Yesterday's Lunch Date
another one I want to be a song
*******************************
you repeat our words like documents
a treatise to use as peace
but your voice runs smooth
and your eyes are open
-don't call yourself a forest with just one tree.
you used to make my legs quake
my heart, it rattled too
my hands couldn't stop finding new skin
and my eyes - they couldn't read you
i ran into your naked wall
the one i shouldn't see
it bruised my eyes, my fingers, thighs
and my legs are now too weak
to wonder where it comes from
-that string of hot and heat
pulling from my spine and toes
to my white and chattering teeth
i used to get nervous
on my way to you
till you fucked me up
you turned me out
and told me you wanted to move.
so yesterday i went back
and i wore my favorite skirt.
i saw your photo on the tv
and i laughed at your couch so pert
if you were a road to something else
i would have worn my boots
and tap danced on the face i loved
to touch, to kiss, to shoot
if i had time to write you this
then time is a waste of space
cause all that's wrong is the missing shake
and splat on the page of my ink.
Cheap
Can you help me out
I'm looking for a meal
A cheeseburger or chips
or somethin's gonna do me in.
I've been lookin for help all day
I walked five miles to get here
and now i can't get home
to where my mom needs me.
quarters last from palms to fronds
and blade to tip of grass
play this sax on church street
i'm moving from this place
nickels aren't a dime-sized worth
like the change my change could make
every day will end one way
and bus tickets don't come cheap
a nickel will get you food
but what you need to do is eat
i'm moving from this place
playing my sax on church street
Three Boxes
It's true. I want to make this one into a song.
****
Three boxes left
and they last
for five months
from the corner of the dining room
by my old bookcase
to the corner in the basement for more
Call me to get them
or forget them
and at your yard sale
when you're moving out
I'll buy it all back
for three dollars a box
the tape still tight
the cardboard damp
the bookcase filled with all your shit
taking up my space
Three boxes left to go
I could stop by tomorrow
but I won't
too heavy to carry out
too light to drop
they are handled
pushed
tucked away in the dusty dark
three more boxes
three more boxes
"I was looking for that sweater a year ago," and
"Been there all the time"
It's been there all the time
that sweater's always been mine
And if you were a convenient store
I'd marvel at the deal
Peace and closure at three bucks a pop
is such a fuckin' steal
"Let's hang out, get coffee someday"
as I tuck my boxes away
but the last three bucks I had
are on your bookcase
flat and damp
paying homage -
coffee will have to wait
until the day that i get paid
when i get paid we'll box some more
and you can't have your say
three boxes left and they last
from here to there
three boxes left and they last
till the yard sale next year
