Don’t Be Nervous
It couldn’t be easier Just act natural Be yourself Still It’s hard Not to feel This is a trick.
james
Striped Compatriots
Fugitives Pause To salute their struggle From tyranny From barking dogs From broccoli.
Party Buoy
Every glass refilled Before you come up for air The promise of Drunk Divers. Florida America’s unnatural tail Breeding would-be Franchise owners Each dreaming of being the next Big Boy. A dozen DUIs Cost him his boating license So Carl turned his drinking problem Into a drinking solution Drunk Divers.
Inside Joke
Dad played at being sad Complaining he’d lost his cornbread. Sis looked at Brother To see if he knew where the cornbread went. Brother smiled, having seen Dad’s performance before Hiding the cornbread under his hat. Mom eventually learned to love this joke Giggling children made it funny Even to baby.
The Proclivity of Things
A DuMont Teleset Replacing their Threadbare radio Feels like The future has arrived. The empty box A spaceship A submarine A portal to another world Waiting for the trash man. Get more out of life With television By DuMont. But one day When the tubes and wires fail It’s just another box Destined for the … Read moreThe Proclivity of Things
Never Glades
Cypress pines White sand beaches Home Even after Pop Died in the war. Cook on a fuel ship A favorite target Of German submarines The all-black crew Loved Pop’s gumbo. A crazy white man Pumped all the water Out of the swamp Put up high rises Mom got a job there Fried shrimp and grits … Read moreNever Glades
Yeah But Who Cares
The gold fillings From pirate teeth Ground to dust Hid just below the surface Look for the glint As the waves return. Five years older Big brother knows The glint is from Gold nuggets Pirates sewed into their clothes. Gold dust too fine to retrieve? Sounds like fool’s gold to me Dad said. We looked … Read moreYeah But Who Cares
You Don’t Love Me Like That Anymore
You forgot Who And what And where You are. You forgot The house The kids And me. Helping you Dress Shower And cross the street Is our new love story.
Living Doll
Sculpting wasn’t that hard Deer. Check. Shoes. Check. Scissors. Check. Man in a suit. Check. You don’t need arms Just a couple of crafty feet.
Power Play
Old maids of the Energy Department Nobody saw them coming Or going Invisibility Their superpower. Cloris called to Rose In the Florida surf Time to get ready for the Flight to Cuba. The beach bag Filled with encoded secrets A short-wave radio Plutonium And sandwiches.