POYDRAS THE BIONIC BULLDOG
They will say Oh he was just a dog
Of the fat little bully I gave my
heart to Named for a Southern poet
& carted here from Poland (poor bastard)
No one has been this happy to see me
except perhaps my 3rd husband on a
good day But people generally make me
want to bolt or bite So I will mourn the
passing of said bulldog like a 4th brother
And when his hips go I hope they won’t make him bionic
—
Summer 2011
O I WISH I HAD THE CONFIDENCE OF PROFESSOR JANICE STEIN*
The Fall rains are coming heavy with
the scent of snow As usual the season’s
change makes me feel alien in my own
skin The sap is reversing my therapist
said some 20 years ago
When I still believed in Peace & Love & Good Government
Now there’s something called the
Arab Spring And the King of Dubai
just gave women the vote Though they
still get 10 lashes for driving a car
It remains difficult to measure the quality
of mercy and the quantity of progress
*Munk School Of International Relations
__
Fall 2011
NERVOUS SHOE WATCHER
She eyes my shoes with anxious tension
generally reserved for birds of prey She is
a so hip it hurts psychotherapist living the
dream in West Queen West I cannot help
but feel the prick of envy mixed with evil eye
Her hello belies the palpable fear that I
am a hoarder of shoes & frocks For this
she will forever be left in her deshabille
& sand coloured crocs
__
September 7, 2012
HERE COMES THE SUN
I love Frank O Hara crushed by
a Jeep at 40 His poems lyrical &
deep I love Frank’s face on the
pastel cover of his Selected Poems
He looks like a beautiful boy wonder
with freckles & a ponderous stare
Mouth ½ open eyelashes long
O Frank a death so violent for a man
of such charm
__
*Inspired by: A TRUE ACCOUNT OF TALKING TO THE SUN AT FIRE ISLAND 1958 FRANK O HARA
Winter 2012
A CLOWN WITH BLUE HAIR
Driving along Queen St. today under cover of grey
fall splendor squandered
Marching drones & clones
in large numbers wander
A day is a day is a Hark!
A young clown with blue hair
is smiling at the troops He is unspeakably beautiful
His smile urgent & fleeting
casting pearls before the swine
He’s mine all mine I want to take him home to meet my mother
And marry him if he’ll have me
—
Fall 2011
YOU HAVE GENIUS WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE
Watching kids play tag in the glaring sun
I catch a glimpse of their future selves
There a secretary and you a wiry bicycle
courier or street urchin? So androgynous
in your Tilly hat you may be nymph or gnome
She calls you Simon and you laugh with wild
abandon Little yellow clogs barely hold your
pigeon toes Simon I think I love you
—
Summer 2011
TWO OLD GALS
There is a wedge
between
my
Mother(88) & Me(55)
It’s 33
Whenever I tell her
I feel old
she thumps me
and says:
You’re young
Whenever she tells me
she’s old
I just thump her
Think we liked it
better
when I was
11 & she
was my
young Mum
When young & old
were
highly
theoretical
And she
really had it
made –
__
Spring 2008
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE IF YOU CAN LITTLE GIRL
There’s nothing like coming home
the way a child comes
home
When home is the beacon
flashing the signal:
Here is your Mother your Father your Dog
Your purple bedroom
Your raggedy brothers
One who has
shaved off his eye-brow
You bound up those steps
like there’s no
tomorrow
And there is no tomorrow kid
That home –
Those child-brothers
The young Mother & Father
will seem figments
of your
waning imagination
someday
So bound up those stairs girl!
Race home
Your black poodle & smiling grandfather
on their
separate chairs
await you
RUN
__
Winter 2007
ROCKET GIRL
I can fly
but don’t tell
anyone
Everyone wants to
but few can
If they find out
they’ll probably
crucify me
or something
pretty bad
In any situation
be it attacking
lion –
or ferocious Nazi
I just lower my
head and dive
into the wind
Up there nobody
bad can reach
me –
I’m free
Why not try it?
Only one thing
I forgot to
mention
You must be
dead dream-drunk
Disappointed?
Yeah, me too.
__
Winter 2007
DADDY YOU ARE NO LONGER IMPERSONATING MATTER
Elvis died today in 77 My father in 89
3:16 was the time of death I marked it
by sublimating my grief at H&M Of this
I am not proud But I will say it loud and
clear here at 4:16 p.m. August 16, 2012
Daddy’s black hair blue eyes and
Paul Newman cool make me a fool
for every Elvis impersonator in town
Even though his eyes were a deadly blackish brown
__
Summer 2012
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songanddancegirl 