meditation on men

You caught me meditating
but I couldn't do it
hard enough to get you out
of my sponge of a heart.

You didn't realize it meant
thorns and vines and prickly
pear feelings.

I never had much control
over my own thoughts
and listening to you
was like listening
to the last man

that caught my attention
in a crowd of bones and
skin and fat growing around my
all-encompassing waist.

Though I'll be meditating
again
on the last one
that got away or
never looked at me that
way,

my tattooed arms,
the flowers growing from
my shoulders mean
I still won't wilt.

Needmore Road

You peer into the darkness
listening to this river;
"It's really high tonight,
way over the banks."

But you keep staring at it
until the sun comes up,
like it's gonna go away

talking about the tree
that used to be over there
growing above the water,
how you climbed it.

About walking through the river,
about being there with
Michael and Holly

and how this mountain laurel,
(you point), and that rhododendron
and that kudzu weren't there before.

You tell me how you signed a petition
to keep them from paving the road
next to this river.

And how you rode bikes 6 miles
down this road with your neighbor.

How you want to stay here
get so drunk here you
sleep on a hollow log.

bounce

crack my head on the
radio banging
to your songs

bleed on the floorboard
and if I could see your face
in the windshield

I'd smash it too
remembering my face
in your lap in the car

driving drunk laughing
at my 80's music
singing out the window
"you give love a bad name!"

and you told me,
"God brought us together,"
(and that you'd date other people)

to manipulate: to handle or control,
typically in a skillful manner,
yes, skillful

then she moved in to your
house in the suburbs
that looks like all the
other houses on your street

next to the highway,
and you make love to her
to the sound
of the cars

roundhouse

kick to the chest
blah blah written in
stone on his grave

they buried him in a
sleeping bag
stuck him in the dirt

when he was alive
he drank warm whiskey-
a shot before every
road-trip

honkytonk
bars on his breath
wild women gathered
around his handsome lips

he cracked open
hearts all over the place
till finally

he pissed off the wrong barmaid

morning

winds turn the leaves
to their underbellies

and my mother's yard
is green
this time of year

with hints of lavender
rosemary yesterday's rain

flip squirrel
leftover seeds

of her thoughts hanging upside
down from trees
feet gripping

Kiss my grits

or whatever is the closest
bowl of mush you can find.

Tongue the tiny grounds
of hominy...buttered and
warm,

and when you finish
wipe off your slobber
from the side of the bowl.

lesson for a day:

one more time, step
forward, walk

nothing takes as long as waiting

and the clock at the end of the
sidewalk is smashed

gears scattered
hands out of place
face cracked

so she can't tell time

clouds are in her hair
the sun hides above her

she drinks the stagnant fog

asleep

I'm having trouble beginning,
but I know the earth still
rotates:

I know the sun goes down,
sometimes wonder if it's "up."

I'm on the edge
of the atmosphere
hanging by kite
strings
attached to tree
limbs, flapping
in this dead wind.

I'm left in the clouds of
March, full of that heavy
heavy rain.

I squeeze it from my eyes,
the heaviness showing
in my eyelids.

Ouroboros Review

The second Issue is up. It's got some incredible poets in it! And I am lucky enough to be in there with them. The art and other writings are awesome too! Here's the link:
ouroboros review

Rowlf the Dog and other Muppets!

I went to the Museum of the Puppetry Arts in Atlanta yesterday with a friend. I cannot begin to describe how excited I was when I saw the sign out front that said, "Jim Henson Exhibit"!!!! I could have cried! I am in love with the Muppets, especially Rowlf the Dog. He is a piano playing music connoisseur! I am in love with him. Did I say I'm in love with him??? hehe. He's the sexiest of all the Muppets, with his nonchalant attitude, and cute ears...:)

So there I was standing in front of these Muppets that had been well-used and brought joy to millions for decades...It was very overwhelming. I was giggly!
I saw Big Bird...who is VERY big...at least 6 feet tall! I saw Kermit...what a frog, Dr. Teeth, the Swedish Chef, Ernie from Sesame Street (with his well-worn rubber duckie!!). And then I saw Rowlf the Dog.

He had these awesome paws/hands. The fur on his fingers was thin from tickling the ivories for so many years...his face had a small "scar" on it from where the "skin" had ripped. He had a picture of the real live Rowlf the Dog with him. There was a pic of him holding a puppy that looked exactly like him! Oh I can't begin to tell you how beautiful those Muppets are!

There were also other Muppets, from the Fraggle Rock ones to the Labryinth and Dark Crystal characters! This was a mind-blowing experience for me, as I grew up on these characters. I also got to watch the Muppets being manipulated by their human counterparts. Apparently, that took some serious arm muscles! I learned other things I didn't know too.

I had forgotten there is a "Jim" Muppet that looks like Jim Henson, and that he was in a country band with two other Muppets: anyone remember-"Don't mess around with Jim" done by these guys!? I also didn't know that one of Jim Henson's first famous Muppets was a dragon (from 1969 I believe?) that was the La Choy Dragon, and advertised that brand of Chinese food! It said something like "I'm the La Choy Dragon!" and then shot fire out of his mouth. hehe. What a culture these characters created...brilliantly simple and fun...just sing and dance to life...embrace your unique qualities, LIVE!

When I think about the people who were, and are still touched by the joy of the Muppets' songs and dances and silliness, it gives me chills. We should all be more loving and community-oriented, and sing with our food like the Swedish Chef, and dance uncontrollably, hair feathering up from the tops of our heads! Rest in Peace, you wonderful man, Jim Henson...We will keep the Muppets alive!