Monday, October 31, 2011

Old friends

Old friends will sadly remain so

they will only remember
the times that they already know

they will meet for coffee and laugh
but the humor will always be of the past

they will share a dinner a week
commenting on the one before
before retelling the same sad stories

they will laugh and cry as hard each time
for the Truth will never change

Old friends will sadly remain so
they will never
once again
be friends.

What shall we do, my love?

What shall we do, my love?
In this now late afternoon

Shall we take a walk around the block
or stay inside this small tight room

Shall we go see a show
and catch the matinee
or start off the hour happy
and drink the night away

Shall we stay in...

never leave each others eyes
and make love until the evening
when we find ourselves past
time for dinner and end up
making a modest meal at home
flirting half-naked in the kitchen
laughing at newly made jokes,
critiquing our bodies kindly

Shall we have our friends come over
the ones we already don't see
too often or often enough
Shall we play games and drink box wine
and forget about work in the morning

Shall we make it a night we will
remember ourselves by
a night our friends will mark up as
that's them, as usual

Shall we attempt to do the opposite,
and run away from nothing
just board the train until it stops
just board the plane that we first see
on the checker board departures.


If we do, do we do it because it is fun?
Or because we are otherwise done?


But yay, they say
we fit like a hand to a glove


O whatever shall we do, my love?

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I sure was lonely (short)

I sure was lonely
living alone

but even when they asked me
I said I was not home

Drinking in his gin

Drinking in his gin
you are none the wiser
proving yet again
the genius of the guiser

He holds your hand in his
at the trough of this abyss
He denotes how you despise her
the composure of the miser

The senseless shape
of his shadowed cape
clouds the cluttered thoughts
you cry to make

Begin again, void a friend
Searching hopeless for the end
He'll give you no news
nor the faintest of clues

Just the dread of those
deepening blues
The clearer it grows,
the more obfuse

The slackening of his hangman's nouse

Cold and curled
Marble fingers unfurled
around your slickening throat

A scuffled scream
straight from the dream
sounding still that sickening emote

His horrible laugh
straight from the past
or present, future still

the lowering of your will...

She took the train

She took the train
down the tracks
and she never once looked back

and I never went to look again

I just stayed with my boy
who just plays with his toys

but he used to smile more often

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh
tends bar at my local pub

He diligently fills glasses
checks tables
flirts with women

And plays with his beard when he gets
a moment to himself
His eyes lost past the dark mahogany
Pastel paint dripping through his thoughts

He laughs with my mates
sharing stories and scoffing at love

He nods his head in welcome
when you thank him for your
fish and chips

He cleans each glass with care
And pours a perfect finish every time

He hears poorly even though
the place is never terribly crowded
You still must shout as he tips his head
to one side and squints his brow

His eyes never seem to listen
even if he may hear you

He says he lives nearby,
in passing conversation,
but I cannot imagine him
existing outside these
dark and framing walls

Except that once when
I saw him in San Francisco
He seems to confirm that he was there
but shows no memory of having been
Whenever talk leaves the
warm atmosphere of the pub
He brings his shoulders together as he shuffles his feet
He busies himself with anything
often dropping a pint or two
He changes topic maliciously
and always mentions he will be closing shop soon
even if we are already well past that time
We leave curtly and I tell myself
not to refer to such subjects
when next I see him

But in a drunken daydream,
a twisted inebriated curiosity
a pissed passion of knowing more
Always strikes me

and next I see him,
Jolly and Jovial,
as if I never angered him

never struck a chord
that painted him the wrong color

I've seen my days and plenty more

I've seen my days and plenty more
and if I watch my daughter die
I'll have seen too many

I beg of You,
not for god's sake,
but for mine

Spare her life
even if it means
the expense of mine
for it isn't any expense at all
without the value of her in it