Category: Poetry Page 7 of 9

We’ve got plenty of space
It’s a great shopping place
It’s the workers – they smile
That makes it worth while
The cashiers are smart
Make it hard to depart
Hear music and shop
All departments tip-top

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I grew corn this year
From seeds given to me by a
Tuscaroran Indian named David.
I watched the sprouts
In a raised bed rectangle
Become full grown plants
Several feet tall.
I looked at this patch
Several times a day
Not having seen green so green,
Or as fresh and healthy.
It’s tassels finally peek out
From long, gently folded leaves
With such beauty I want to hug the stalks
And tell them that I love them.
This is my connection with Native America.

One day, wind blew the stalks askelter.
I propped them back up
Mounding soil at the base of each stalk.
They responded
Standing straight up once again.

I am these corn stalks
Growing back of the house.
I am bright, shining, green corn
Healthy and flourishing.
I am propped up and standing straight and tall again.
My heart is corn heart…
Bright, shining, green

The plastic pill bottle comes with
Side affect information
Which I can’t read = too small
Dozens of n2ew symptoms
From swallowing a prescribed pill

“Ask your doctor”
If you have an allergic reaction
“Contact your physician right away”
Doctor knows what’s best for you
Sentences like “you may die”
Worry me.

So, if I am dying
I’ll call my doctor
To tell her
“My prescription isn’t working.”
She says. “I’ll write you another prescription.”
The leaflet says “Tell your pharmacist.”
Who in turn, will tell you
“Get in touch with your doctor right away.”

Driving east on Sunrise highway
No traffic in sight
It’s the Pine Barrens near exit 63
I got an idea for a poem
Grab a blank envelope
It’s a really good idea, just get it down
The car swerves in the other lane than back
Flashing lights behind me
It’s a cop, I pull over
“You’re weaving from one lane to the other.”
License and registration
As he checks my inspection sticker

“Officer, please let me explain
A roach crawled across my leg
I freaked out, lurched. I swear a roach crawled on my leg.”
“Roaches ! I’ve never heard that one”.
I just moved from my apartment
It was infested with roaches
One must have crawled into one of my boxes
Can you prove it? Let me see the roach.”
I want to test your blood alcohol level.
Please exit your car.”

I swear, I’m telling the truth.
That excuse, whether true or not,
Isn’t going to explain an accident

OK officer, this is embarrassing
The truth is I had an idea for a poem
I felt that I had to write it down immediately
While I was driving
There were no cars. It seemed safe
Let me show you. See, look at my notes
Let me read it to you
Don’t bother.
This is a first for me. A poetry explanation~
You should know better
Pull over the next time you have a bright idea.
Poetry driving is almost as bad as drunk driving
This is warning mister. Drive or poetry, not drive and poetry

‘we cry for Selby. She try escape. Mister whipped her bad. I kant watch. She scream. Plese god, sav us all.”
In the Savanah Historical Society
On a long, polished table
I wear thin white gloves
Await a rare slave’s journal, 175 years old
The librarian opens the worn, brown book
Her white gloves gently turn pages
“Handle the pages gently, They are brittle.”
Misspelled words in pencil
“he order me clen horse stals. Hot. Itch. Swet. Sor back. No rest. Col water feel good. Sleep come fast.”
My white gloves tenderly held the slaves’ journal
My journals have little chance of ending up in a historical collection
I’m not black, wasn’t bought and sold, not tortured, subjected to inhuman conditions, and got an education

The boys gathered near home plate
For a pickup softball game
One captain tossed a bat to the other
They took turns palming their way up
Whoever grasps the top chooses first
I stood by waiting to be chosen
One after another shuffled behind their captain
With each pick, I’m more worried
What about me?
Finally, I’m the only one left
At least I’ll play

During college breaks
Knowing a lot of politicians
My mother always found me a job
I filled in for regular workers
Who took time off for vacations
At the US. Rubber Reclaiming Plant
A blue collar factory job
Worn rubber tires have a second chance
To become car mats, mud flaps, wiper blades

I got a punch card
Was assigned to Eric
A former boxer whose face
Had been rearranged
As well as some brain tissue

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Crusin the skin of this apple
Earth’s thin biosphere
Sucking up my exhaust,
On this interconnected internet superhighway
Bridges over and under
Big, rectangular signs – exit 58 – Shirley
Pull up short on 110 – gridlock in Huntington
On the LIE samo samo – imprisonment
Accident – turn off ignition
Too damn many people
But not me – the other guy
I’m looking for cruise control
Clear lane ahead of me, freedom let me go baby
Pedal to metal – I’m blasting, rocking the odo meter
Gotta get out of here
Gotta go go go
Gotta get there, get there
Dude, I’m crusin
Crusin Sunrise Highway
Free as a bird, like a plankton drifting
I’m in the drivers’ seat, got the power baby
Looking for gas
Fill er up – regular
Looking in the rear view mirror
Don’t want no accident
White dashes ticking by
Doing 70 , smooth and fast
This little Honda Civic – my therapist
Strip malls blur by
Pizza, nails, deli, bagels,
No plan – going nowhere
Crusin like my family did back in the 40’s for those Sunday drives
Drive-in banks, drive- in coffee, drive in fast, gotta be fast
Making good time, going down the highway
Playing the radio, rolling down the windows
Checking the dashboard
Seeing the scenery
Checking out the towns
Flip on the lights, wipers, high beams
Rollin, always rollin
Stop, get out, need a stretch
Back in the car
Slam the door
Turn on the ignition – that satisfying roar
I’m crusin baby

Look at these two magnificent legs
Long, muscular quads for long walks
My legs say.“Wear short shorts to show us off”
And I do
The looks they get…
Women glance and try not to be seen looking

It’s my grandfathers’ tall gene
I don’t ever take my fabulous legs for grant it
Even while I sleep my legs try to wake me…
“Come on Tom, let’s get going.”
They excel in yoga class, especially the Warrior pose

Only once did they fail
Uphill bike outing, a mile up steep incline.
Charley horse in both, muscles in lockdown
Dehydrated – drank lots of water
Massaged them
They’re back

When you have legs like mine
You should use them big time