Kevin was obsessive, compulsively soand would sometimes anger when things didn’t gothe way he liked, would bite with sarcasm, poke at his wife, but this was his worst. Even though he’d say that when he metmy sister, he was a drugged-up mess, from the beginning none of us saw this. What we saw was aContinue reading “#484: Kevin was obsessive, compulsively so . . .”
Category Archives: Poetry
#483: A Mom Thing
My mother was not Jewishbut would often use the nameof the traditional wineas if it were a swear word. She’d exclaim in frustration,“Manischewitz!” I never learned why she did this, nor did I knowwhat the word meantand I never asked. Only after she died, and I was thinking about all the oddballsayings of hers, didContinue reading “#483: A Mom Thing”
#482: Shakespeare tried to immortalize his love . . .
Shakespeare tried to immortalize his lovein sonnets, in perfect iambic linesand in masterful metaphor, enjambed rhymes.What lives on is the poem, not the person. But it’s better than nothing, I suppose,and everyone who dies should have a poemcomposed in their memory, 14 lines,a poem that preserves something of a soul, that argues that the worldContinue reading “#482: Shakespeare tried to immortalize his love . . .”
#481: Three Blessings
Three Blessings(after Alicia Ostriker) To be blessedsaid the poetis to find a poemthat is not your poemfrom which you cansteal thingsto make into your own things To be blessed said the termiteis to find woodthat is not your woodinto which youcan borough and breeduntil the world collapsesright around the humans To be blessedsaid the atomisContinue reading “#481: Three Blessings”
#480: My brother-in-law died from his cancer . . .
My brother-in-law died from his cancerat home on February twenty-fifth.I hadn’t seen him since October lastwhen he still had some hair and could carryon with conversation as if he was not really sick. Even then, though, he hadconfined himself to the sofa; he could physically do little else and welikely knew that it would neverContinue reading “#480: My brother-in-law died from his cancer . . .”
#479: Spiders
Once gigantic spider-like creatures ruled this world. They were as big as lions or gorillas. The Strangest Things in the World, Thomas R. Henry Spiders I don’t kill spiders any more. For the most part, I ignore them.When I can, I scoop them upand I put them outside, which, depending I supposeon the variety ofContinue reading “#479: Spiders”
#478: So I resolved in the new year to try . . .
So I resolved in the new year to trya meditation practice once againafter a two-year mindfulness dry spell.Not entirely mindlessness, but close. For whatever reason, I could not sitand my cushion languished without me.But during that whole episode, I knewsomething was wanting, something was amiss.It’s not enough to write a ten-syllable line; no amount ofContinue reading “#478: So I resolved in the new year to try . . .”
#477 Surrealism is Dead: A Prose Poem
Surrealism is Dead It died right alongside Irony in the second and third decades of the 21st century. We tried to revive it. We administered the CPR. We kept the airway free. We turned it on its side so it wouldn’t choke on its own vomit. Finally, it gave up the ghost. Now, we lookContinue reading “#477 Surrealism is Dead: A Prose Poem”
#476: Please be advised to like and to subscribe . . .
Two days into National Poetry Writing Month and so far I’ve met my goal of writing two poems every day, one of which must be a sonnet. I don’t know if this is sustainable. Only time will tell. . . Please be advised to like and to subscribe . . . Please be advised toContinue reading “#476: Please be advised to like and to subscribe . . .”
#475: The Platonic Love Poem
The optional prompt today from the glorious NaPoWriMo website suggested a platonic love poem. It took me all of about three seconds to choose a subject. Adam I don’t remember a momentwhen it felt like I didn’t know you. On some great day in the 90swe met for the first timeand it was one ofContinue reading “#475: The Platonic Love Poem”
michael jarmer 