Thursday, March 29, 2018

A Word or Two on Cats


I’ve never felt very much
when a cat looks at me in
the eyes.  I can usually get
something from a dog,
but a cat’s glare feels
like a passive judgment.

Mammals in general are
not big on eye contact.
Chimpanzees for instance,
hardly ever look at human
beings in the eye with recognition.
Whereas dogs and cats will
stare right at you. Know you.

There’s an authenticity in
the eyes of cats and dogs,
and some would say more so
in the eyes of cats. 
There’s something going on
in their brains that seems
more methodical  than dogs.

Cats have a mythical curiosity
to them, revered in ancient cultures,
reviled in others. Harbingers of
doom or joy, bringers of luck or
conspirators with the Devil.
It’s difficult to name their
historical appeal.

We, as humans, only know that
in their long, piercing gazes, that
they see something in us, something
we may not see about ourselves.
They provide the means to ask the question,
“What am I?” and “Why am I?”

They, cats and dogs, remind us of our
truest selves and that’s why they
matter. That’s why we grieve when
they are gone. The small piece of
our soul, released into the
nethers, joining the great
choir of mystery beyond
the pale.  

Maybe it’s why I try not to
feel anything when a cat or
dog looks at me in the eyes.
They make me worry about
my own impermanence and
 my deep, hidden desires to be as
authentic, present and mindful
as humanly possible.

They probably know me better
than I know myself. 

Friday, March 23, 2018

The Girl with the Golden Eyes



The girl with the golden eyes
smiled at me.
I hadn’t expected it nor was
I adequately prepared.

I stammered and stuttered,
made a quick joke, fixed my
sweater and shifted my weight
on the balls of my feet.

She smiled at me again,
eyes sparkling like sunset on
a gentle lake, hued in amber
and bronze.

I meekly smiled back, feeling
sheepish, unworthy and
altogether immodest, mildly
afraid and excited by her attention.

She extended her hand, a gentle
smile gracing her visage, glittering,
in the dusky hour before nightfall,
and I took her hand in mine.

Her touch, a peaceful electrifying
tremor of calm and tenderness.
Her golden eyes met mine, my
forehead furrowed with mild confusion.

Her golden eyes shimmered as she
playfully laughed at my awkwardness.
I held her hand a bit tighter as we walked
toward whatever end there might be.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Moonset


I just want to stay up
until the Moon sets.

I could have said Sun rise,
but I think Moon set has a curious ring.

Why don’t we refer to the Moon
going down as a Moon Set?

We have Sun Rise, and Moon Rise,
Sun set, but no Moon set.

So I’m changing Sunrise to
Moonset.

And I hope to get through
it all without making a fool of myself.

Friday, March 9, 2018

Deli Mill



I’m forcing myself to come
up with something to write today.
It seems like I haven’t written
a word of any substance in a
very long while and I find it
distressing.

My creative thoughts are jumbled
in thought wheel limbo, churning
like an old mill water wheel in some lazy
river. There’s a flowery verse here,
crashing with a drunken verse there,
mixing with some mundane verse.

It’s all flowing downstream in a
mixed spiral of oil slicks, rainbows
and, I don’t know, baby food?
See, that’s a super mixed up
phrase that makes very little
sense.

It seems I have a lot on my mind,
sex, love, Friday, drinking, work,
joys, duty, depression, being an
individual amongst a symphony of
individuals. There’s a lot going on
in the old brain box.

Long.
Pause.

I’d describe it like waiting in line
at a deli counter, trying to decide
how many pounds of meat you’re going
to buy. Do you get the 2 pounds of
peppered turkey or get the roast beef?
Will you have your mind made up by the time
the burly butcher finally calls your number?

The thoughts are like all those meats,
sides, salads, cuts, behind glass, and you’re
licking your lips, looking for the most delectable
to sate your burning hunger, but nothing,
none of those meats are really doing it
for you. That’s how it is trying to pick the
right words to express, whatever it is that
is going on in my head.

So it’s like an old mill wheel in a river
and a deli counter.
And this is where it’s taken us,
to the end, of whatever this is,
a destination, likely unworthy of
the journey.

So hold onto your life preserver
made of bologna,
in the choppy river of mixed metaphors,
and incomplete…

Friday, March 2, 2018

Slo-Mobious Strip


In the end, it’s just like
the beginning.
Slow and relentless,
repeating.

The same questions,
Do they like me?
Do they think of me?
Am I being silly?

The same answers,
No,
No,
Yes.

A cycle of motion
turning in infinity
as fast as molasses
in winter, but not as tangy.

The mistakes in slow-motion,
the joys going too fast,
in constant pull,
incorrigible.

The same questions,
Does she like me?
Does she think of me?
Am I being silly?

Repeating,
Slow and Relentless,
the beginning
it’s just like the end.