Category: Poetry

Tiny Mammal’s Startled Yip

Nothing says “this stinks” like a loaf of cheese bread wedged between the fridge and the wall for no less than 45 minutes, especially if you’re holding it above a hungry mouse’s mouth while it gnaws on its own foot for sustenance.

Not only will the stench overpower you, but the tiny mammal’s startled yip will get the attention of neighboring creatures, all shapes and sizes. Believe it or not, the average American household contains more distinct species than the average American zoo. Of course, you can’t see 99.7% of them at any given time [unless you have a properly-calibrated microscope lying around].

Morning Trees IV

Nervous cretins climbed
up and down all the time,
then grew up

into prideful cretins
concerned with productivity
and saving face
in front of other
nervous cretins

while they destroy
those same trees
they used to hug and name.

Their memory is sparse
when you confront them on it.

Morning Trees III

Stumpy masses
of twitching atoms
all look alike
from the microscopic stew,

but from up here
they look like trees

with opinions about the audacity
of their neighbors’ garments
or dance routines
spilling into the street
during witching hour
every third Tuesday–satisfied?

It’s all a pack of rumors,
disconnected from the shallow
root systems and designed
to rot away after a few years,
transient, lost by nature.

Morning Trees II

The morning,
thick with steam,
builds stillness
into bent limbs,
willing them
to stick around
for another few hours,
at least.

Morning Trees I

Trees stick up
the sky,
pulling ransom
sun rays
to their roots
and
laughing hollow
in their knot holes.

Trademark Characters

An ant attempting
to successfully cross
a busy city street

is like

a human trying
to maneuver its way
across Disneyland
without getting stopped
for impromptu photoshoots
with trademark characters.

The ant only has to worry
about death by squishing.

The fate of the human
in Disneyland
is much, much worse.

Please Do Tell

Watch those lines.

Are they moving?
No?
Good.

I don’t want you
hallucinating
just yet.

Please do tell me
if you see the lines
blur or change orientation–

I’m sincerely interested
in charting perceptual fluctuations.

Hey, don’t interrupt me
while I’m talking!

I don’t care if some
orange elephant’s
coming after you,

I told you to look
at the lines,
dammit.