10/31

Sonnets From Other Lives: Linda                                                                                                                        

What ever happens happens , she would say;

then wind herself up tighter than a tick.

Her inner child was totally Type A,

but then she had this nifty little trick

where she could fake a perfect Buddhist disconnect

from the myriad of stresses in her life,

as if some secret switchboard could select

which face would be appropriate & right.

Her honeyed voice would purr over the phone

as she soothed the staff with reassurances,

while below the desk her restless leg syndrome,

belied her cool reserve with its own dances.

She could always keep her cool as others panicked.

Was it moral courage or just Xanax?

10/30

Sonnets From Other Lives:  Jackson                                                                           

Jackson rides the 6 Train—heads downtown—

tries to focus on The Razor’s Edge—

but he keeps imagining he’s looking down

from Chrysler Building’s highest ledge

wondering how far a person falls

before he finally figures how to fly.

He stares beyond the passing tunnel walls

and looks his own reflection in the eye.

The train pulls in & stops at Astor Place,

as it’s uptown counterpart pulls along side.

Looking into it, he sees her face

& falls into a wormhole freezing time.

Another universe lies in that look,

& both of them are reading the same book.

10/29
Sonnets From Other Lives: Kate

Kate parks her truck outside St. John
Hardware.  She needs new belts for the swather.
The guys inside have not known her that long--
she'd recently moved in with Swenson's daughter
when he took sick, & now they work his farm.
They met in Iraq in the motor pool,
but then some asshole set off an alarm
& they were discharged on  that Don't Ask Don't Tell rule.
There were the usual crude rug-muncher jokes at first,
(those guys make up rude crap 'bout everyone)
but they'll say, Those girls made them old combines work
a whole lot better'n old Swenson ever done.

Kate buys her belts--they talk weather. crops & price.
The consensus at St. John is she's alright.

10/28
Sonnets From Other Lives: Shelly

 Shelly has had one horrific day.
She decides she owes herself a bath.
Once home, she pours a glass of chardonnay,
turns the water on & does the math:
Take the morning traffic jam that made her late
to work & add the crash of her computer,
plus the diner with the forty minute wait,
times that meeting with her boss, (she'd like to shoot her).

She lights aromatherapeutic candles,
fills the tub & takes a sip of wine.
It's Austin time--the Bennet family scandals
will supplant the petty bullshit on her mind.
A perfect moment? Alas, here's the rub:
She dropped her fucking Kindle in the tub.

10/17
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Victor

Victor stands alone atop the roof,
& scans the cul-de-sac, alert for danger.
He is invincible!  He's bullet proof!
Our hero spots a running hooded stranger.
It's only Joey's mom out for a jog.
She'll be safe.  Victor's got her back.
He'll watch her just in case the Barker's dog
transforms into a werewolf & attacks.
Oh but if he showed those bullies all his powers
they'd run away whenever he came near.
That stupid Jimmy Callahan would cower
in his presence & he'd  pee himself with fear!
He should just go & pulverize those creeps!
No time like now.  He spreads his cape & leaps.

10/26
Sonnets From Other Lives: A Circle of Friends

The form a plan.  When Armageddon comes,
Dustin's family has a ranch somewhere--
they'll buy up food & drugs & booze & guns,
& pack it up & move the party there.
It'll be like the Decameron!
(Matt & Luke read it in Med. Lit. class)
Soon enough they've all joined in the fun:
The Master Plan to save their sweet karass.
Su & Larry both can play guitar,
Angela's a carpentry apprentice.
Lonnie cooks & Melody tends bar.
Bummer no one's going to be a dentist.
Mike put Ozzy on: Countdown's Begun,
& thinks this whole end of the world thing sounds like fun.

10/25
Sonnets From Other Lives: Roger & Sherri

Commercial break.  Sher gets up to pee.
Roger wishes she would close the door.
Roger really needs the mystery
& there isn't all that much left anymore.
He'll have to dump her soon.  She knows too much.
Who he is.  Who he pretends to be.
He'll find a new girl--one who isn't such
an adept of his secret frailties.
Roger always loves the exposition
but bails just as the action starts to rise
to a climax--that awkward recognition
that someone else might matter in his life.

She seems to love him & for that he's sorry,
but he just can't wait to start another story.

10/24
Sonnets From Other Lives:  The CoolHunter

The CoolHunter stalks the city streets--
fashion forward--all senses alert.
Suddenly she simply has to meet
that cute boy in the black & white stripe shirt.
(It's sort of hipster PoMo Russian sailor/
gondolier--but not overtly gay)
Deftly she persuades him to regale her
with his brand preferences.  A video is made.
Her new I-Phone speeds up the process so,
the image reaches New York in real time.
By morning all the new patterns will go
by e-mail to Chinese assembly lines,
from whence the boy's unique, inventive look
will land in all the malls--safely precooked.

10/23
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Benny

The old man sits contorted in his chair
like a letter from a long lost alphabet.
Behind his rheumy-eyed unfocused stare
his mind is screaming for a cigarette.
But everything that moves or speaks was disconnected
three years ago.  (He took a bullet to the head)
Before that he was a made man & respected
for his skills in making other people dead.
Like that orderly who left him on the shitter?
He would have worked his kneecaps with a power drill.
These days all he does is think his bitter
thoughts about the different ways he'd kill
these bastards.
                       There he sits dreaming his dreams.
It's dinner soon.   He's hoping for ice cream.

10/22
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Jen

Jen sits in a booth in Beth's Cafe
at 3AM--her breakfast after work--
looks at the drawings on the wall across the way--
no mistake about it--that one's her.
Her weathered Greenpeace t-shirt--her tattoo--
she's standing at he bar pulling a beer.
The drawing isn't signed.  She wonders who
has done this portrait, because it is clear
the artist had been watching her at work
at the Comet--probably last Thursday night.
(That's the last time that she wore that shirt)
Jen can't be certain.  Did the artist get her right?
She concedes that, yes, the likeness isn't bad,
but wonders--does she really look that sad?

10/21
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Helen

The Lord provides the perfect parking spot.
Helen makes a little prayer of thanks.
It's pouring out but thanks to God she'll not
muss her hairdo walking to the bank.
The downpour is an obvious punishment
for all the sin she sees committed 'round these parts.
Almighty God will soon make them lament
the transgressions of their wicked pagan hearts.
She eyes the teller with righteous suspicion--
a sodomite--(she can always tell).
She shudders--a discreet, delicious frisson--
imagining him fricasseed in Hell.
O ye sorry sinners--go on have your fun.
You'll get yours after the Rapture comes.

10/20
Sonnets From Other Lives: Bat Boy & The Alien

I saw Bat Boy & The Alien
in an airport bar in Minneapolis.
Bat Boy had commenced to tie one on,
& The Alien was looking real depressed.
I bought a round for both.  Hey wouldn't you?
What a comedown--both are unemployed,
what with the folding of The Weekly World News.
Bat Boy started in on how he'd toyed
with acting but he couldn't get the parts--
They just want zombies & vampires these days.
We ordered one more, then The Alien starts
to tell Bill Clinton stories.  Anyway,
my flight got called & so I had to run.
This economy is hard on everyone.

10/19
Sonnets From Other Lives: Adam & Kane

The Lover's body's sprawled out on the sidewalk
where the killer's bullet emptied it of life.
The encounter started with a little talk
between the Husband and the lover of his wife.
It wasn't jealousy in this case--it was money.
She'd taken it & given it away.
The Lover read her well & thougth if funny
that he's scammed the Husband--finally made him pay
for setting him up back in '84
when the Husband hadn't given it a thought
as he sold him out.  That's what fall guys are for.
But the story didn't start there.  If you've got
enough time to stay with it then you can
trail this thread back to the Fall of Man.

10/18
Sonnets From Other Lives: James

By agreement their relationship is open.
Both of them are given a free pass.
But James is having such a hard time coping
with those bitches always sniffing 'round Tim's ass.
Why are they all so fucking predatory?
These days he feels all paranoid and shitty.
Three drinks & he'll start in at being sorry
he fell so hard for a boy so goddamn pretty.
These days he looks like such a fucking hag.
He really needs to get back to the gym,
 'cause honey, it's hard work being a fag--
hard to keep and hold a hot boyfriend like Tim.
What is the magic word that he can say
that will posses him without driving him away?

10/17
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Art & Venus

He spots her by the registration desk
& greets her with a glass of charddonay.
Hello.  My name is Arthur West.
Hello. My name is Venus Halladay.
The Pharmaceuticals Convention then convenes.
Meanwhile Art & Venus subtly
slip off together up to Arthur's suite.

They know the tradecraft of adultery:
That room service is more discrete than bars.
When phoning spouses, always claim you're bored.
They make up titles for their private seminars
like Active Neurons and The Petit Mort.

The week will end without drama or tears,
as they've been meeting like this for eleven years.

10/17
Sonnets From Other Lives: Penny

The first postcard she got had come from Greece--
the Parthenon awash in colored lights.
A month later, another one from Nice--
the Promenade des Angles shot at night.
No signature.  No message.  Just her name
& address in an unfamiliar hand.
Was someone somewhere playing some strange game?
--Who IS this? Why me? I don't understand...
In the middle of each month another comes
from Bangkok, Moscow, Rio, Kathmandu... 
& every time she gets a card she plumbs
her memory, but doesn't have a clue.
Anxiety vies with eagerness each ides,
as she waits until another one arrives.

10/15
Sonnets From Other Lives: Charles

On the Campo de Frari Charles sits
& sips his customary cappuccino.
At exactly nine o'clock he stands & quits
his place, waves at the waiter--Caio, Gino--
& walks arthritically towards the church.
In the three years since his Sophie passed away
he'd traveled on a kind of quest, in search
of something that, when asked, he couldn't name.
But now each morning Charles takes his place
in the Sanctuary before Titan's Assumption
& sits, eyes fixed on the Madonna's face
for one hour.  Wherefore this presumption?

The resemblance is uncanny.  She could be
a young Sophia in a different ecstasy.

10/14
Sonnets From Other Lives: Sol

The sixth toss of the coins comes up a six--
Great Heaviness--number 28.
The wood beneath the lake, (a flood) & this:
The Judgment:  It seems the weight is great.
No shit Sherlock.  The bank called again.
His poor 401K has turned to crap
& now with Sue laid off it's up to him
to come up with another well to tap.
The load is heavy; the support is weak.
Spooky, man.  What is it with this thing?
Every since the '60's he's been freaked
by the synchronicities of the I Ching.
Sol sought ancient wisdom--up this came:
Swamped by circumstances.  But no blame.

10/13
Sonnets From Other Lives : TJ

What if your pursuit of happiness
encroaches on your life & liberty?
In his cell TJ will ponder this
& the mystery of just how he could be
so stupid as to rip off his supplier
& then suck all of that product up his nose.
This frying pan is bad--but shit--the fire?
They'll cap his ass now wherever he goes.
Things are cool for now here in the joint.
No one knows him.  He's nobody's bitch.
No one so far has stood up to point
him out, Yo--that asshole's a snitch!

Three weeks--six days, and then they let him go.
Jesus--he could really use some blow.

10/12
Sonnets From Other Lives: Abby

The morning is a gift. Abby accepts.
She points the mare up canyon towards the ridge.
The horse is skittish but Abby is adept
at calming her.  They pause beside  a bridge.
Two dippers are dancing in the stream.
A western tanager lights in a pine.
This is just how she would orchestrate her dreams
were she conductor of her thoughts at night.
The mare steps carefully across the creek
to where the trail begins a steady climb.
Jenny's coming home in two more weeks
from Afghanistan.  It crosses Abby's mind
that this perfect morning's perfect for
taking one worried mother's thoughts from war.

10/11
Sonnets From Other Lives: Emily

This was a really bad idea.
She tunes down the D string, buying time.
But no--she had to listen to Maria
who kept bugging her to play at open mike.
She mumbles a self deprecating intro,
takes one more deep breath &  hits her chord,
going deep into the song with her eyes closed.
(in fear she'll see the audience look bored)
O you  are my light.  You are my candle,
The flame that makes me burn--that makes me glow.
One song is all that she can handle,
She flees the stage.  How can she ever know
which boy is thinking,  How cool would that be
if that girl would write a song like that for me?

10/10/10
Sonnets From Other Lives: Sandra

Now Sandra knows the weight of clouds.
Each weighs about one hundred elephants.
This factiod from her radio, announced
as she drives westward on that great expanse
of open sky that is eastern Montana.
Puffy pachyderms form up ahead.
Finally she's escaped from Indiana.
Still there's that last thing her mother said
before she could make her getaway
rattling her mind like a loose bearing.
Mom could always find something to say
that left a scar.  She tries to keep from caring,
but no, she still feels guilty and bereft.
Who knew a little cloud could have such heft?

10/9
Sonnets From Other Lives:  George

Lennon would be 70.  Imagine.
George is sitting watching the wheel go 'round.
--With the songs, in some small way, we'll always have him,
he thinks as he gets up & cranks the sound
up on Rock 'n' Roll, takes his guitar,
& plays some lines along with Stand By Me,
--Forty years it's been & you still are
rockin my soul .
                           George thinks that he
might head uptown--check out Strawberry Fields.
No doubt there there's something going on,
but on second thought, he really feels
like hanging out & jamming here with John.
Small irony, but really, all along
George's favorite Beatle has been John.

10/8
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Clarice

One glance & Clarice know she owns the room.
She can sense the envious & anxious eyes.
She throws a smile to stun & blind the groom.
O wicked me, I'm upstaging the bride.
Soon the men will flock and run their games.
The muscle stud.  The software millionaire.
Exotic getaways by private plane..
She will not bother to pretend to care.
With her expensive new decolletage,
she'll be a magnet for all their advances.
The music starts & she prepares to dodge
the incoming barrage of ardent dancers.
Alas the whole sad drama will begin.  It
is going to be starting any minute...

10/7
Sonnets From Other Lives: Daniel

Just two seconds can change everything.
That's the part that eats at him the most.
He'd cranked a song he liked--started to sing...
An impact & he's living with a ghost.
She will be with him forever, he's convinced.
Each night at three A.M. he'll jerk awake.
Her bike once more has swerved in front of him
with no time for his foot to find the brake.
The way he sees it, now he lives for two.
He'll be her friend, whatever that might mean.
He'll share with her the things he's going through
every evening on his way to bed.
A simple courtesy shown for the dead.

10/6
Sonnets From Other Lives: Zack

Hi, I'm Zack.  I made this video
for the It Gets Better Project 'cause
being gay in high school's tough, I know.
But take heart.  Your life is not a total loss.
I came came from a small town in Idaho.
They started calling me a faggot in fifth grade.
I've been punched, slammed into lockers, so I know
how hard it is.  But I survived and made
it out of there & now my life is great.
See if you kill yourself you've let the bullies win,
& the good part of your life is worth the wait
'cause being fabulous is so the best revenge.
Stick it out.  Four years is not that long.
I does get better.  Trust me.  You stay strong.

8/5
Sonnets From Other Lives: Tia & Ty

The kid keeps screaming.  Tia's had enough.
Shoppers start to give her the stink-eye.
She gets in his face--tells him to shut up.
He just breaks out in a louder cry.
The wants a "tookie"?  That's just too damn bad.
He's lucky that he gets to eat at all.
He should know better than to make her mad.
He arches--throws himself & nearly falls
out of the cart.  She grabs some frozen peas
and cursing--throws them on the TV dinners.
Seething.  She knows goddamn well that she's
the one that will come out of this the winner .
But after that one time at Walmart
she knows to wait to get him in the car.

10/4
Sonnets From Other Lives: Andrew

STUPID PEOPLE! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!
ONE WRONG WORD CAN SET THE WORLD ON FIRE!
ONE ERRATIC THOUGHT CAN TURN THIS SNOW
INTO FLAMING LAVA!  O DENIERS
CAN'T YOU SEE THE LIZARDS IN THE STREETS?
THE LIZARDS WITH THEIR GUNS & UNIFORMS?
THE SIDEWALKS MELTING UNDERNEATH YOUR FEET?
THE HOLE FROM WHICH THIS PIECE OF SKY WAS TORN?
O YOU WHO WOULD CONSPIRE TO STEAL MY WORDS,
TO SUCK THEM LIKE A SPIDER FROM MY MIND,
YOU DON'T SUSPECT AT ALL THAT I HAVE HEARD
YOUR THOUGHTS & PLOTS. O NO I AM NOT BLIND!
THE SIGNS ALIGN!  THERE'S NOWHERE YOU CAN GO!
STUPID PEOPLE!  YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!

10/3
Sonnets From Other Lives:  Ted

Ted spends way too much time in his car.
Just what percentage of his time is spent commuting?
He turns the volume down on NPR,
collates data & begins computing...
The 520 Bridge traffic flow crawls.
Cars idle--weirdly floating on the lake.
The radio declares some moron stalled
a couple miles up.  The Gates estate
is just ahead.  He sends Bill his greetings--
hears Microsoft is up another 8th.
Sailboats glide by.  He has a meeting
in Redmond in an hour. Will he be late?
A promo plays for Talk of the Nation
& he moves a car length toward his destination. 

10/2
Sonnets From Other Lives: Tank Grrl

I wasn't that athletic as a kid.
Always last when they were picking teams.
I was the fat chick.  In PE I hid.
Could not imagine in my wildest dreams
I could be talked into trying out for derby.
It was love at first sight. Absolutely rockin.
You put a girl on skates & let her be
totally badass in torn fishnet stockings.
I don't have the speed to be a jammer,
but I can knock most anybody on her ass.
Just zero in on some poor chick and slam her.
Too bad there wasn't derby in gym class.
O to meet some high school princess in a bout
& say --I'm Tank Grrl bitch. I'm gonna TAKE YOU OUT!

10/1
Sonnets From Other Lives : Bree & Dylan

Their eyes lock from across the crowded room.
She likes his t-shirt. (Vintage Sonic Youth)
A change of plans. (He was leaving soon.
The band was pretty lame to tell the truth.)
He's thinking 'bout that one song from The Streets:
"If she plays with her hair she's prob'ly keen..."
She's tapping on her beer can to the beat.
He's not exactly certain what that means.
The conversation borders intimate.
(Yelling mouth to ear over the bass.)
She thinks he's cute.  He thinks she's kinda hot.
(Not that he's invited to her place.)
He likes her sense of irony--her look--
He so is going to friend her on Facebook.