Monday, November 26, 2007

this is the poem...

This is the poem that wants to tell you things
This poem rises early to whisper in your ear
This poem stays up late to put your dreams to bed
This poem waits inside you when you rest
Lives each day waiting to tell you things
Hoping upon hope that you listen to its words
This is the poem that longs for you

This is the poem that wants to forget the practical
This poem wants to get away
Do childish things
Drive fast on mountain roads
This poem takes curves at 90
Skids fast on icy covered pavement
Soars off a cliff
And as it falls
this is the poem that begins to fly

Takes off like a bird
Gaining altitude it heals in the warm wind
This poem is on it's way to you
Through the air
Floating across the valley
Into my hands
From hands to pen
From pen to page
From page to mouth
From mouth to you
this is the poem that talks to you

this is the poem walks with you
this is the poem that knows who you are
knows you’ll never be far
this is the poem that wants you

This poem knows you are afraid of the dark
This poem holds you at night when you walk in the park
This is the poem that protects you

This poem knew it the first time it saw you
you had those eyes that could read real fast
real deep, real slow
This is that poem that you wanted to read
This is the poem that wants to write about you
This is the poem that loves you

Thursday, November 22, 2007

TaxiCab confessions #17


 


 

1991


 

I drove cab for United Checker Cab. Based in Gardena California, USA. Since then it is called something like Taxi co-op. (the largest Taxi company in the Greater Los Angeles area)


 

I was driver number #7923


 

I was just a green Oregon boy lost in the big city.


 


 

My third night on the job I picked up a very short Puerto Rican man who was really drunk. I picked him up in Carson.... on the east side at a "dollar" type convenience store. I think it was Carson and 223rd. The store owner made sure he got safely in the cab. I drove the man into a part of Los Angeles inner city called Lenox(an un-incorporated city of LA). The entire trip he cried, stating empatically..."la policĂ­a toma a mi esposa".... well that is the Spanish trasnlation... what I actually heard in broken Span-Puerto-English.... was "the police took my wife."


 

His tears were immense. I tried to write him off. He paid me twenty-one of the twenty three dollar fare. I remembered him as a matter of fact because he stiffed me on two bones.


 

Two days later I was contacted on my MDT ( mobile data terminal ), the communication between company and driver, that I needed to report to headquarters...Post Haste. I drove from my residence ( Walteria Torrance ) to Gardena to see what was so important that I interrupted my POST position #1 in RPV.. ( Rolling Hills .) I was pissed to lose my post spot to JD and Raoul... always $$$ money pot trips in the a.m..


 

When I met with Abe ( pronounced "ababe`"my boss ) he had an LA Sheriff waiting for me. It seems the man I took in my cab ended up dead and I was the last person who could be linked to him being alive...... I was #1 suspect!

just a bit of History - Los Angeles Riots 1992

 

I sat recounting the other day some memorable events related to social extremes and remembered some experiences. If we forget out our past we are sure to repeat it. Some things are never forgotten in my mind…

            

I drove a taxi in Los Angeles in April of 1992, when an event known as "The Rodney King Uprising" occurred and drew worldwide attention. I remember taking my cab to the garage for routine maintenance early afternoon before the verdict. I sat around with my Latino, and African American friends joking and kidding around about what we felt was a foregone conclusion of a guilty verdict. As the maintenance was concluded, one of the guys in the shop turned up the radio to hear a full acquittal on all account against the officers involved. My friend turned to me and told me to get my ass home and what direction to travel to avoid problems. He told me that the division had just happened and it would not be safe to be associated with me or anyone else who was white. The black men that I considered my friends felt that they were finally going to get justice and be recognized as equal and when the verdict was announced their hopes of ever getting theirs was completely dashed. I lived in San Pedro at the time and traveled along surface streets along a strip of Los Angeles to my home. As I drove through crowded streets I noticed groups of people start to congregate on the street corners. All gangs were represented, all ethnicities, the hate grew from street corner to street corner.

In subsequent days to follow I watched hate crimes over and over, until I became almost numb. As helicopters circled nightly over my home I was filled with a sense of devotion to join in the fight. I decided to throw myself into the fray and dedicate my taxi business to taking people who otherwise could not get a ride. I picked up one man who had been beat so badly that he was bleeding to death in my taxi, his arm torn viciously open almost to the bone. I took him to an immediate care emergency group in Long Beach where he died five minutes after arrival. By the way he was black and his violators were Hispanic. As I cleaned the blood stained seats in my taxi, this surreal feeling came over me. Where was I? What marker would these events have in my personal life, or that of the lives of so many who were affected?

~~~~~~~~~~ No Justice, No Peace

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

un-R.E.M.

 


up at 3am
aching from head to toe with tired bones
soft porn yeilding unsatisfactory results
stiff from arthritic joints
salt and pepper taking over
stiff member walking peg legged


I rounded the corner in my Benz
Carlton Sheets behind the wheel
shouting at the top of his lungs:
........"happiness found, with no money down
............................you two bit whore!"


found a recipe for optimum health
two carrots, a sprig of parsley, blood
down the chute in Jack Lalanne's legacy
emptied into my belly
a laughable mix of spirits and beta carotene


anti aging cream to jack my monkey to
with brass fittings and leaking pipes
apple spice candle wax
dripping on your chest
bruised breasts with tickle feathers


angels sleep when they fly over the Atlantic
tethered by chains to a ship sent to Bermuda
the achill es in my broken step
strain as walking on water becomes a chore
blistering feet from miles of solitary flight
who needs sleep?
when wrinkles come from birthing children
breaking bones and job titles
the old mans ghost lives in revelations with Jesus
a hollowed out bible, out of print
holding seven gemstones in a hidden pocket
walking sideways to the moonlight
lighting the way home with a hint of amethyst
a bright bloom of dawn
another day to wish for slumber

Sunday, November 18, 2007

still babies

 

 

 

 

 

I watch them from afar mostly
let them grow into men and women
see them run, sing, dance
but they still smell like babies to me


he looks the motley role
a skater without a board
she's died dark black
masking her natural locks
but inside they still look like babies to me


they loiter in shopping malls
stealing candy kisses from grocery stores
they learn how to feel adult things
but they still feel like babies to me


they drive home with Vans and Sketchers
feet moving fast on pavement
pedals to the metal
knowing how to get back home
but they still walk like babies to me


I watch them from afar mostly
let them grow into men and women
see them run, sing, dance
there still my babies

Friday, November 16, 2007

know

I seem to know why
but I deny
the faith in lovers
to shake the rusty covers
of deceit and shame
all the same
I seem to know why


presumptuous insistence
petulant resistance
of truth in tame lost eyes
in voices of lame lies
knowing the past and present
but unable to remember the pleasant


I seem to know why
I cannot find one who sees me cry
to bring down the shield
give in and be healed
a true voice of one for me
that I can't often see
unable to fathom the cry and fly
I seem to know why

the king stole the crowd

 

I knew this guy once

who talked in parables,

quite the poet actually

he enthralled the masses with his words...

asked the river to turn to merlot

made the best fish sandwiches...

you ate one, and you were hooked

and it was all you can eat... a buffet

one day he walked to the top of this mountain...

everyone was diggin' on a rap he was laying down

something about love and truth... brotherhood and understanding

it was a great show that day, when the king stole the crowd

Thursday, November 15, 2007

they fly

 

 

 

robin, red breast

pounded out melody

harmony took the days

a misnomer of all things

graceful

 

 

the meadowlark

grazing the sky

healing to a worshiped limb

a resonance, within still encumbered hope

 

 

I talked to the sparrow

the warm wave of grain

in hot August pain

established just the same

 

 

upon arrows shielded

of whence a sultry night is embalmed

cared for and sought after

the rain came

they took shelter under branches

 

 

my birds of fancy....

show me how to cry

teach me how to fly

never be afraid to try

for if not.... I shall die....

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

evidence trail

form feeding downward
to the end of the page
slit cut knives from dinner time
shredding documents from yesterday
holding on to their umbilical cord
a mic cord with distortion
bent around barbs of 10 gauge wire
wired romance around the neck of disobedience
cloudy vignettes of days past
and tomorrows lost in endless rainbows
of soft shields with dark bows
pointed eyes, red stained lips
photocopied evidence
finger printed remains
on blood stained sheets
with dried wine on the back sheet
written in braille on a tablet
for the blind to see better than the words on a page
in a document written with words of lies and dangerous truths

Monday, November 12, 2007

Hunger, Shame and Moon

 

 

A dawning of a Westerly yearning moon

pulling itself hopelessly to the East

red clay lays upon the rooftops of commoners

they pour into one another with lanterns and mighty feet

all tribes are represented in the day of reckoning to the moon

Hauling in packs, staple nourishment for the journey

sounds of forbidden lyrics singing on the horizon

the smoke unites

they trade within themselves harvest,

the anise shadow

they only breath when the moon sleeps sound

 

 

What has this hurling mass of white rock

done to impose upon my people?

A land stolen from red skin

A land where the simplest message is lost

fornicators, abusers, representatives unite

you have won the battle against your brother

 

 

what does the moon do

when the sun cannot illuminate her night?

breathe transgressions into the wind?

seek elementary reasons for failure in the grand design

my people march to the mountain top

with wild honey

and stone ground grain

feeding those who sold their tapestries at market price

yet never yielding to the grubber man and his talons

 

 

they live everyday, just to see God turn west just once

when the moon dances they are locked in battle with machines

they turn to history and hang their head in fallen shame

begging for scraps of forgiveness

the world sees cellophane promises and transparencies

bellies full of pork, fat cats in limousines

grain and canned salmon left for my people

from the food box to the plate of middle class

no gray areas

my moon shines it's truth upon the classes

illuminating truth from ones who carry carnivore lust

 

 

Silver Orb I declare,

"your blessing is rich to those that travel"

perfection in the sky I look for truth now

 

 

When the west sleeps and waits again for the moon

fear encompasses the cloudy promises

In my land

the words try to become song in flight

we slowly smoke away harmony

sitting in obscurity, while fools make policy

 

 

In my land my people know how sweet the music is

and we shine

In my land words and freedom are known

and we shine

voices speaking twisters, through clouds

making it impossible to discern

and we shine

unable to see your precious smile

yet we shine

unable to hear the voice of distant tribes

we shine

unable to feel the glow,

we shine

ignoring hungry children all around

we shine

dead bodies piling up all over the world

we shine

 

 

as we reach to the summit with our radios' blaring

the moon sets,

smoke settles in red eyes

a trumpet sounds

In my land

shame lingers in the mind of the commoner

Dark Sex In The Light Of Day

 

You were perfect in your Sunday

hairspray still lingering in my nostrils

push up bra tight, etching your skin

french cut face, folds devouring the lace

mascara smeared, I made you sweat

you came to me still dripping and wet

the devil in your night had filled your day

for now there’s no one left to kneel and pray

 

You disrobed in front of my eyes showing me

your pleasures of the night, your scars

trophies of conquest, bore on your flesh

ripe for the taking, your bosom plainly bruised

tattered and torn, your legs spread forlorn

you laid back open and inviting wanting to be used

I examined your depths and surmised a dark rim

tearing the remaining lace, leaving you in sin...

Saturday, November 10, 2007

a child called poetry

after reading one night
she grabbed me as I passed
told me she had felt my words
inside of her, in her womb
she sheltered the words
fed them her supper
watched them grow for months
calmed them to sleep in the dark
held them tight to her bosom
kicking to be brought to light
I returned to read...
only to find she was not there
my seed was planted in her
to grow, with nourishment
with sun
and rain
falling days
words giving birth to a child
a child called poetry

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Cloud

 

"grampa,
could you touch a cloud
could you punch a cloud
could you reach out and touch its hand
could you walk around a cloud?"


she asked so innocently
like she was still 4 or maybe 5
never would have guessed she was 14
and when he told her that fog was a cloud
she smiled and said:


"grampa,
could you touch the fog
could you punch the fog
could you reach out and touch its hand
could you walk around in the fog?"


she knew she could do these things
like she was wiser than her years, maybe 25 or 30

never would have guessed she was 14
and when he told her that fog was in fact water
she smiled a devilish smile and said:


"grampa,
could you turn water into wine
could you punch the drunk man blind
could you reach out and give him your hand
could you walk beside him and help him stand?"


she saw things, a child with marvelous eyes
a woman caught deep in loves sighs

never would have guessed she was 14
and when he told her water was in fact wine
she smiled a heavenly smile and said:


"grampa,
I don't drink wine
but I drink water in quart bottles
I feel fog on my skin and it chills my spine
I see clouds in the distance
and I reach out to touch
but I just wonder?"

 

"grampa
can you touch a cloud
can you punch a cloud
can you reach out and touch its hand
can you walk around a cloud?"

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

driftwood

 

I'm lost if not found
tossing on waves and tides
drifting out to sea
swimming no direction
breathing, floating away
to somewhere else
doesn't matter where
just drifting away
a broken plank from a pirate ship
beaten by surf and sand
weathered
wrinkled with time and experience
hard edges polished to soft exterior
floating away, breathing
to somewhere else
doesn't matter where
drifting away


a cracked iceberg warmed from changing currents
Nor'easter bearing down
fresh water mixing with salt stirring in tumultuous waves
tossed about like dead survivors from Titanic's breech
breathing, floating away
to somewhere else
doesn't matter where
to warm waters
melting shards of ice away from my core
to warmer waters where I melt deeply into the abyss
into tropical waters where I become salt water
deep on the floor of the sea

 


battering a pirates plank
weathered, mixing with wood and earth
becoming wind and rain
salt and sand
rocks and stones
washed to shore as driftwood
found as treasure
placed on hearth at home
told of time, with sweet wine
fireplace, candlelit,
remembering when you found me washed ashore

Wind Woman

 

sometimes I wonder if she has a pulse
she rushes by me so fast
always offering a greeting in passing


this wind in my valley
runs away to Burmese mountains
when it's too warm to chill her drinks


she plays whistle games with the Golden Gate
plays contact sports with Baton Rouge
pitch and fetch with the peaks of Everest


I only see her when she is gone
what's left in her wake
soft oak leaves, broken dream houses

book of love poems

 

smiles from across the room fill diaries
I'll read your life, then write a book of love poems
poems of me, filling in the the empty parts in you
I'll be the glue that holds the binding together
I'll write the preface telling who you are with me
the bibliography telling how we met
I'll paint a cover filled with bright colors of you
and knowing every chapter in your book
I'll read your life again, every paragraph
I'll memorize every line on your face
every word from your lips, every draft written
of your childhood, every scar on your skin
I'll read your life, then write a book of love poems
poems of you, filling in the empty parts in me
I'll read about when you were five
the books that you were told
they'll tell me about bedtime with you
fairy tales, princesses and princes
frogs becoming more than what they were intended
I'll read your life, and find memories to keep
days that you filled with words from your heart
I'll look deep into the sentence structure you wear
I'll fall asleep curled up in your character development
I'll read your life and write a book of love poems
poems of us, filling in the empty parts in many

 


I'll read about your first crush
I'll read about the days you wondered
when you turned from a child to a woman
I'll see who you were and who you've become
from a curious girl to a woman with charms
the times when you were scared
the times when you were scarred
I'll read your life, and write a book of love poems
poems of you, wondering if you are one with me
I'll read about your dreams and desires
I'll focus on the future and where you are going
I'll walk through the contents and index of who you are
I'll read your life, and write a book of love poems
poems of me, reading you and knowing who you are
a book worth writing about

 

Paris scarf

we didn't get to Paris
flannel sheets and sweat was all we had
you told me you wanted to go
but we were two broke kids
with only our bodies to entertain us


you told me you wanted to see
paintings hanging on the walls of the Louvre
so I pulled you closer and wrapped a scarf over your eyes
told you to imagine as I painted colors down the sides of your walls with my tongue
pulled you so close you transcended spacial time sequences
ended up at the banks of the Seine
sitting in a little cafe watching romance bloom from every corner
as my tongue dipped into sky blue paint
you got lost in how I stopped languidly at your left hip
and left you hanging


it was like an erogenous zone that brought into clarity
with deep rich tones the art and culture taking you away
to something you always wanted to be
but were unable to articulate until I touched you there
and there
and oh yea there


and as I moved my fingers from your face to your shoulders
from your shoulders to your breasts
I just sat tasting you, suckling
moving rhythmically from mam to mam
giving you visions of dangerous touches
elicit carnal pleasure
thoughts of being taken
giving in to the strength and power in my touch
exploring my mouth with yours
sending you over the top
where you can't hardly breath
you ask me to keep going
as you become rigid in my grasp
light squirms from your third eye blind
giving you visions in your head of strolls on cobblestone streets
stones skipping in the majestic river
the eiffel tower, towering above
waiting for the elevator to hit ground floor
cuz were going up, up, up
to the sky
over the top
looking out beyond the city lights
to rolling meadows and pastures
of green grass
gold fields
and you cumming
in my arms


I pulled the soft sheets tight around your squirming body
holding you captive in my arms
and told you we were already their
in Paris, just for the day
lost in lover's wine
an afternoon
a big ass bed
you and I making love until dinner time
stopping to re-fuel
and jumping back into sheets and dreams
torrid screams of you traveling the world in your mind
behind the scarf covering your eyes

when asked to write sonnets, I failed

 


when asked to write sonnets, I failed
asked to stick to iambic pentameter, I failed
told to write while putting aside emotion
clinical attempts at prose
tempered styles founded in internet spam
academic mucky mucks spouting lessons
I failed
asked to translate time and language
I failed
asked to laugh at the imagery
I could not
I failed
not Shakespeare
not Cecil B. Demile
I failed
but I still have a play to be written
a production to assemble
a poem to read
a list of roles and parts
to a play not yet written
a screenplay never read
a movie without a popcorn popper
with new visions
new lead roles and bit parts
searching for a cast
and one leading woman
to share lines with
to rehearse life's melodies
to practice love scenes with
a cast of characters for life
a roleplay pretending to be love
a sword fight where the prize is her charms
I've yet a chapter to be written
a conclusion to my tale
a sequel that is better than the original
when asked to write sonnets, I failed

These Characters Who Stand


they shuffle over here and over there
they wear their skin as coats
fingers clutching cardboard
the baby left the nursery
lost, wandering, alone
roaming the four o'clock hour
riches found in red light stagnation

 

 

 

my brother poured his pockets into the street
I found him lying there...
I called and was told that choices were available
that he chose to freeze on the pavement
I don't believe that
his mind left for Saigon on the last train
yet his body still needs nurturing
a humble scrap
sleep broken angel, sleep
the baby left the nursery
lost, wandering, alone