Category Archives: Stuff I’m proud of

Caretakers

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You can recognize them once you know how to look.

Their shoulders dragging intangible weight.

They are pale and doughy

Living off of pre-made meals and energy shots.

They have dark lines under their eyes

And smiles underlaid with sadness.

They mulishly take blows

Sharp words that cut too true

Abuse that only family can give.

They can whip their way through hideously complex paperwork

Without blinking.

They can make decisions

Hard decisions

Pop a Rolaid and move forward.

 

They are bound, bound

Earthbound

Emotionally bound

Bound by duty

Bound for destruction

Sick with dread

Awaiting the day of freedom

Which carries with it

Their greatest grief.

 

Going for a run on my favorite trail

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Going for a run on my favorite trail

An overabundance of kudzu wraps everything in a fluffy green blanket

Then the rain starts to fall.

I am surrounded by wildflowers

Their leaves and stems wetly reflecting the cloudy white sunlight.

How can I continue to be unhappy

When I am surrounded by wildflowers?

 

I stop to pick up burgers for dinner

The rain still cooling me through.

My waiter is an exceptionally beautiful kid

With clear skin, fearless blue eyes,

And a cowlick in his hair.

At the table next to me, three girls launch into a few bars of song

Then break down into laughter.

Through the thick soup of conversation

One voice isolates itself.

It is saying,

“Pull my finger.”

How can I continue to be unhappy

When I am surrounded by cheeseburgers?

 

 

Against the Next War

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In response to CafePhilos’s call to make peace viral. A noble effort, and worth a try. Please give his post a read.

Trying to do a slam-style poem. I really hope the audio turned out OK on this. Apologies if it’s too quiet, I’m still figuring out how to make videos.

 

 

 

If I imagine them
Taking my brother away to war

I shatter.

I don’t want to lose anyone.
Especially not to something as stupid
As war.

Maybe you like the idea of war
Because you’ve confused real life with action movies.
Maybe you hate another group of people for what they have done.
I can’t convince you to forgive another’s atrocities
That is something you must grow into on your own.
But I can beg you this:

When dogs of war bark
Don’t feed them.
You will be told it is the honorable thing
To die for your country.
You will be told you have enemies abroad
Monsters in human flesh.
But the monsters are in your back yard
Baying for blood.
Don’t
feed
them.
You will be told
That if you love your family
You will abandon it
And submit yourself to the state.
Give up your mind, body, and soul
To be consumed.
Don’t feed them.
You will be called weak
You will be called subversive
You will be stamped
Kicked
Drowned
Thrown into jail
Dumped in the gutter.
Still,
don’t feed them.
They will scream about the chaos
Unleashed in the world
They will plead for your aid
They will put weeping women before you
They will show you the bodies of children
They will appeal to your humanity.
But if you join them
You become the monster.
You will rape the women
You will bomb the children
You will force them all into the machines.
Don’t feed them.
They offer you money
Insurance for your families
Early retirement.
Ask your wife how she feels
When you go abroad.
She may smile then, proud and supportive,
But when she gets the letter,
Insurance will be a cold comfort
A reminder
That her loved one was eaten alive.
Don’t feed them.
The politicians get fatter.
The generals get fatter.
Our fearless leaders
Have little to lose.
What is noble
About sacrificing yourself for these people?
Are they so wise, so just?
They have enough.
Don’t feed them.

 

 

This moment

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Happiness is

A hot mug on a cold day

Someone kind to sit with

A comfortable cat on your lap

Happiness is

The ability to make your own choices

His profile when he’s driving

The first bite of a cheeseburger.

 

Happiness is when things rebalance

Delay and satisfaction

Cold and warm

Hunger and satiation.

Happiness is to be present

Fully aware of reality

And nothing else.

No past, no future, no illusions.

 

Happiness is wiggling your toes while waiting for the microwave

A furry blanket

The unique way she tells stories

Happiness is feeling safe during the rain

Looking for the most perfect flower in the yard

A story like music

Music like a story

A color that glows

The smell of freshly baked bread

Clean hair after a shower

His fingers intertwined with yours

When the movie theatre darkens

and the score thrums alive.

 

Happiness chooses a moment

holds it softly in her warm hands

until everything pauses.

 

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