It bothered youthat you were so bothered, obsessively so, for weeks,until finally, you saidto yourself (becauseno one else was listening), how am I served by this anger? I mean, it’s happened before:you perceive thatsomeone has beenshitty to you and you don’t understandhow anyone could be that shitty. Youdo not deserve it,you say, you havebeen maligned,Continue reading “#536: Bothered to Be Bothered”
Category Archives: Poetry
#535: Melt the Guns (Elton’s Version)
A deep cut from the Caribou album, I bet few of us remember that Elton John and Bernie Taupin, in 1974, wrote a song about a massshooting. As a kid, ten years old, the song terrified me. Even thoughI may not have been able to singit to you, I remembered the lyricsto “Ticking” up toContinue reading “#535: Melt the Guns (Elton’s Version)”
#534: Somewhere, An Explosion
Last night in the house there was some crazy popping, crashing, smashingsound that startled all of us, me in the study, my wife in the dining room,my son upstairs in his spacelikely with his door closed. We all came running outto see what it was. We looked everywhere for the fallen pot or frame, theContinue reading “#534: Somewhere, An Explosion”
#533: Thank You
April is done.Somehow,I wrote 60 poems.To all of youStopping by to readTaking the timeTo like a poemOr commentOr follow,I thank you.Your interestAnd supportHas nourishedThis writer’s heartAnd strengthenedMy resolve toKeep making thingsWith words.To say we do thisWriting thingFor its own sakeIs only partly true,For meIt wouldn’t beNearly as much fun Without you.
#532: On Writing 60 Poems in 30 Days
I think I know why I’m writing these poems– I’ve two a day for a full thirty days.If for only one month in the whole yearI’ve found a discipline that keeps me trueto the kind of thing I most want to do.No one’s waiting, holding their breath for me, there would be no consequence forContinue reading “#532: On Writing 60 Poems in 30 Days”
#531: Samson Gets A Haircut
It’s just time. When it gets long like thisit becomes unmanageable,unruly, always getting in my eyes and in my mouth when I’m making love or clubbingsomeone to death. Annoying. And I’m told I look youngerwhen my hair is short. SoI’m just gonna go for it. Not a buzz cut, by any means, but something close,Continue reading “#531: Samson Gets A Haircut”
#530: Premature Elegy for the Cardigan
I used to wear them. I had a math teacher colleaguewho wore them all the timeeven after everyone stopped.For all I know, in his retirementhe’s still wearing them,but I never see him anymore,so I can’t be sure. Mr. Rogers wore them. Mr. Rogers wore them so wellthat the cardigan sweater almost became synonymouswith Mr. Rogers–ifContinue reading “#530: Premature Elegy for the Cardigan”
#529: The Impossible Pot (again for Terri Ford)
It seemed at first impractical, and then inflatable, then improbable, now impossible, this ain’t no blow-up pot, but a real one. Or is it? It does not look plastic or rubberand there’s no nipple to put air into or suck air out of. It may actually bea real clay pot, and yet, look carefully. TheContinue reading “#529: The Impossible Pot (again for Terri Ford)”
#528: The Improbable Pot (for Terri Ford)
In the picture, the man appears to be carrying a large clay pot on his shoulder, a pot painted to look like a gigantic boombox, like the ones in the80’s, so that while he carries it, helooks like he might also be rocking out,the speakers right up to his ears for thatoptimal stereo sound. ItContinue reading “#528: The Improbable Pot (for Terri Ford)”
#527: An American Sonnet after Simon’s American Tune
We come on the ship they call The MayflowerWe come on the ship that sailed the moonWe come in the age’s most uncertain hoursAnd sing an American tune Paul simon Something must be wrong with us, it seems. Half of us appear to have lost our minds.I attempt to write a poem that doesn’t trytoContinue reading “#527: An American Sonnet after Simon’s American Tune”
michael jarmer 