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30 Poems in 30 Days (Redux)

4-9 Abidjan: Je vous demande la route

We've admired new tiles,
Lab equipment
and waiting rooms

accepted and finished
Fanta or Sprite, the
extras beading sweat on
cheap Chinese tray
a fan turns lazily

the afternoon light slants
through wooden
slats.
there is little
more to say, and so

Dr. Jules speaks:
Mon Colonel, he says
We would like to ask you for the road.

I do not understand.
we are not lost, and
we do not build roads

but the Colonel smiles,
and answers:
I will give you half the road,
Because if I give you all of the road,
you will not be able to return to
see us again.
 
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4-10 Immigrant Grocery

They smile, indistinguishable
in cherry GIANT tunics
deft hands pile fruit
to already overstocked bins

They remember, individual
deft hands sprinkling water on
lettuce leaves, pyramids of tomatoes,
five to a pile, balanced perfectly
on mats laid in dust

They remember, indulgent
names of a favorite market lady
how she reached down, between
sandaled feet and added a perfect lemon
as dash.
 
4-11 The visit

father makes hot chocolate
the old dutch way
scalding the milk just so
the sound of liquid lapping
spoon cicumnavigates saucepan,
splashes of Suriname sweetness,
double processed cocoa
folded in full fat Dutch milk

veins in porcelain hands
twisted in patterns
not unlike the flowers
on the fading mugs
they warm their hands around.

the silence is easier
this way
 
4-12 Let's call this a placeholder

best intentions?
Absolut-ly

+ steak frites
apple crisp-ly
exceptional-y

silly delish

poetry?
nope
 
Desejo said:
A growth, he says, white
maggot fingers plying
brown wrinkles of skin
we cannot treat this, not
here

cataract blue eyes serious,
He takes her hands
speaks softly
as if this village woman understands,
Please,

tell her
We will make her comfortable
Do what we can for the pain
And give her what care we can

He says many things, but
I say

Go home, mama,
you will die soon

Because there is nothing more to say.
Click to expand...

This is wonderful
 
4-13 Unravelled

vigilant
to protect the nation
under God and justice
for all,

a threat,
there, in plain sight
the sheep do not notice.
app-lied as they are to phones

the metro jars
to action: stab
her with icy eyes, loudly
so she cannot deny:

“Please do not knit on the train
it makes me feel unsafe”.

cow eyed, the culpable
wraps needles in pink yarn
re-stowed to suspicious sack.

a commute unravelled.
 
4-14 Why'd you go there Cat?

the email from
mom: "you know,
he will be eighty"
sparks
mental playback loops
of Cat Stevens crooning
about cradles, silver spoons
getting together thens,
Dad
that never happen

damn him
why'd he have to
write that song
it makes me cry.
 
4-15 The Kitchen is Closed

somehow, sex slid
downward dog style
to the bargain basement,
packed away next to the
rolled up purple yoga mat
that always seems sticky
and thin when rolled out
for use
and never gets used
anyway

somehow, like the high
heels in my closet
that never get worn
sex seems extravagant
somewhat silly, and
certainly
a lot of work

somehow, it's like a
gourmet kitchen, gadgets
all around, gorgeous polished
copper pans, but all that
gets used is the sub-zero
fridge, and that
to store
gelato because
the kitchen is closed.
 
4-16 Kedougou, may they rest

The car careens,
hairpins tightly
braided to the mountain
black tarmac glistening
greased coils in the sun

Animata dozes
hot breath of the road lifting
corners of her lose head
scarf, the others talk,
hands gripping handles
tightly on turns

They have no time to see
the overloaded truck,
listing under rice,
how the driver had
Bismillah stuck on the windshield
for a safe journey

Within six hours
bodies pulled out, washed
wrapped in white linen
Taken home to bury

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon

Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.
 
4-17 The stars shift in 2000 years

BBC announced, today
we have it wrong
thanks to the Earth's wobble

I am not a lion, but a crab.
he not a fish, but a water bearer.
It doesn’t change the chemistry much.

I checked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zp4fvcw
 
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4-18 Taxi!!!

those tempting
painted, trolling trollops
waiting on curbs, tailgating
traffic, a thin whistle,
targeted twinkle, just waiting
for the when

one trusts the tempt.
feel loose and easy
hands thrust in pockets
fingering bills
meant for for a rainy day

It’s not raining,
but

it's late, been a brutal week
that final round of beer begot
leaden legs, and let’s not forget
one may have
to pee,
or
just
pass out.
 
Desejo said:
those tempting
painted, trolling trollops
waiting on curbs, tailgating
traffic, a thin whistle,
targeted twinkle, just waiting
for the when

one trusts the tempt.
feel loose and easy
hands thrust in pockets
fingering bills
meant for for a rainy day

It’s not raining,
but

it's late, been a brutal week
that final round of beer begot
leaden legs, and let’s not forget
one may have
to pee,
or
just
pass out.
Click to expand...

When in winter, though the sun may shine
it is still cold outside.
Given this, I can safely say
I can be happy to create
only one poem per day
Ok, I may be lying.

Mmmm' Cheers to Beers
Sighs _ I LOVE those guys. :D
 
4-19 Angelina wrote an Op-Ed

Angelina wrote an Op-Ed
explained that, after
a preemptive strike on
her world class breasts,
the ovaries are gone too.

numbers are shared -
85% chance is reduced
even more

Deborah sent me an SMS
explained that, after
six months of red devil cocktails
training for a final defensive strike
surgery is next week.

There is a complication.

I do not want to finish this poem
or play with numbers.
 
4-20 He craves me

I crave you

he types,
ears attuned to
nightingale floors
that chirp

attention-
forty five kilos
of commitment
coming

Still up
darling?
 
4-21 Because I have no time for games

men think
they
know.

women know
they
don't.
 
1-1
Hard knock

Hard knock life for me
full of insecurity
Scared of losing all control


How do I begin
Will I lose or will I win
what direction do I turn
 
4-22 Npr

radio declarations, uttered
emphatically in a soundproof box,
completely isolated,
as if the speaker is encased
in pilots headphones, a hazmat suit

that black background vacuum
behind words, so unnerving

pontificating, pronouncing
perfect truths in rolled syllables
listeners will repeat, exchange
over pigs in a blanket and Merlot

a quicker vector
than unvaccinated Americans
or a gloveless gravedigger
in Monrovia
 
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1-2

Flower petals

So many colors all around me
Beauty surrounds me
Purple , blue and yellow
 
4-23 Sitting Indian Style in Dorrie's TV Room, 1978

The carpet was blue
lighter than blueberry italian ice
the kind you'd drop an arm
into a sliding door freezer
to fish for, pushing aside
ice cream sandwiches and Bomb
Pops,

the blue you'd eat with a
a little wooden paddle
hoping for a gooey deeper
blue, slushy and dense
the underbelly of sugar glacier

On the chart of
Carolina,Cerulean, Cobalt
Columbia, Cornflower
Blues

It was more Columbia than
anything else,
maybe with a touch of
Oscar from Sesame
Street thrown in.

You imagine him
Reclining on the carpet,
in his glorious blueness
eating italian ice.
 
4-24 Midnight poem

i had it--
perfect theme
perfect words

it floated there
flirting, nudging
me to push aside

dopamine fog of
velveteen sleep
seal it in ink

I was sure--
so sure
it could wait

I could never forget it.
yet I did.
 
1-4 Winter Blues

Cool breeze
Chills my knees

Wind blows
Bright as cherry knows

Coat zipped tight
Shivering with all my might
 
1-5 little did i know

Little did I know
It would be you that would go
Now I wish I could say
Wish I had another day

Wish I could hold you once more
Hug you before
You head out the door

Instead I sit here with a tear in my eye
Questioning why
He took you away
Why didn't he give you another day
 
4-25 The words don't change the dilemma

this ends
one way
only

one way
this ends
only,

only, this
way
one ends

ends only.
this
one way

ends this.
one way.
only,
 
6-1

Rainy Day

Grey
Light,
mood,
weather...
all is grey,

Which is fine,
the sun shines
too bright when
unobscured,

Light.
Yellow,
open,
brilliant...
makes my mood
all the
greyer.
 
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