Encounters with Birds

One

A bird lay
under a bush,
and I stepped too close.
It hopped a few feet,
then rested. It's wing
was broken, or something.
We stared at each other,
and it hopped away.
I understood pain, and
survival.

Two

Working for the old man,
I spotted a mother turkey
with twenty chicks.
She strutted proudly and
with authority, and despite
standing on a cement driveway,
completely outside
the boundaries and comforts
of home, she stood tall and
showed no waver of confidence
in front of her young.
I called out to her, and upon
turning her head, I recognized
the importance of family, and of
initiative.

I understand death now.
I understand pain.

The Most Important Thing

What do you do
when you're alone,
in a sinking ocean,
with weights tied
to your ankles?

When there are
too many ears(eyes)
and none at all?

(If a Friend walks
by after you've
already sunk below
the surface,
will he ever know
you were in distress?)

On the Road

I am

lost.
It's dark out,
I don't know
where

Iam.Iam.Iam.

I don't know
who

I am(have been)
displaced.



Hello?

Hello?

Peggy's Alright...The Baby's Dead.

Weeding a garden,
I pulled at a clump
of dirt and found
in my hand the remains
of a baby bird.

I paused, and lay the bird
out in my palm. Bits of mud
clung to the baby's feathers,
talons curled underneath its
frail body as its head fell
limp between my fingers.

I mourned the bird's short life
for a moment, then glanced
to each side, and when no one
was looking and against orders,
I returned the broken body to
the ground, covering it with
a patch of sod, ensuring it would
no longer be disturbed.

567-555-4561 or Lobster Party

I awoke to a
lobster infestation.
Seemingly unaware of
the significant
lack of hydration,
they scampered across
the floor, snapping
their claws and hissing
their horrible lobster
hiss.

I shouted at the
invading crustaceans,
"Get out of here, you slimy
black bubble munching
invertebrates, or
I'll boil you up til
you're red!" But the
monsters just snapped their
claws and tapped their toes and
danced

their lobster dances.
That's when I realized that
I had stumbled upon a
lobster party, in
the middle of my
living room, one of
great succes, I might
add, and I'll be
damned if I didn't
take off my shoes and join
in.

What are we, if not
memories? Entire lives
spent in the past, who
are we to call ourselves
more than such? Without
memories, have we identity?
One can argue, we are as
we are seen in the eyes of
our family and friends.

But are we not memories
in their minds? All of our
actions and words, our appearance
and feelings, interpreted into
memories, directly recallable
only as long as the lives of those
who experienced Us.

Do we have presence outside
of the minds of those of ours?
One could argue that our presence
exists in the physical Now, but
is it too much to consider the Now
as just the most tangible memory we have?
What is Now, but an infinitesimal point
on Time's map?

By definition, a point has no physical
value, only serving as an eternally small
reference location for a given value.
Therefore, an inability to measure the
value of the Now leaves us with no measurable
concept of physical presence. Now is Now,
and we are our past. Past Nows can be measured
in quantity, so we can measure our worth in
past presences, or memories.

We are who we are. I suppose.

Where have I gone?

Remind me to consider creating another chapbook once the semester is over. Not for a reason, just because I find it stress-relieving...compiling things you worked on. It's fulfilling. The end.

PS. Stress. Mess. Less.

Questions create illusions
and where do we go from here?
Well, for one, you'll
be here soon.

You know, I'm one to admit
I take life for granted,
and I get upset over a lot
of things, but in the end,

the sun comes up
in the morning.

It's a sight to see.

Money's an issue. I think I've sent out at least 30 applications/resumes. A few have responded, none have taken me, thus far. I know I won't have enough to pay this month's bills but I may be able to work it out with my roommates. That won't last forever. I've been considering another loan, but I don't know how to do that. I know so many people that say "Oh, I just had to take out another loan," and when I ask how they did that or what kind of loan they say "Oh, just go to financial aid." I go there and they say "Have you tried the Stafford Loan or our other grants." YES I'VE TRIED THEM I STILL DON'T HAVE MONEY BECAUSE YOU TOOK IT ALL. So I started looking at the options at the bank's website and it just scared me. So. Square one. I'm in a familiar position. Never underestimate the term "poor college student."

Green

5:30

I sat on the roof,
watching early risers
glide by across rain soaked
streets.

I faced the east, waiting
patiently for the sun to
rise, and when it did,
I looked around

and swiftly came to realize
that there are some shadows
that don't fall with the
breaking of the dawn,

and these, we have to
face each morning.

No matter how brightly
the sun shines.

A Limerick

There was a young boy who was high.
He ate his mom's fresh apple pie.
She came home from mass,
found her son was on grass,
and beat him so hard that he cried.

Light out still,
sun's down though.
Light out,

and skeletons hang
by ropes tied to trees.

Some notes from a found notepad, Part 3

look into March
marathon

Ideas for websites/
lifestyle./book

Sleep
Nutrition / Diet
Setting limits
AdBalance work/fun
Balance
Environment
Attitude
Conscience
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barret
Ritchie (2) log/MEM

May called me but did
not send a log or MEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fluids ~ 140, 141, 142
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do
-RED HORSE powerpoint
email to Hill
-Read "The Stranger"
by Albert Camus
-Study Talk to lost
Matt about Dynamics
(Mike Mish)
-
-Study Fluids

-

Some notes from a found notepad, Part 2

Tell Gedman
good job on
memo
_________________

-try not to use
words like zap.

-Forgot to sign

-Keep it up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grocery
milk
vitamin C drops
cottage cheese.

2 sweet potatoes (12 oz)
celery
1 large onion (12 oz)
garlic
vegtable[sic] broth
1 package lentils
coconut

Some notes from a found notepad, Part 1

Type memo for half marathon.
-see cardboard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Lead pencils w/ lead
0.7 mm

-milk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exemptions for sick
Recommendations?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things to get
poster board
markers
arts & crafts

goggles
swim suit shorts.

Trifold poster

Orange craisins
(costco)

Hot Chocolate
mini mallows

seeds

It takes
ten
thousand
words
to build a
foundation.

And only
two
to burn it down.

and then

I've been thinking
more than I've been writing, at least...
and perhaps a bit too much at that.

But I know exactly what I need.

Flight 281, Chicago to Pittsburgh. Or, April 1, 1968

Ahead of me, an old man
takes his time removing his
belt and shoes before
stepping through the frame.

“Listen, man, there’s a bunch
of us got places to go.”

Later on, another announcement
would delay the flight at least
half an hour. Unison groans of
disapproval.
The old man would smile and
continue rehashing his part
in Operation Pegasus and a few
of us stranded travelers would
chew on every word,
wide-eyed.

The terrified look in his eyes reminded me
that if the worst thing I have to deal with
is a short flight delay,

I haven’t got it that bad.

night lights

If there's one thing
you don't get from
the city, its the cool
blue glow of the moon.

Come to think of it,
I don't remember the last
time I saw the moon.
I don't remember the last
time I looked up at the sky.

An act in vain, in the city.

Bandit

It's cold in the room so
naturally I have a
sweatshirt on with the hood
up. Someone comes in and
says "Jesus you look like
a freakin' robber, all
hunched over with your hood
up and stuff." Well, sorry,
but it gets cold up here.
What kind of burglar sits
down at his victim's lap-
top and writes poetry,

anyway?

The forgetting of myself

Save the elderly couple
walking down Craig,
down the center,
mind you,

as the snow's made it
inaccessible otherwise,
(and as the sidewalks are
altogether. Inaccessible,
I mean.)

the streets are barren.


Save the elderly couple.

and the raindrops
and the raindrops
and the raindrops
and the raindrops
and the raindrops
and the raindrops
and the raindrops

ZZ

Traces of Jazz
reminds me, we
Leaving Las Vegas
Mulholland Drive
maybe even
Titus,
tonight perhaps.

Note to self:

I love airports,
and everything about them.
The people, the atmosphere,
the architecture,
the lines.
The lines.
More about that later,
I've a flight to catch, and
a book to read. About a house.

things to do now til then

1. learn about finance
2. purchase things, but not too many
3. sol
4. pack your bags
5. wear sunglasses
6. syd barrett
7. don't fall in the snow
8. don't fall in the show
9. your stars my stars only impulse find sky motherless
10. Ten
11. chicago
12. write a thing
13. oh god, write a thing
14. discover an event to talk about
15. chicago

It's funny what ends up
giving us the most motivation
for creativity, yeah?
It's funny what ends up
leaving us in long droughts.

Remember for a second:

Joni Violet.
And then also,
This.
Always beware.
I loved Joni Violet. I still do.

I miss you, Joni, and everything you do.

Snow.

PS. Please note the comments under Joni's post. We used to have those, me and You. We don't anymore, do we? I miss those too.