Poetry – Page 10 – michael jarmer

#588: On Not Going Back to the Schoolhouse on the First Day of School for the 4th Year In a Row

I hardly give it a thoughtuntil my wife heads out of the housewith a tub of red vines for the drum line info table where herstudents will entice the 9th gradersinto joining indoor percussion. Then, I give it a thought. This is the fourth school yearin a row that I have not reportedback to workContinue reading “#588: On Not Going Back to the Schoolhouse on the First Day of School for the 4th Year In a Row”

#587: A musician of a certain age. . .

. . . sits on his drum throne and bends overto tighten the floor tom legs and the agonyis immediate. He’s not sure if he hears an actual crack or if the pain synapses inhis brain are exploding his auditory nerves. What is most likely is that the pain hascaused him to yell. He’s settingContinue reading “#587: A musician of a certain age. . .”

#587: Streak Ends! Stats Fail!

According to my Insight Timerstatistics, I meditated 203 consecutivedays and then I stopped. This morning, I meditatedfor the second consecutive day. Part of me feels like I’ve been robbed, so disappointed tohave broken my streak, to have experienced such a monumental stats fail. Another part of me wantsto trash the Insight Timeraltogether, right along sideofContinue reading “#587: Streak Ends! Stats Fail!”

#586: Literature Only: Another Air Travel Poem

Hi, there. Sure is nice seeing you here at 30,000 feet. Feel free to enable, open, scan, and browse, but please note, you can place literature only inside the plastic pouch above your upright tray table. Anything decidedly not literature, you’ll have to place elsewhere. I know you’re already frustrated with the free-for-all nature ofContinue reading “#586: Literature Only: Another Air Travel Poem”

#585: Keeping the Baby

I’m not making this up. The airline steward gets on the microphone at the gate to announce that any families with babies need to be forewarned: if the baby smiles at him, he says, he’s taking the baby, he’s keeping the baby.

#584: Meditation Under Construction (A Wally Camp Dispatch)

In my novel, the main characteris building a playhouseand his drivewayis torn to shitfor the necessary underground infrastructure. In reality, the campus atMacalester Collegein St. Paul, Minnesotais under constructionand roads and sidewalksand large lawn swathsare torn to shit to make way for the necessary underground infrastructure. We meditated to that. Windows open so the morningbreezeContinue reading “#584: Meditation Under Construction (A Wally Camp Dispatch)”

#583: The Forgotten Watch (Three Haiku)

Did you know that the plural of haiku is haiku? You’re welcome. Arrived safely and happily yesterday at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota for the annual Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers alumni conference, otherwise known as Wally Camp. One of our intrepid emcees of our nightly readings of poetry and fiction and memoirContinue reading “#583: The Forgotten Watch (Three Haiku)”

#582: That Time I Got Help With a Bot from Another Bot

After a second day of hundreds of visits, I contacted the automated helpon my Word Press site to see if itcould stop my German bots. Initially, I asked to speak to a realperson, but the automated helpwas, how do I say, insistent aboutgiving it a go. Why not, I said. Together, we learned a lotconcerningContinue reading “#582: That Time I Got Help With a Bot from Another Bot”

#581: That Time 856 Germans Visited My Blog

I get this notification from WordPress:“Your stats are booming! michaeljarmer is getting a lot of views.” Of course, I want to know more, so I visit my statsand over the course of a few hours, I have 249, then 380, moments later567, and by the end of the day, 856, all these visits originating fromContinue reading “#581: That Time 856 Germans Visited My Blog”