on the waterside path

Running away from fireworkson the waterside path
by the levy familiar geese
gaggle along

while a fat boy rests on the bridge
while his backpack rests beside him on the bridge
while the train goes by

that jackrabbit lolloping headlong
that reaches cover in the tall grass
and runs out the other side of the tall grass

toward the shack with walls no longer square
whose roof is rows of weathered slats that gap
to sunlight and the morning air

while two crows black and black
perch atop two dirty chunks of broken concrete
upon a low mound of broken concrete

and me watching
me watching
as if my heart would break

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The Creation (Monster Slayer part 1)

Entre el sol y mis pensamientosThe first people came up, they say,
Up through four worlds,
Up through a hollow reed, they say,
Up to this world.

When they arrived
This world was dark
Then someone said
It will not always be this way.

The clouds shone
Then birds came, talking loud.
Sun took hold the mountain
And leaped into the sky.

Day came
Then the waters rose in mist.
Spider-woman caught a fly
To celebrate dawn.

 

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Three Wishes

Deshnok,_Karni_Mata_Temple_(6271597223)I wanted some ice cream
Look what I got:
Rodents ’round a big milk pot.

(Do I want mice cream? I do not!)
chip ship 2

I asked for chocolate chips
So how
Did I get a gooey garbage scow?

(A chocolate ship? No, thanks, not now!)

That’s two wishes gone, and just one left.
I wish this genie wasn’t deaf!

 

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Alphabet, Schmalphabet – J, j

Winter OuthouseJimmy, Oh Jimmy, jumped into the jakes.
Why’d he do it? Goodness sakes!
When his teacher pulled him out
All the children commenced to shout:

Jimmy, Oh Jimmy, why did you do it?
See that hole and jump into it?
You’ll have to move far, far away
For no one will marry you after today!

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You’re Welcome

Here's A Jellybean For YouMy Nana gave me jelly beans
And so of course I went and ate ‘em
I don’t know how to tell her this
But – oh, my gosh, I hate ‘em!

I wouldn’t say that they were bad
I’d say that they were worse than awful:
They’re gruesome, noisome, smelly beans
And ought to be unlawful.

One tastes like bile; one tastes like grout;
And one’s like liver mixed with trout.
But while my Nana’s watching me
I daren’t spit ‘em out.

Some taste like toadstools on my tongue
Some taste like vipers might have viped ‘em
Some may have come from Baby’s diaper
After Baby diaped ‘em.

I wish I had a time machine
So I could tell her not to buy ‘em
… And those are all the reasons why
I will not let you try ‘em.

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Another View of Mt. Fuji

Volcanoes Halo by Carol PattersonAfter a drunken night, the fog starts to clear . . .
What the fuck?
Where’d that mountain come from?

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Why Snake Is Shy

Desert Nightsnake by KolbyOld snake
Never stays around long.
He knows someone will tell that story
How he lost his legs.

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The Lovers

image

Listen, so our lamp
goes out – it just means
there was someone needed light
more than us; it just means
we had enough.

                        Maybe
that light went to someone
underground, who now sees
the cave of wonders she
was stumbling through before;
or else a midnight thief

is about to be discovered;
or maybe the place where
it’s noon right now just got
a little bit brighter.

Anyway, you and I,
we both know there’s really
no such thing as the dark.

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