Fate Can Wait
Every so often,
it's important to shut the world off.
Get sun soaked;
preferably near a pool.
Sit on Walmart chairs,
they recline better than elegant cabanas.
Assemble the best people you can find.
For me: it's the wild dreamers,
the mouth pieces that spin jokes all night,
and the personas that pack years in-between orders of cocktails.
Snag some Love;
at whatever level you need to be fulfilled.
Could stand for a night,
or hump your way to matrimony.
People will rattle off opinions;
freely about your life,
and never apply the advice
to enjoy their own time.
Our biggest crime
is a “better way” for others live,
that we never apply to ourselves.
Figure out what gets you hard,
and get good at fucking it.
We are all here
for not enough time.
It's imperative
To live the desires in your heart.
Self-reflection is maddening...we think things should be a certain way,
make sense at a precise time,
and flow how we expect it too.
Endurance is better than answers
because correct never comes up the same.
Eat drugs,
get over it, nights & days
are equally fleeting,
you’re gonna lose,
get over it.
Here’s a quick piece of extra advice:
don't blow it.
Uncategorized
Daniel S. Irwin
Evaluation of Prospective Employee
Negative points:
Can hardly read.
Writes with fat crayon.
Can't do simple math.
Loses car in parking lot.
Can't use a broom.
Chopped off two toes.
Can't count change.
Can't button buttons.
Registered pervert.
Hates spaghetti.
Neo-Nazi affiliation.
Smells like butt.
Fears dogcatchers.
Positive Points:
Loves Jesus.
Slipped me a c-note.
Brought in nose candy.
Cousin Carol's first born.
Recommendation:
Hire immediately.
Executive potential.
Bruce Morton
The Neighbor’s Cat
Should I take offense?
What does it mean, then, when
The neighbor’s cat pukes
On my deck? Heck, I don’t
Know. It must mean something,
Right? A bad day in the sunlight,
Too warm, sleep too deep?
Mistaken kibble for meow-mix,
Or over-spiced vole viscera?
Perhaps moonlight too bright
For a proper prowl. So, did you
Mean to offend, or was this just
An offered trophy gone bad?
Disgusting—but no offense taken.
Bing Hua (Translation by Yingcai Xu)
The Rebirth of the Green Onion
Green onions
Are often rooted out
To be sold as groceries
The hopeless plant
Is chopped into pieces
And fried in a wok
One of the lucky bulbs
Is planted in a flower pot
And nurtured
Thus, this green onion
Is reborn
Where one’s heart is settled
There it is the hometown
This green onion
Never bends down
But grows into a bud, blooms, and produces seeds
And the seeds are spread to other places
Many years later
This single bulb
Turns into a sea of green onions
Under the sun
This sea of green onions
Are vibrant with straightness, forcefulness, and robustness
And vibrant with verdancy
In wind
This sea of green onions
Sway into sprays, waves, and billows
And sway from generation to generation
Robin Shepard
How to Swing the Seafood Minuet
I don’t waltz into a room as much as cha cha. But then, I never had much luck with 3/4 time. I’m your standard four-on-the-floor kind of guy. Keep it simple, and don’t confuse me with your high-stepping sorority graces, girl. We’re going to move our lips and shake our hips. We’ll be doing the monkey time before midnight. Of course, anything can happen. The floor can drop out from beneath us. Or the needle can get stuck in a groove and never make it back to the chorus. Despite what you think, making a good first impression is the secret to faking your way through most anything. Before we go any further, let’s stroll over to the seafood buffet. I hear the crab legs are so fresh they dance the mambo on your plate.
John Knoll
STAND UP
After reading Kafka’s Hunger Artist,
I thought about becoming a stand-up comedian.
When I told my wife I was thinking of
putting together a comedy routine about
my sex life, she said, “That won’t
take long.”
Last night I looked in the mirror and saw
a haggard old man with wrinkled skin and
bags under his eyes. I called out to my wife,
“Maria, I’m feeling terrible. Help me out.
I need validation. I’m falling apart.”
“Well,” she said, “your eyesight is still ok.”
Daniel S. Irwin
Say What?
Hot and heavy, a night of passion
Leads to the moment when I say,
"We shouldn't do this without a
Raincoat." A pause and she says,
"I've got an umbrella."
Richard LeDue
“Middle Aged Me”
My fingernails were clean enough
to read Milton in university
as I stayed away from the campus bar,
believing in textbook knowledge
being my saviour, but middle aged me
has dirt writing poems under my nails
and palms with lines like hand drawn routes
on a map with the sort of certainty
guaranteeing I’ve gotten lost so many times
that I know exactly where I am now.
J.J. Campbell
what it fears
darkness
it is when all the
evil souls do their
best work
when the imagination
gets to visit what it
fears
dance with a raven-haired
devil and lose yourself in
the silence
each moment in this
fleeting desire savor,
let it kill you
we are nothing but wasted
time
all that which holds us back
eventually, either death
wins or you stir a little shit
up before the knock at the
door comes for us all
embrace that pain that
never ends
as with anything, it is
only looking for love
a warm body to shelter
it from the cold
------------------------------------------------------------
sweating bullets
scribbling poems
in the afternoon
sweating bullets
in the cheap air
conditioning
a sweltering
lament hangs
in the air like
a sudden doom
everyone can
feel it coming
the inevitable
nature of this
life
more downs
than the ups
could ever
eclipse
you can't help
but ponder a gun
in your hand or
learning to knot
a sturdy noose
the hollow eyes
of the woman
you love
she stopped being
here years ago
saw one too
many sunrises
to be happy
ever again
-------------------------------------------
Zhu Xiao Di
Talk to Stone
Humans may not know
How to talk to one another
Poor souls
Gape soundlessly
Conversations with a stone
Yield better outcomes
There’s always detail
Unyielding