07.29.12

honey dew half
w/ spoons

pool forms
in the soft greens

if i could shrink myself
& climb down there

i'd take a dip
do a can opener

 
 

07.27.12

framed in the window
of an ice cream shop
a girl crying
& laughing

another girl across table
shaking her head

the sun is felt
but hidden
til one'o'clock
melting dust off a jukebox

07.19.12

where are we going
where are we headed
on back of this train

clouds slow
like smoke that got
caught up there in the old days

 

MISTY MORNING, BROCKLEBANK BRIDGE

vampire fog
trio of gaslights whispering
sleepless shoemaker
sitting on bench
reading broadside
pondering question
of whether
what we do or do not know
will or will not
kill us

an army of amphibious fishmen
rise from the river
and drag the man in
while offering them shoes
in his hysteria

his hunchback wife
figures another woman
& is forever waiting
at the door
with a shoe
to pound him
on his return

bats twist through the mist
dark in the maple moonlight
a lonely wolf howls

 
 
 

07.13.12

bell rings eleven times

i am the count
of the clover patch
i visit the lily pad
and do the smoking leprechaun

i am the sheik
of the swinging sands
i blend my thoughts
and push them
as camels through
the eye of a needle

i am the doctor
of destroyed mansions
rubble on the brain
scribbling scripts for neighbors,
friends and fam
i bleed from one ear randomly
through my hands i hear

i am the maid
of suspended morning
working the broom of princess hair
into a scoop of gold dust
broker of bed bugs
swindler of silver fish
i scrub the hallowed floors
where angels walk

i am the chef
of the cajun eggshell
i forage in my skiff
upon a bourbon branch
easing into the pacific
an infinity of ingredients
for one final days dish

bell rings twelve times

07.12.12

strollin thru chinatown, slowly
down the street of the gamblers
past the golden gate fortune cookie factory
the old chinese telephone exchange
into portsmouth square

where the first american flag was raised
when it was still sandy
people living
in tents made of sails
destination complete

it was called yerba buena,
b/c the hills were covered w/ a good herb
something like mint

robert louis stevenson used to come here
to sit
while he was waiting for fanny's divorce
we have the same birthday
i only just remembered this
the other day

today i was reminded that a refrigerated trailer
is called a "reefer"
it is interesting how drug slang
came from railway slang
which graduated into trucker slang
a children's book from the library
titled "big rigs" 
reminded me of this,
and how the marijuana joint became called
a reefer 
b/c it makes you so cool & detached

which reminded me of
henry miller
who always hated the word
cool
he didnt want to be cool
or detached
he wanted to feel everything

it is one of the first words
parents say to their children
trying to fit into pop culture
and public situations
without knowing what
it truly means
(not judging, i say it too)

ironically, i had to kick
two junior high kids
out of a playhouse train this afternoon
in st. mary's square playground
smoking yerba buena
"the conductor's here," i said

earlier i'd been in jackson square
when two old men passed me,
one saying to the other,
"the idea is,
is when you die
you're reincarnated"

this evening i talked to gary snyder
at the library
and reminded him
of a letter he wrote in 1962
from india
"he invited us
to have an astral lunch with him
which turned out
to be nothing"

07.09.12

today 
was
a mexican handjob
on the down low

jubilant mustard face
girl w/ earrings like wind chimes
speaking espanol
chuckling
blue pompom purse placed
over hand & etc.

fordie stopped to stare
perhaps wondering why
old asian ladies werent there

07.06.12

fire engine up clay
we pass an old man on sidewalk
& stop cross street from engine
preparing to motor
the firemen & woman wave
while ringing a bell

the old man sage
carrying cane & newspaper
wearing golf cap, argyle scarf,
light blue sweater & navy cords
says, "you got two bells!"
while beaming behind shoulder,
passing us

 
 

07.05.12

the plastic domes

atop these metal poles

are of blue plastic

made by a company called

mexico forge

they were,

along with the poles,

last painted green...

erosion happened

and the green began to

reveal the blue

now the domes

are stages

of the earth's topographical history

or

various other possible

half earth-like planet scenarios

07.03.12

girl sitting behind me
on bus,
talking in phone

"so he doesnt wanna meet any of your friends
but you have to hang out with all of his...
all his massachusetts friends...
you need to step back...
chill...
yeah...
i totally see your side, you know"

06.30.12

what is it about hotel rooms at night

i've been watching television,

like i've never owned one...

fishing in these bays,

south, humboldt, arcata,

strait into the pacific,

tis a risky roll

the wives of dead fishermen

dedicate grey monuments

to husbands now fishy flesh

never recovered

lost coast of

redwood lanes

& victorian eels

lightning rods or bowling pins

role-playing games or marijuana

lumber barons

seeding into a working mass

of ratty hitchhikers

lugging cots into kushy alcoves

with eucalyptus fireplace,

highway dreams,

clouds off to the zoo

mesmeric shirt of afterthought

so telling in its way

take advantage of a sale one last time

load up, gas, ice,

shit, caffeine...

there arent many things better

than swimming

THE STALKER

guy on bench

talkin into white phone

"i followed her into the parking lot

wondering if maybe there was

some secret place she was goin

but

she sits over on the side

and starts drinkin a soda & eatin a snickers

just sittin there smilin

eatin that snickers

i mean

if that's all it takes to make her happy

then..."