Inventing

Facts are sarcastic that is the rapture

Imagine masters of laughter

sadness trapped in plaster

meander bland hand gestures

inventing inventors

bent on mentors mentioning

what I meant 

I paid rent

then went on dancing.

Fabulous Once

I was fabulous once. 

Caught in between the dreams of the jazz singer on a Tuesday night

longing for Saturday's noise

Caught between the leather shoes of the Bluesman

the necklace of the gangster

with its jewels and crosses

Caught in the Catholic crosshairs

the gun of Jesus 

airplanes aimed for me

Blatant in his misery the war lord stopped at the edge of my river

looked at his reflection and drowned

my throat was once wrapped with the cool breath

of Ophelia's song

her tired hands now hold water

the flowers have floated downstream.

I once clung to the silver movie screen

both an actor and a bat

bathed in artificial light

looming like a ghost in the rafters

calling the shots and gleaming like a harp in the sun

my melodies ringing like bells into space

my nostrils thick with the perfume 

of my rotting symphony.

Poetry for Them

The rainbow bonnet on her head

as she hears the sonnet 

on stage of Shakespeare's Globe Theater

she is in the spotlight

we are all playing a part this stage, we are on it

He beckons to her 

the phantom in the shadows

upstage he calls out!

"I will carry your robes without apology

let us go to New Orleans

the mask I wear has been for naught

as I merely wished to hide my dreams."

Photo source 

Poetry for Men

The guns are in the closet locked with the safety on

the politics are raging on television 

and deep in the heart 

of man

the lion growls

Poetry for Women

Running a race through the red poppies

damaging them with every step

time wears away the instances

the photo fades and we are left with a broken channel

stop the vase from filling 

up with water from the mineral earth

the flowers are still in the field

and we have not yet separated the stem

from itself

Childhood

Packed in her bags was he loose-leaf tobacco and the loose-leaf tea

she would need to settle her nerves

Slapped in the face like the coldest wind atop Mount Kilimanjaro

is the sense she will need to make a fist

Trapped in her mind are the tiny birds and butterflies

full of life and love and childhood

Royal Fuss (Prince Andrew and Giuffre)

The package from the prince, covered in slime

being broadcast on primetime, such as case as it were

of shame and injustice, Virginia is well aware

of what all the fuss is.

She's still with us, waving that flag as we march on

towards a day where hearts are free

and money doesn't clean his hands

nor his character

and no palace in Dubai will ever bring him peace

when his soul is troubled

as it is

and as it should be.

Somewhere in the Steam is Her Hands

Somewhere in the tea bag is the tea leaf that she picked

from the bush under the tree which cast shade in the sun

and her tiny hands pulled it from the plant

and now it's in hot water

brimming on the cup the edge of which

is almost about to steam

RUN

I am going to sand the edges of the board

They are so full of splinters

sharp and like a rose's stem

I am going to touch the smooth parts of a stone

taken from the beach the way a bird picks up seeds

hurled into the water

SPLASH

I am going to note the melody of the Thaikovsky violin

let it soar through my ears

like a clothes line

or a kite string

cleaning out all the wax

I am going to go to the wax museum

look at who I used to be

painted and in costume

push over the statue

and

RUN

I am going to catch my breath like a baseball

in a mitt

slamming into the ivy wall

then twisting myself into a ball of paper

thrown into a trash can

at the library

I am going to read the smooth pages

drink the coffee

ride the wave

of silence

ask propaganda to spill the beans

grow a beanstalk and meet the giant

and when he roars I will fade

like smoke

I will slip under the door like water

flooding in a mood

steaming up when I boil water

and then absorbing into the food

digested and removed

then sailing

around the world

to return like Magellan

all these character traits

I tried to strip of their color

removing the dye

that had been cast

and scrubbing it clean

the spots from the leopard

the stripes from my shirt

I ended up passing out instead

of changing the world.

Masterful at Something

The subsequent pain left over from the rain has found me in a bubble of blame

languishing in classical music grinning at the moon, drooling like a dog

humming a tune, ravishing a radish, masterfully minding my own business. 

Take This $20

Take this $20 bill and start a new life.

You are standing in the dark doorway 

of the storefront in the shadows

sheltered for a second from the rain

looking at me with wild eyes

fiercely 

like you are held in chains

Who are you and what are you about to do?

You stand still like the ground is holding your shoes

You are captured by the rain

in a cage

staying dry

So I say to you

Take this $20 bill and start a new life

don't do wrong, make sure you do right

start fresh

not in a mess

Take this $20 bill and start a new life,

do make sure you do right.

I'm not just giving you money,

I'm giving you advice.