HORNS UP:
Horns Up/Down on 5/27/2006
At 23
I thought I’d know better by now.
I thought I’d have the prescience to know the intentions of those around me, that yolk beneath the shell. I thought I’d know who would be kind only later to spit out poison. I thought I’d know when it was the right time to not let my guard down.
Because no one subs for the sub
Bad, sick day,
huff out of bed,
cough and cough,
leave apartment
before realizing
woven shrug has
unwoven itself
at the sleeve.
Shirt, too, rebels
with mysterious
blue stain.
An exotic chicken’s 15 minutes are up
So this is newsworthy enough to make Yahoo! news? Tell me my day is coming soon. I think I’m going to buy a duck.
Immaturity or bust
I’ve antiqued this photo in an attempt to imagine what my grandchildren might think if they stumble upon it in a dusty, faded album someday. You know, besides, “Granny had real teeth?!”
On turning [23]
On Turning [23]
By: Billy Collins [and me]
The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
[Actually I am - my throat is sore,
I'm sneezing and coughing, and
I have a rundown feeling that must
be the very poetic-sounding malaise.]
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.
["Chicken Pox of the Soul" - now
that's a collection I'd like on my bookshelf.]
On turning ten
On Turning Ten
By: Billy Collins
The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.
Rain and shine
Leafy, rubber oars bob
as it pelts.
Squeaking madly,
our shoes flounder
to the restaurant -
Mexican hole-in-the-wall
with seats of
tattered vinyl
covered in
greasy crumbs.
Wet tracks mark
our progress.
By the time
the chips arrive,
the sun is
out again.
