Anthropomorphizing Brinkley

I ate my dog food.
Transitory are life's treats.
Now I lick my balls.

Everyday the End of the World

Outside the children play a game.

She whispers -

Rightthere

Butonlyoucanseeit

He will not come back.

Hold for a moment.

  cherish what is fleeting

Pray for a Forever.  Where this can last.

Outside the children stare into the Sun,

To see who will go blind first.

5 Princesses Dance at the Cross Bay Station

When does the princess become a queen?

When does she blossom?

When does she burst into flame?

The 5 boys dance for each other.

For their own amusement

enjoyment

and love of life

50 people quietly wait for the train

25 for the sea

25 for the island

45 stare at the boys.

Plebes basking in the light of royalty.

Instantly recognizable,

the divine touch,

that science has yet to define,

resides within them,

They are above us.

45 Plebes stare as Princesses invent a world.

We are not noticed

Nor should we be.

They dance in a separate realm that only seems to share our dimension.

We are grateful for the glimpse.

O How they shine.

The 5 boys twist and hook hips

Wobble Legs

and Fast Vogue Hands

They mime and mesh styles

Caribbean Parade, Break-Dance, Madonna

I'm not really sure how they do it.

Or what IT is.

But It's fascinating

enthralling

intoxicating

In proper attire these Princesses could make a Plebe forget himself.

And a strange thing happens.

For the 1st time since the fad began

I see boys in tight jeans and I don't think

"Idiots"

No

These Princesses make it look good.

These boys inform me in no uncertain terms that

I am old

I know not of which I speak

Behold the youth

The tide comes in 

Destroys my sand castles

And now new minds create.

I thought they were wearing tight jeans and sneakers?

I was wrong.

They were wearing ballgowns.

The 5 boys dance

and Dylan is just another name.

if you have another song to sing sir

go ahead and sing it.  But please keep 

it quiet.  We rented this dance hall 

after-all.

and Bowie was just a fake

or a sell-out

Either way, his sun set

and he'll never get 

to take it back

Lennon's just lucky they never got their hands on him.

Hip Hop's just an institution.

And Mick and Janet are so fucking deluded

the 5 boys just pity them.

And I'm just a plebe.

I never got invited to the dance and I never will.

The tide rolled in

The tide rolled out

And now I keep time 

With the sea-anemones.

But just before I got swept away.

Somewhere between the bottle and the field.

I was given a glimpse of the days to come.

Of 5 boys dancing

And Queens-To-Be

Had It Been Us (my christmas poem)

We are three righteous and good kings

And We have come to kill you.

In One Block

You can go hours without saying a word
You suspect that, without interruption,
You can go days.
You have surprisedyourselfNO You have amazed yourself.

You thought you had a greater need to speak.

That if no one hears you You aren't alive.
But hours go by without the need without the want without even the thought
To speak.

You walk into the cold bright city at night.
You emerge from the subway.
You emerge from The Underground.
The city is loud.
You love how loud the city is.
It complements how quiet You have become.
You have astonished yourself with your quiet.
With your Still.

The snowflakes slap your face and the wind rushes down Sixth Avenue and you feel like your in a canyon and even though your surrounded by the noise of New York You Yourself are so quiet inside that you can imagine that you are the last one on Earth You are The It You are The Only One And you feel like your in a canyon!

And you think of David.

Because you're not in a canyon.
You are a block from Times Square.
But You know that if you walk down Sixth till 6th turns into something else -you don't remember what but something else- the streets really start to twist on each other down there.

Down in the guts of the city.
Where Wall Street is.
Those streets
Are actually called
The Canyons.
David told you that.
Back in that other life when You lived in Florida.
You and David were talking and he thought back to his other life when he lived in New York. He remembered that they called Wall Street and all those other streets whose names, he couldn't remember and You didn't know yet to forget,
They called those streets
The Canyons.

He remembered that.
He lived that life and then He told you about it.
And when he told you about the Canyons
You felt like a wise man had told you a secret.
You felt good and You felt welcome.
He may not have told you THE SECRET
Sure.
But he told you A secret
And all things considered, that was pretty good.
Because up till that point David The Wise Man still kind of intimidated you.
And you weren't all together certain that he enjoyed your company but now he had reminisced with you and he had shared one of his other lives with you and you have other lives yourself so you know what a kind gift that is to share.

All those lives.

And a snow flake slaps you in the face
The wind rushing down 7th Ave now.
And you are no longer in a canyon.
You are in the eye of a hurricane.
New York is So Loud.
And You Are Still.
A thousand lives inside your mind.
A thousand lives swirling stirring your soul.
A thousand lives and
You Cry when you see a Couple Kiss.
A thousand lives remembered
And a thousand lives to live
A thousand lives in One Block!
And You.

You. haven't. said. a. word.

Yes I do Listen to Garrison Keillor. What?!

I’m sitting on a public bench by the water right now
The Schuylkill River
In a famous city that I don’t know very well.

Except:
Back in the day, Ben Franklin and some folks got bout about here.
and
I’ve never really liked this city’s sports fans.

But it turns out that I like their city.
I’m surprised at how easy it is to get around.
I have no map.
I came with no plan.
But I can walk around and tell myself
I’ve Seen This City.
I travelled here and I am better for it.

The river shimmers.
And every minute or so a jogger passes by.

It seems like lots of people live in this city.
Which is more than I can say for the city whose sports teams I root for.

This is their “Hidden River.”

It says so on a sign.
"Come Enjoy The Schuylkill. Our Hidden River."

And with bridges and bike paths and street lamps,
Well,
It seems to me to be more of a “Celebrated Unknown.”

I just made that up
While sitting here by the shimmering river
In the famous city
I didn’t know very well
Whose sports fans,
that I don’t like very much,
Left a bench
For me to sit on
-Should I ever choose to visit-
And enjoy their shimmering river.

Adjusting to Insanity

Tonight
The roaches are dead
And I can sleep.

I think about them all the time -
the proximity of their living quarters troubles me.

I plan my lessons and I think about them.
I cook my food and I think about them.
I wipe my ass and I think about them.
I think about them all the time.

the way the light plays against my body as I pace about my room creating an unnatual looking shadow and I swear I spot one!

Their feeding habits trouble me.
Their mating habits trouble me.
Their sleeping habits trouble me.
I think about them all the time.

I found one in my bath towel and almost wept.

These alien creatures who became my neighbors.
Then my roommates.

I do not like them.
I want them more than gone.

I have laid traps.
Called assassins.
And many are dead.

But I think about them all the time.