The Tongue
You stick out your tongue
silver harpoon
hunting
between the glittering lips of darkness
— by Pia Tafdrup
Short Poems
The Beat
for the beating of her heart to pound. like lioness’ paws on the ground. to gallop through the wind and sink in. to the promise of the day
If You Didn’t…
…If you didn’t love me
I’d still love you
Still watch you cross the sands of eternal deserts just
to ponder your walk
Still play the sea’s waves so I can better feel the vibrations
in your voice when you talk
I’d pick up a fiddle and teach the devil
how to play the blues
…if you didn’t love me
Even if your salacious kiss lost its solace
I’d reach out for your warm embrace
And love you
…but why wouldn’t you love me?
Philly Story #1
Why would he do that to me
knowing I’m out on parole
Yeah the white boy
Stealing ice cream that I offered to buy
Idiot
I’m going to have to kill him in group tomorrow.
Inspired by Tracy Chapman
You’re car wasn’t fast
it was slow
enough for me to flow
into the first flowers of spring, rushing past the window
We were cruising ships in the sun
driving in your car
no jackets just warmth & conversation
Down the avenue to anywhere me & you
navigating pitfalls, the roads in the holes in the road
We’re travelling
sometimes faster
spinning with every angry piston
SHHH Listen to the power purring in this engine
moving us along in your car
barreling towards the future
Feel like I could be somebody to love in here
watching the world passing
Hmm…
To be blonde or not to be
That
is the question?
Philly Story #389
The sub rocks me into a slippery self consciousness
So me and Marley fold into my seat and start jamming
We jamming
Blasting through the microcosmic speakers
riding each lazy beat with euphoric glee
when across from me
this dude twists up his face
the other passengers scramble
like frantic cockroaches about to be smushed
I look
300 pound bowling ball of a man stands with a gun in his hand
waving as if he was princess Diane
I dam near lose a bowel movement
Tripping over people to get to the exit quick
What kind of shit is this that I just witnessed
I was trying to get to work and handle my business
Now I got lateness all on my plate
Damn. It had to be today.
Philly Story #90: Jesus Walks
And to think that I saw it on seventeenth street
And to think that I saw it on seventeenth street
There’s a guy all bloodied from his head to his feet
Walking cross Market, not quite so discreet
Is that a crown of thorns in his hair?
Re-enactment of liberation and despair
Ah. I guess that means Easter is near
Cause there goes the Christian crucifixion fleet in a heat
And to think that I saw it on seventeenth street
The Knockout
i kneel to God
he knows i pray
because im going to
lay a man out
today
i can’t help it he was in my way
to greatness
Oceans
I have a feeling that my boat
has struck, down there in the depths,
against a great thing.
against a great thing.
And nothing
happens! Nothing!… Silence… Waves…
–Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?
Juan Ramón Jiménez (translated by Robert Bly)
The Poetry Corner 