It ain't all pizzas and cream

Faces of the season

blood, circuses

Hey, moon

drunk tightrope

walker, don't you ever

fall?  I've been on the floor

all day.

I let the dog stay

in a fight because she was

winning

and the other bitch

had earned a beat down.

 

'Cross town

there are lovers

whispering in the dark.

Loaves of bread

cooling.

Fuck 'em.

    Hey moon,

                Got a light?

Menagerie

Sulking hipsters dip

like herons in scarves

     Two gator-faced

    women circle

    in $600 boots

Antelope sip espresso

in the coffee shop

    Bison stroll

    in the park. 

An old guy walks up

pries a smoke

from the pavement

and asks me

for a light.

    We are

    the only people

    here.

Nanny or Not? One for my Libertarian friends.

There's been a lot of talk lately about government overreach and the creation of what some call "the Nanny State." Seems to me, however, that a lot of the nannying comes from the Right side of the aisle. And that some comes not from the state at all. Below are just a few things that weren't around when I was born, but now are a part of daily life. 

• The Patriot Act

• Warrantless Wiretaps

• TSA Enhanced Pat Downs

• MPA Movie Rating System

• Surgeon General's Warning on Tobacco Products

• EPA Automobile Emissions Testing

• Fast Food Nutrient Labels

• Zero Tolerance Drug Policies in Schools

• City smoking bans (amended post 11/28 to add)

This is just me, but if ALL of the above were wiped away tomorrow, I'd be OK with that. For me, it's more of an equal time issue. If someone can warn me that cigarettes may cause heart disease with a label on one side of the pack, there should be a label on the OTHER side of the pack that says, "These taste really awesome after a steak dinner." As for things like Zero Tolerance and Enhanced Pat Downs, they just don't work. There's a longstanding tradition in America, which basically can be summed up as: "For Christ's sake do SOMETHING! Even if it doesn't work. We can't look like we're doing NOTHING! More flapping! More flapping!" And in my opinion, that's just jackass stupid.

Before my Libertarian readers get too excited, there are things I'd keep: OSHA, the FDIC, the Dept of Education, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, to name several.

Just thought I'd put that out there. I'm sure you'll tell me where to shove it.

 

Thanksgiving

The train pulls into Bethlehem station and squeals to a stop just shy of the knuckle. Dad grabs our bags, mom her purse, and we feel that first bristle of November air as we move from the coach to the platform. My grandfather is waiting, stout, grinning, his boxer's body gone not quite soft from beer. He hustles us to his coal black Olds 98, where the back seat has its own clock. My dad sits up front, mom in back with me. I watch the telephone wires dip and soar as we speed along the road. There's talk of the weather, and work, of Christmas ahead. When we arrive, we're greeted by the mingled smells of turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and my grandmother's Hungarian apricot cake. The TV is on: Mighty Joe Young. The two Siamese cats are curled like Yin and Yang upon the heating vent, which roars and belches like a dragon's breath.
I am home.

Tobacco

         ( a poem  inspired by Billy Collins, and Jessica Davis Eckert)

 

When we met I was young,

and drunk. She was hot,

suave, enchanting.

I didn’t have

a chance.

 

After several years, we tired

of each other’s habits:

broke up, reconciled

but it was never

the same.

 

When she moved out, she

took her lighter, her ash tray.

I still miss her plumes

striving as they did

for the light.

/poem/

Some die in spotlights,

some
in smoke. Ask the girls
prancing on stage,

opening
their purses

for
us,
hoping we’ll open

our wallets for them.

Tatanka

 

My grandfather kept a coin bank,

filled to the top, on his dresser.

 

Through the weeping glass I saw

the buffalo upon his mound.

 

I tried several times to shake him

free, but the other coins would not

 

Release him. I wondered how long

he’d been in there, if he missed life

 

On the plain. And I wondered

if he saw me, saw my eyes

 

Blue as a prairie night.

Zero Affirmation Days

A few months ago I tried to draw a net around the characteristics of what seemed to be my toughest days. I figured that i I could determine what they all had in common, perhaps I could fix it. So, I made mental notes and little lists. And it turned out that the "perfect storm" was a day where every message I received (whether from family, job, finances, or anywhere) was that I was "doing it wrong" (whatever "it" was) or that the world would be that much better off without me in it. I called these perfect storms "Zero Affirmation" days.

Unfortunately, solving the problem proved far more slippery than identifying it. Mostly because the lion's share of factors leading to a Zero Affirmation day are out of one's control. You can't control who calls you, what arrives in the mail, your spouse's bad mood, your kids' behavior, traffic, weather, etc. However, you can help others to avoid such days.

Treat your spouse like a loving partner, not an errand boy/girl.

Treat your kids like you haven't seen them in a week.

Be respectful in your relations with the public and commerce. Chances are the clerk you berate is just trying to avoid having a Zero Affirmation day. Last week, I listened for 10 minutes while a kid at the CVS counter told me about his hellish stage crew schedule. If you have the time, be an ear. 

Affirm yourself. It's hard to be kind when you yourself feel neglected. And sometimes nobody else is gonna give you a pat on the back. So do one small nice thing for yourself each day. A bath. A favorite CD. A candy bar. A good cigar. Whatever rubs your Buddha.

Go forth and be well!

We now return you to your standard crabby bullshit.

Street Suite: Faces of the Forgotten

We go thru our day believing ourselves safe, insulated. But for some there is no cover, no shelter. From poverty, from cold, from rain, from hunger, lonreliness, illness or death.