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Tag: Poetry
My Friend, Covid-19
Reach out—flex.
Cringe back—gasp!
Brush up against—
Sorry! My mistake!
What the (bleep) are you doing?
Watch yourself! Be careful!
Did you wash your hands?
Every hour?
You don’t realize how much you touch.
Oh, but only if…
We could meet again,
Hang out. Have coffee together.
Can I read you a story?
No, you might cough on me!
Let’s start over.
We can’t.
What’s done is done.
Where is your mask?
You’ve got to…
Only, perhaps,
It is too late.
Perhaps.
The Essential
Waking from a dream,
I find, I am in a nightmare.
The status quo is social distancing,
I cannot shake your hand,
Much less,
Give you a hug.
The world has been
Turned upside down
By an odd appetite,
And now we all must curb
A variety of yearnings,
Like sitting down in a restaurant,
Going to the movie theater,
Visiting at a friend’s house,
Shopping at the mall.
What has become of the world?
It seems just yesterday,
That I could go anywhere,
At any time.
Now I must check myself,
And ask if it is essential.
What is essential,
After all?
Please
Walk straight keep going come down don’t jump I love you I care about you don’t lie to me I won’t judge you just be honest come closer I won’t bite reach out take my hand trust me please
Getting Older
Growing up is a fateful journey,
Full of both joy and despair,
With yearning for a sense of completeness
And sometimes a wish for escape.
I wish I could spend more time
With my family and friends, but
Somehow life seems to get in the way.
Everything from irritable bowels to
A toilet overflowing and flooding several rooms—
From a new job as an administrative assistant
To my wife taking classes at the local community college—
It’s always something.
But as time passes,
I will grab that opportunity to touch base,
Even if just with a note or a phone call.
As I get older, and especially,
As my nieces and nephews get older,
Time seems to fly by and becomes
Much more precious.
Decisions become a challenge, sometimes,
And dates and times seem to crowd in
From every angle.
Oh, if I could only go back!
What I would do differently.
Be
Apple keep carry crawl leave give tangle arrange need prevent bounced laughing shack be stop eerie lounge language inebriated open jackhammer elevator lollipop seed briefcase people rankle belief yellow fused gasoline drank tanker dank plank balance swallow follow hut friendships gyrate gluten palace
Bits
Capsize toucan walk upside down alleviated verses Kingston Neo send tribe Nicks names mediate tinted reading tantrum tell lead bits helmet hem charcoal tense coastal Memphis fence looked garage taking gender likable is
Tea
Beep toward years of comfortable ennui in twin champagne glasses on a tabletop tennis championship fruitcake anniversary gel tank top candy bar. Weep onto the thoroughfare in cowboy boots spray painted with blue and pink. Lovely lasagna breezeway Cadillac tea underneath crinkle cut potatoes with lots of ketchup dangling from the rooftop in a potted plant.
Ralph
Goliath seeps through puddle macaroni headsets in columbine zebra moves. Calculating, zero time capsules come together on Indian southern pacifist kangaroo tarantula knowledge levels. Belief, sacks of wool, Ralph rude tangled toothpaste tubes and variety show realization wonderful weaves come across the TV as confetti populism creature films.
Knot
Amen to the Leroy concupiscence leaning on the everlasting farmhands ritualize breathing treatments overwhelming transistor radio days in the middle of a sanctimonious seizure on three barstools love on soap sprinkles of chocolate glee in mocha syrup to make it not so likely Reynolds wrap teasing on glossy rainbow tantrums never to behold a cascading weekly docket of solid rear trap nickel queens believing not
