we see from time to time yet easily rhyme in jangled climbs up coinciding mountains – the fountains of verbiage spouting without hurting anyone’s sensibility – as pretty as it needs to be and after this the page ain’t free

19 october

given the opportunity, I would —

                 

                PAUSE

                WONDER: WHO GIVES

                                HOW LONG FROM NOW

                                                (IF EVER)

                QUESTION: WAIT?

                                —take

                                (this is the only now)

18 october

given the chance

I spotlight the big picture: out

—let’s not look at me—

unsure what to say

in the dental chair

my mouth wide with cavities

wondering if my teeth will shatter

tender in the too-bright light

crumbling in uncertainty

[kind words, some points, but also, else:

what would make you happy and what would make it better?

(answers not apparent)]

17 october

checking off

like boxes

not ticking off

like significant others

who aren’t

any longer

not picking apart

not tickling fancy

right in the pants

these are the whistle-blowers

we are the parachutes

wild as we wail

whistle as we rhyme

let us sing our manor songs

let the truth unwind

tigers all for tea

16 october

not sure how I’d say it

if there were something I’d be trying to say

so to speak

just a few lines full of ego

better yet to let go

a reflection overfull of modesty

smacks too much of its opposite

if only I spent more time on myself

if I didn’t give it all away

if I didn’t leave it all on the court

such as this court looks

laptop not blacktop

swivel chair not pivot turn

flash drive not fast break

bullet points not two at the buzzer

my smallest toes on my right foot are numb

later I will recognize this as a sign I should have heeded

15 october

The blind pedestrian looks for clues

Measures twice, crosses once

There are no sunsets we don’t mine

Turning over tired pillows for second-chance dreams

Let me call you sweetheart for a quarter

Tomorrow will be too late to remember

Even as the hour swallows itself

Whole answers solve riddles in half the time

Writing their own monologues

Keeping up appearances, keeping up the neighbors

Oh, how they love to talk—

Give those windows something to show!

These are the miracles of 7 pm

The socks lost for good

Searching for salvation under secondhand couches

It was then I bought the projector

Hoping for clarity on a larger scale

Expanding details, revealing shoelaces

Here is where the button ends

Wait until the feeling’s gone

This is what I tell the publisher

I pretend I am the author

I acknowledge I am the therapist

I entertain the audience

I bow to the interior

I am the blind pedestrian