April 30th - Melanin

Eight of Clubs - Melanin

When is a Riot Not a Riot?

The Patriots won
And people took to the streets
Filling the night with cheers and open containers
And I was there
Watching and yelling though I had no allegiance
Except to my friends who had been waiting for this for years
So I joined them in revelry
Caught up in the oneness of the crowd
I screamed "Patriots!" till my throat was sore
And when the chant turned to"USA!"
I echoed back surpised at the strength of my voice
Even more surprised when someone started a fire
Then another
And a boy from my creative writing class
A quiet thoughtful kid
I think his name was Wyatt
Ripped off his shirt and jumped over one of those fires
While a pasty man climbed somehow onto the McDonald's awning
And the crowd roared as he postured and started a new chant:
"Show your tits!"
Two students started pushing each other almost hitting a woman
And the McDonald's man moved to dislodge the golden arches on the roof
As the crowd yelled "Show your tits!"
They began to move so erratically that someone fell to the pavement
Somewhere a plate glass window broke just out of sight
And the crowd had thrown a rope up to the roof of the McDonald's
And the man there had tied it sloppily to the dip in the arches
But it somehow held as the crowd pulled backwards
Everyone staggering
A man punched another man
And a woman yelling
Wyatt bleeding from the head
While the man on the McDonald's awning
Pushed the almost severed arches
And the chant shifted to "Fuck The Yankees"
As young men began to jump on any car with New York plates
And I remember not one police officer
Not one
As a team of hands
Mostly white hands
Worked together to try to push a public bus
Onto its side
We heard a faint explosion in the distance
So we decided to go home

Monday afternoon once Boston wakes
Eyes adjusting to the sun
And the city workers sweeping glass
From the streets of Kenmore Square
Boarding broken windows
And picking up pieces
From that McDonalds sign
A man moves to replenish the Boston Herald box
With a fresh stack of late edition papers
That describe the events of the night before
And without even paying three quarters
You can see the story
The only story - really
A full page headline
Proudly proclaiming
"Patriots Win"

April 29th - Expired Condoms

Five of Clubs - Expired Condoms

You forget it's there
Most of the time
Save when you
Dig into your wallet
To buy milk or books
Or pornography
When by accidenet
Your fingers graze it
Through worn leather
You find yourself
Tracing its misshapen form
And remembering how long
It has been safely tucked away
Unused, unrealized, unopened
Now useless

April 28th - Expired Milk

Four of Spades - Expired Milk

Sell By Dates

A single quart of milk

One of the last left

Standing in a Quik Stop refrigerator

Among the mold and spilled beer

Carton bloated and bruised

From rough handling

Being frozen and unfrozen

Before ending up here

On this mildewed shelf

Later than the date printed

But not expired

Not yet

April 27th - Outdated Maps

Nine of Diamonds - Outdated Maps

Outdated Maps 1

You ask if I know any constellations

I could point to the sky

And connect any seven stars

And name one for you

But we will never know

How much of what we see is

Just an afterimage

Light from frozen suns

Dead for eons

That has taken all this time

Just to cross

Our expanding universe

So I tell you no

I don’t know any constellations

And you don’t say anything

And the moment is over

We’re standing together but

Not touching

Ever-slowing

Moving apart

Growing cold

April 26th - David Icke

Three of Spades - David Icke


Spending The Afternoon With David Icke

I imagine him
Beside me on this bench
Watching the children on the monkey bars
The old men playing cards on a stone table
The couple stroking each other's hands
Watching them and thinking
Their actions are controlled by the moon!

How ever-confounding a world it must be
If you were to believe that people's thoughts
Are actually the moon's thoughts
A hollow man-made moon
And that spies from the Draco Constellation
Could be anywhere

A mother furrows her brow at me
For my unkempt appearance
My proximity to the playground
She stares at me with cold eyes
Could she be one of them?

April 25th - Old Canaan

Four of Diamonds - Old Canaan

Building a New Canaan

Once the men were slain

And the slavers paid

The soldiers gathered pots and tablets

To be smashed

Their Captain watched

His men obliterate

Men who wore filthy armor under stolen nobles’ robes

Men with blood under their fingernails

Men who had not eaten or slept in days

Shattered pots and tablets

And their Captain watched pondering

The mystery of the broken etchings

And their beauty

Eventually he looked away

To the West

Towards the hanging trees

And the ships

Women lined up on the shore

As if greeting these ships

As if they were returning home

April 24th - Chyna

Queen of Diamonds - Chyna

She also paid off her student loan debts, and successfully moved to Japan, unlike a certain someone.

-

She is an easy target
"She-Hulk XXX"
Drunken porn convention antics
Jumping in a fish tank
For some reason

But can you
Think of a better person
To play She-Hulk?
And would you
If invited not attend
A porn convention?

You wouldn't be able to
Help yourself and even if you said
You were going for the novelty alone
And at all times you made sure
To keep at least one sweaty palm against
The back wall you couldn't
Say you wouldn't
Have just one drink
Just to loosen up
And then just to loosen up
One more

April 23rd - Red Herrings

King of Diamonds - Red Herrings

Say/Do

If you come back
Tomorrow before 6am
You will be seen
Maybe
They tell your dear
Dejected face

If you keep doing
What you're doing
Something might open up
In six months
They tell my pained
Exhausted face

Let's make something
Instead with truth
So undeniable
They won't be able to tell
Anyone about anything
For a very long time
Their manic mouths
Too busy jawing tales
Of what we've made

April 22nd - Mint Juleps

Six of Hearts - Mint Juleps

Daydrunk In Your Mississippi Apartment

You don't use enough syrup
Your ice cubes are melted
The mint is turning

You stir with your finger
And glance toward my shoulder
The face of unconcern

The sharp taste of bourbon
The trace of your finger
Magnify my yearning

I touch your Julep
To my two lips
And savor the burn

April 21st - Viking Metal Bands

Jack of Clubs - Viking Metal Bands

Vikings Invade a Station Wagon Outside of Ithaca

Speeding past Elmira

Somehow sleeping through

“Twelfth Stroke of Midnight”

Kenny Erickson dreams 

-

They sail to stage atop a Viking ship

Suspended over barrels of dry ice

His heart and stomach jumping through his chest

Young Kenny thinks on just how far they've come

Two half-Italian kids from Western Mass

Who used to haul their gear from gig to gig

Packed tightly in the shittiest of cars

Who now traverse the skies in private jets

And when on stage transform to Nordic Gods

The throng of people chants his sister's name

As strobe lights frame and freeze their silhouettes

Ken lifts his sticks above his perfect locks

His shadow frozen on The Garden's wall

And magnified to twenty times its size

He harnesses the anger in his hands

And picturing his father in the drums

He smashes down upon all of their heads

As if the Day of Judgment had arrived

And he can feel his sister's eyes on him

As Donatella speaks unto the crowd

The image of a flightless Valkyrie

She terrifies them with her quiet voice

“New York: prepare yourself for Ragnarok!”

-

Unconscious still he

Softly kicks his sister

One hand on the wheel

She smooths his golden hair

April 20th - Divine Right

Ace of Clubs - Divine Right

There is no recourse -
Youth's flower plucked from any
Radical who dares
Act against Him
No opposition
No other choice
In the face of The King
Critics shall stand silent
Idolators will renounce and kneel
Down before God's Chosen -
Except one

April 19th - Wedding Stress Dreams

Five of Hearts - Wedding Stress Dreams

Guests are chasing you
Bleating and wailing - betrayed
Wringing empty hands

No decision on
Table favors was made today
You wake in cold sweat

April 18th - Furries

Three of Hearts - Furries

And That Was The Last Time She Let Her Friends Set Her Up

Eduardo's considered a hunk
He's handsome with plenty of spunk
But his value's diminished
For Eduardo can't finish
Unless he is dressed like a skunk

April 17th - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Six of Clubs - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Every Night at Seventeen

She melted butter in a pan
Then pushing past her parents
She closed the door to her room where
She listened to The Jesus And Mary Chain
And ate grilled cheese sandwiches

April 16th - Boko Haram

Two of Diamonds - Boko Haram

Reflecting on the Phrase, “Western Education Is Forbidden”

This poem started with a book

A heavy, hard-bound tome

Containing Milton and Shakespeare

Austen, Chekov, and Wilde

Placed open before Abubakar Shekau

It was a revenge poem in which I lifted that book

And broke his nose with it

And beat his face in with that book

Until his teeth lay broken on the floor

And the book was soaked in blood

But this poem wasn’t written

For my rage is impotent rage

Unwelcome and ultimately superfluous

There is no poetry in 276 children

Who are no longer children

April 15th - New Canaan

Four of Clubs - New Canaan

New Canaan, Christmas

Sipping peppermint lattes
You walk hand in hand
On your third Holiday Stroll together
Where everything seems new
Even though the carolers are the same as last year
Where you never tire of the ice sculptures
Marveling at the face of a reindeer
Somehow made of water
And your husband tells you to come on
So you continue to walk
Under an intricate lattice-work
Illuminated
Even though it is daytime

Outside of Ralph Lauren
- The children's store -
Rosy face after rosy face
Shivers expectantly
Waiting to whisper Christmas wishes
To the man in red
Your husband crouches to joke with the children
But you stay standing
For in the distance you see smoke
One of the smallest girls points and
Her mother tells her it is smoke
From Santa's workshop

Twenty miles east
In Bridgeport
An abandoned slaughterhouse burns
And burns

April 14th - Failed Poets

Jack of Diamonds - Failed Poets

He taught poetry
To seventeen year-olds
With sleepy eyes and strong hearts
Open and anticipating
Ready to digest anything
That moved us
But he taught without poetry
With vengeful swagger
He presented us stanzas
With no author no title
And commanded us to show no mercy

Under his orders we
Disemboweled Dickinson
Eviscerated Yeats
As if they were fetal pigs
Whose naked pieces
Became unrecognizable
Laid on cold metal tables
And the parts that functioned well
He would speak of proudly
As if they were his parts
And anything vestigal or undergrown
He would berate and bully
Until what remained fell apart
In our mouths

Then one day
One fateful day
He presented us with three stanzas
With no author no title
With smiling face and steady hands
He snuck his own words
In with those of the masters
Like a man in a woman's dress
Attempting to escape a sinking ship
Thinking he got away with it
He commanded us to read
And with the tools he had sharpened
We tore him apart

April 13th - Chosen People

Ace of Diamonds - Chosen People

The Reaping

The crowd holds its breath
A single organism

As the names are read:
One boy, one girl

The center breaks
We are once again distinct

Wails
And sighs of bitter relief

It is not my child
Not this time

April 12th - Quitting Your Job

Ten of Diamonds - Quitting Your Job

Last summer I worked at White Castle
By June 'twas already a hassle
I finally quit
Cause my boss was a twit
And the hamburgers tasted lke asshole

April 11th - Red Dogs

Seven of Spades - Red Dogs

Shotgunning Red Dogs In A Blockbuster Parking Lot

Warm beer resurges
As your summer friends laugh you
Vomit on pavement

April 10th - Amaterasu

Queen of Spades - Amaterasu

Invisible In Tokyo

I curse my forebears
Sprawled on Ueno park bench
The sun still rises

April 9th - Third World Travel Guilt

Five of Spades - Third World Travel Guilt

Beachside Service

A little boy with no shoes approached
Skin blackened by the sun
And dirt caked
On his tiny clothes

His hands were full of carved stones
We said "No, gracias"
We shook our heads
His mother didn't look at us

"That poor kid"
I told my wife
Or maybe
I just thought it to myself

As I gave the waiter 60 pesos
For a pair of margaritas

April 8th - Dead Dogs

Seven of Hearts - Dead Dogs

Reruns

You wake up to Kelsey Grammar
His voice
Delivering some one-liner
And as you adjust your eyes
You see a small dog with perfect timing
Scamper off-screen
Somewhere people are laughing

You don't laugh but
You tell yourself that
Yes somehow Eddie Crane
Could still be alive

You lie
On the couch half-watching
Enveloped in the blue glow

April 7th - The Backseat

Seven of Clubs - The Backseat

1986 Chrysler Town and Country (75,000 miles; 325,000 miles)

You were always in the back seat
Next to the buzzy speaker
The broken window crank
Next to Kenny who
No matter how many times you would say
"Quit it, Spastic"
Drummed his fingers on everything
Cupholders, wood paneling
Your own ten year old knees
"Stop it"
The drivers side headrest
"Please Kenny Stop It"
And your father would remove one hand from the wheel
And he would slap him
Kenny wailing and gasping
"Goddammit little shit I'm gonna break your fingers"
The cars everywhere honking
A slap so hard that you would start to cry
"Stop Crying"
And so you would stop crying
Kenny's tiny feet kicking your body
Harmlessly
As you burrowed into your
Transformers blanket
You watched the odometer change

Driving North to Ithaca
On the way to another gig
Bury Your Dead
Playing on the car stereo
Crystal clear
But soft enough
Not to wake your brother
Your baby brother now grown
Sparse beard and maiden's hair
Sleeping beside you
As you glance at the traffic in the mirrors
And just for an instant
See yourself
But you are gone
And so is the back seat
You remember the day you tore it out
To make room for amps
And your brother's Kicks and Snares
And you don't feel anything
For anything
Except for Ken
And your guitar
Sitting in the back
Wrapped protected in your
Transformers blanket
Faded by the sun
You watch the odometer change

April 6th - Micropenises

Three of Diamonds - Micropenises

Micropoem

Brief
Never 14 lines
But with the right angle
Has the potential
Just maybe
To make love

April 5th - Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Six of Diamonds - Killing Two Birds With One Stone

I hold the distinction of having been the worst-ever staff writer for the great My Entertainment World (one article!). Now, I am happy to fiiinally an active contributor. Poke around the site (it's awards season!) and then check out a preview of my latest record review (in the style of 10th century Japanese Chooka) below:

Kendrick Lamar

To Pimp a Butterfly

History reigns on

Kendrick Lamar's Butterfly...

With samples ranging

From George Clinton to Tupac

Disco to dubstep

Over innovative beats

Lamar detonates

On this most angry, playful 

And truthful release

In my recent memory

Lyrically dense

Beautiful and maddening

Even danceable

To Pimp a Butterfly is

Perhaps unequaled

Is it too early to crown

The best album of the year?

April 4th - Furies

Three of Spades - Furies

Blood in the Sea

They follow me
The three ladies
Hidden always just beyond my eyes

They follow me
For I fired my kettle to overboil
For I swam in the river of another
For I thrust you in to the arms of the undulating sea

Whatever is born of blood
Yearns for red return

April 3rd - Yellow Kings

King of Hearts – Yellow Kings

The Honorable Rev. Billy Lee Tuttle in His Chambers

He is smiling with teeth

Even with the glad-handing

And the sermon done

The man does not stop smiling

Thinking of the Place of Skulls

Of iron uniting flesh, wood, and bone

He catches the mirror’s reflection

A face made of clay

Eyes still and yellow

Smile painted wide

He moves to take off this mask but

He wears no mask

April 2nd - Thanks, Obama

Joker - Thanks, Obama...


For the day off! This was a Joker, after all.

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I actually wrote something that I'm fairly happy with, but I'm not posting here for a few reasons. It's called "All Districts Reporting". Ask about it next time you see me. 

-

Expect a full poem tomorrow (er, today).

April 1st - Animate Skeletons

Nine of Clubs - Animate Skeletons

So much for tweet lengths...

American Museum of Natural History, The Last Day

When the dead rise, my love

We’ll travel to the Roosevelt Rotunda

And before we free the Groundhog

And the Albert’s Squirrel

Both bewildered

Still half-dreaming

We’ll gape awfully at The Beast

The Barosaurus

Its never-ending naked vertebrae crackling

To life –

Its metatarsals touch

For the first time in history

An unfathomable floor