August 4, 2021

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These are special requests poems, someone sent me the bumper sticker idea.

ONE

Jesus, you have everything some girls

Love to see in another human

You are determined, smart, handsome, kind

But you cannot be trusted with love

Everyone flocks to you, everyone

Else doesn’t know your truth, everyone

Thinks, that humor, that knowledge is all

You’re made up of but I know you’re

An untruth, under that guise you’re an

Asshole, a sham of a gentleman.

___________________________________________________________________

TWO

Jesus yes! to casual sex, he

Loves my breasts, my ass, my hips, my face

You do too – but not casually

But you are too serious for me

Everyone has opinions, no one

Else matters, who cares what anyone

Thinks, you want long term commitment and

You’re ready for forever, but I’m

An explorer, curious to learn

Asshole from saint with no strings attached

___________________________________________________________________

A Bumper Sticker Poem

Bumper Sticker Poems – a form I created, inspired by cento and golden shovel poetry, with the following guidelines:

  • Using a bumper sticker as inspiration use each word in the bumper sticker as the first word in each line of the poem
  • The theme of the poem may or may not have anything to do with the message of the sticker
  • Title should be the words of the bumper sticker
  • May or may not be rhymed
  • 9 syllable lines
  • Number of lines depends on number of words on the bumper sticker

February 21, 2021

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Snow Angels

Plastic wrap gaiters secured with twine protect the transition from cotton sweatpants to leather work boots.

A well-tuned rumble shattering the muffled morning as he heads up the hill to my drive.

Snowy morning smell replaced by fumes of gas and oil immediately unearthing memories of my dad.

This vintage machine, made when machines were mostly metal, is piloted by ages of experience and a depth of mechanical knowledge I envy. It displaces snow practically, usefully, purposefully, precisely out of the way so I can move another machine about which I know so little.

“I’ll help you with the heavy snow at the end of the drive” he says while idling. “Thank you so much” I say. “Just being neighborly” he says, the end of the sentiment engulfed by the increasing throttle as he turns, heading back down the hill to home.

The cushioned silence greets me as I open the door. It’s early enough that snowblower rattles and shovel scrapes are not yet replacing Carolina Wren song.

Plodding through inches of snow, I am not yet ready to begin the tasks required to accommodate a normal day’s activities.

Heading to a flat open spot covered deep in snow, I fall backwards without worry, certain this mattress of frozen hexagons will catch me softly, conforming to my curves as much as any memory foam.

Smiling into the blue sky I move my long arms and legs in arcs, uselessly, impractically, for no reason but sensation, for no purpose but pleasure.

January 24, 2021

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Light and Shade

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.

When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never ending shade?

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

But seek no honor in my shadow. I will give you no hiding place down here.

Lift up your eyes upon this day breaking for you.

A Cento Poem created from lines of past Inaugural addresses. After listening and watching Amanda Gorman’s poem recitation at the recent Inauguration I became curious about past Inauguration poems. I found them and started looking for common themes between them.

The lines above are from the following poems:

Angelou, M. (1993). On the pulse of morning.  (Bill Clinton’s Inauguration 1993)

Alexander, E. (2009). Praise song for the day.  (Barak Obama’s Inauguration 2009)

Blanco, R. (2013) One Today. (President Barak Obama’s Inauguration 2013)

Gorman, A. (2021), The Hill We Climb. (President Joe Biden’s Inauguration 2021)