Private Gray

On Veterans' Day I cut out a photo
from the LA Times
of a man standing in front of
The Wall
with his arm outstretched
fingertips inches away from a name
just a name
inches away
and he wasn't touching it
just reaching for it
as I'm sure he'd done before
one last time
before it became another name
on The Wall
reaching with so much pain
so much hurt
carved into his writhing face
with mouth askew
agape with pain
with searing loss
and napalmed memories
exploding molten jelly
thoughts from a past
buried under bottles of whiskey
now bubbling and trembling through the cracks
of a hardened exterior
and here I was cutting out this clipping
because I thought it looked so cool
it looked so neat with all that emotion
so well composed, I had to hand it to you
because I knew you'd been there
I thought you might think it's cool
I thought you might think I'm deep
right up until the moment I
blindsided you in the middle of your paperwork to say,
hey, check this out
check out what I found in the paper
and you froze like a bullet whizzed by your ear
like a grenade went off nearby
and exploded shrapnel that tore
through your modern day
filled with phone calls and paperclips
you froze with your arm outstretched
fingertips inches away from this clipping
just a clipping
inches away
and you're not touching it
just reaching for it
your eyes turned red
blood red
and you choked on the breath you were taking
frozen there
with red, glossy eyes
you held in something trying to escape
a hurricane from within
you held it back
with everything you had
and said
It was a very hard time

Cole's

Red vinyl stretched over a seat cushion, but I'm not sure
Maybe it was something else before - leather or cloth?
or maybe it was always just red vinyl, of which I'm not even sure
It’s hard to tell because it’s all still the same even though it’s been re-done
One thing’s for certain, though, this sandwich was a lot cheaper back then
A while ago it was half as expensive and before that it was only a quarter
Maybe it was during the twenties - I’m positive though, it was after 1908
God, what a city you are! I’d give anything to go back in time
And kiss every newly laid cornerstone in your Art Deco skyscrapers
And drag my heels through the soot caking your streets
I’d give anything to wander your alleys with the other vagrants of America
Displaced from their homes in Indiana, Colorado, and Oklahoma
We’d all get drunk together off a nickel’s bottle of gin
In the inferno of an atomic summer, laughing at all the business men
Sweating in their buggies, in their trolleys, their taxis, their coffins
We’re the real ones – we’re the angels she’s named after
Shoulder to shoulder in this dusty town, this overgrown meat factory
Grinding out the rest of our lives in the shadows of the greatness you purport
Riding that fine line between poverty and slight discomfort
Hiding in the cracks of your majesty and brilliance
We are the dregs of society and we are fine with that
Because I just found a quarter and I’m going to buy myself
A French dip sandwich to float me between the moments I bite into it
And when I become hungry again

My Favorite Person

I just bought you a ring
And you don’t know it yet
Because you’re still floating in vagaries
Unsure of what the future holds

I just bought you a ring
A beautiful antique with sapphires that
Compete with your eyes
In a race they’ll always lose

I just bought you a ring
Because I’ve known for a year now
That you are the one for me
That you will be my wife soon

I just bought you a ring
Because I want to have children with you
Whose sparkle will outshine
These diamonds

I just bought you a ring
To put on your finger
When I kneel before you
And beg you to marry me

I just bought you a ring
Wrought in a band of platinum
That will disintegrate
Before my love for you ever does