Abdi House, Summer of '93

You could find affection in this;

A vicious pet
Nestled against your shoulder,
You kindly rest your cheek on her.

She growls and roars at the rest of the world
While gently nudging you with buffered recoil.

You feed her,
Keep her safe.
In return, she showers you with hot brass
Purely because you were born left handed.

Minutia

It’s never out of a need to contrive divine inspiration.
I am prompted
By the details, when the details appear
With such intimacy, you feel some slight obligation to
Kiss them afterwards simply as a social courtesy.

It’s a word when it’s used and I wish
I would use that word more often.
It’s a nudge from a poem which flouts tradition
But, with such skill that at a casual glance, you would
Have never known.

It’s never clouds, kittens, or buzzing flies.
It’s the weight of a smaller being’s belly
Resting on your chest.
It’s rows of book spines
When read with a certain cadence
Sound like short lines of poetry.

It’s the face of a stranger in a coffee shop
Reading Monday’s paper on Wednesday
Silently judging you
Wondering if you are writing about them. No.
Not today.

It’s slush stuck under wheel wells
The smell of an empty house
It’s the click of the alarm clock the second before it sings
It’s the person in the other room
You can’t wait to ask, how their day has been.

Is there anyody out there?

I need to know when to stop...

I often cross the line from stubborn to stupid.

Drinking coffee (while listening to "Coffee" by Aesop Rock)

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
C.C. Colton

I am simply sitting here
Reading Ballistic by Mr. Collins.
Watching the group that has gathered and grown
With the unfortunate redhead that really shouldn’t laugh.
He just doesn’t have the face for it.

There are no spectacular events.
Nothing worthy of crafting a timeless ode for.
No spark of love or death.

There’s only the murmur of five conversations
From ten pairs of people,
Filtering through the headphones
And Aesop Rock's "Coffee"
“And the last shall be the first to immerse in the pass-out heat.”

The only event worth noting
Was when their casual ambassador took the table next to me.
“We don’t need no walkie-talkies, nope, no walkie-talkies.”
Offering the, I- know-you-cant’-hear-me-so-I-will-just-smile,
Gesture of gratitude.
How selfish.
“Just because I don’t wanna war with you, it don’t mean go warm up the barbeque.”

They already have the largest group of friends here.
Why monopolize socializing,
By taking the empty space next to me,
Where potentially I could’ve made a friend too?
“This is what they make you take the medication for.”

Happy Valentines Day....

“I love you.” You, referring to you.

“…too.” Referring to me.

You never say the word “you”.
“You” has not been remunerated
In the sense that love has a value.
Maybe I still need to earn it.

For now, “You” as referring to me,
Has been replaced with the schwa.
It’s that upside down e.

More precisely, in this case,
It’s a mid-central rounded vowel.
Like the sound you hear
At the end of the word “pencil”.

On the cloudier days,
I’ve even been replaced
With no sound at all.

Instead, I am an initial unaspirated glottal stop.
It’s the silent pause that we all make
Before we start a sentence
That begins with a vowel.

One day I hope for the full “I love you.”
But, that may have to wait.

Because right now,
Apparently, I am not worth the effort,
To get all of “You”.