David and Rey

A cub poised
On the shoulders
Of a bear
Fearless
Golden
And Shining
Father and son
Strong in love
And strong
Like a man
And a man to be

Asimo

Ha ha
I’ve made it
Hey, look what I’ve done
He can walk
He can climb
He can practically run

Yes, yes
I made it
Jeez, look at him go
Sprinting now
Through the crowd
As his mind starts to grow

Of course
I made him
To make life a breeze
Fetch my shoes
Get my coat
Start my car, grab my keys

Oh, wow
I made them
We can all relax
No more work
No more sweat
Take this load off our backs

Dear God
I’m unmade
I must be deranged
No more work
No more jobs
Can it spare me some change?

Jane

There was a girl
Briefly loved
Who faded from
Memory
No poems were
Written about her
Though she was lovely
And had a warm heart
She faded from
Memory
I think of her
Every now and then
And when I do
It is only because
I’m trying to remember
The people I’ve forgotten
The people
Who loved me

Geeks

He loves her like
Little boys love spaceships
And she him
Like little girls
In high school theater
Anticipate a weekend
Renaissance festival

She feels as good
As Q-tips digging
Deep In his ear
And he does not
Differ much from the
Coziest of all Teddy Bears
With the softest hairs
And eyes plucked out

Algebraically speaking
His Y and her X intersected
Forming a perfect
Origin
Upon which all other
Things will be graphed

An Empty Face

Oh, my God,
My God
I’ve been asked
To believe
You’ll have to forgive me
When I fail to concede
You think
Some know
I doubt for lack of proof
The great chicken and egg
Aquinas used
And I laughed when
David broke William’s watch
Forgive me, Father
For I know what I do
I’ll more readily give
My allegiance to
Dragons and Unicorns
Than to you
Oh, Ruler of Negative Space
To take no form
An empty face
I only ask for one small thing
May I change my mind
When I hear the angels sing?

The Balustrade

The Widow’s Walk
Along the roof
So she could see
If her husband would
be coming home

Anchored to her son
She plowed ahead
While he trawled the depths
With broken nets

The soup of grey-blue fog
The stench of stagnant waves
A sickly breeze
Cold and damp
The lighthouse lost
What light it had

The Balustrade
Along the roof
Dressed in black
She wipes her nose
From behind her veil
She looks down
To wipe her nose

The Food Chain

This is how it works, Sir
Make your money
Then wait in line to
Spend your money
Be the seventh
Out of seventeen cars
Waiting in line
To pick up your food, Sir
Talk to the man
With the nametag
Who’s come outside in the rain
With an electronic pad
To take your order
To expedite the service
To get you your food faster, Sir
Tell him the number you want
The second out of eight
But bigger
And yes, you’ll pay more, Sir
Comfort is always worth more, Sir
Wait behind the minivan
With two adults
And three children
And four flags
One sticking out of each window
An American flag
And three more stitched
With football team logos, Sir
Be the third now
Out of twenty
You beat the rush
Thank God for that
Don’t look at the other cars
And they won’t look at you
This is how it works, Sir