The northwest Georgia hills surround me
A cradle for a bulldog and a raccoon and a mimosa tree and what all
I’m from here too, a bulldog and a raccoon and a mimosa
The controlled burn of the pine tree farm crackles through my head
Firebreaks cut across my hands like a whip
Like a courtyard in my high school
My destinys to work a steam shovel
It’s all I’ve wanted since boyhood
Barefoot on the blacktop
Playing horse and aiming nerf guns at my brother
The Appalachian feet surround my home
I want to tear them down
Tear through them with John Henry and the infernal digging machine
Dying for stone is pretty way to the tomb yard
Eleanor Roosevelt is buried in my towns cemetery
3/4 of the way up the hill on the right
The hills of heaven and the mountainous cities of hell are from here too
Them and every single bump in the road
Dec 27, 2023
Dec 27, 2023 at 6:02 PM UTC
The sun-baked bayou rots in sun-dried tomato heat
This is not a traditional geometric form
No cube, no circle, this shouldn’t be possible
The swamp’s stink lines blur with the waving heat of the pavement
Fresh out the oven
Flattops from the flatlands
Flamingos from the herons
Is Gaea up on new trends?
Wetlands are out we’ve got shiny new sewers
Glistening, gleaming, glowing with 4 star reviews
The development company’s shade trees are still saplings
Shade! Coming here in 15 to 20 years! Mark your calendars
I got the fast pass for the highway so I can look for parking quicker
I heard there’s parking lot with a million spots
My kids’ eyes widen in wonder, Really Daddy?
I nod with a knowing smile, thinking
Wait till they learn about Cyber Monday
Orthogonal forms dominate here
I wonder if herons wake up early for Black Friday?
Dec 8, 2021
Dec 8, 2021 at 12:28 AM UTC
by which I of course am referring to this keyboard
that i’m writing on now
funny how that works ain’t it
62 minutes until my shift ends
John Prine & the Korean war don’t quite match where I am
clicking pool cues penetrate my headphones
I wonder how many bad games of pool it takes to shake a man’s confidence
by my estimate the answer is never enough
guys that can’t shoot love teaching girls how not to shoot
but the girls don’t usually seem to mind
how very 60’s highschool of it all
maybe Mr. Prine does have something here to say
47 minutes until my shift ends
people trust engineers warns my engineering professor
people trust you to know things he furthers
people trust us to explain
I wish they wouldn’t
tech support & translators for parents & grandparents
people want answers but only when they thought they already knew
40 minutes until my shift ends
pretty good, not bad, I can’t complain
seeing my old highschool teachers at the burrito place where I worked
sinking in the mire of chicken, brown rice, & black beans for minimum wage
ain’t it funny
I can smell the 45 pieces of steak & chicken I grilled when I get home
ain’t it funny
the outrage over the price of guacamole
33 minutes until my shift ends
Dec 5, 2021
Dec 5, 2021 at 5:31 PM UTC
Asphalt, steaming screams swear words
The offensive smell of pavement post downpour
I think I’d like life better if it rhymed
The chatter and clatter mad hatters me
Sleepless and hopeless with Romans
And their online roads and aqueducts
They slither and snake but there is no more wild in the west
Automated scarecrows with AR-15’s stand guard
O’er amber waves of grain
Eyes open for outlaws and injuns
Cattle ranching of the future
Feeding the world one cubic meter of methane at a time
Dec 5, 2021
Dec 5, 2021 at 4:53 PM UTC
I know not what the world shall knead me into
What form and what shape and what color I'll end up
I can guess and speculate and give my opinion
But I don't think it's for me to decide
I will just have to keep staggering forward
Every step excruciatingly finite and detailed
While all I can see is nothing
I can't see where I'm going
I can't even see the floor
I know that it's there
I know I'm walking in a direction
And at a certain speed
But I don't even know what I think about it
All I know is I'm along for the journey
So I guess I'll pack my bags
Sep 10, 2021
Sep 10, 2021 at 11:03 PM UTC
I think we're on a dark road
Use at least 2 pieces of evidence to support your conclusion
Remember you have a glossary
This is a writing assignment not a research paper
My phone is too important to me
And too important for those around me for that matter
It's weird to disconnect
Weird to unwire
Remember class no plagiarism or you will be violating the school's code of academic honesty
I wish I could throw my phone into the sky-colored sea
Feed the electric eels as it were
And people would say 'okay'
But the soul is as digital as our pictures these days
Not photographs but pictures
Pictures and memes and nonsense for nonsense sake
Convenience and luxury at an impossible cost
If you feel absolutely convinced you need to do outside research,
You need to make a bibliography
And cite your sources
Sep 8, 2021
Sep 8, 2021 at 10:53 AM UTC
I'm on the Metra today
The snow outside is teal or green
Like the Caribbean in cartoons
But here 2 ladders lean on the same tree
A lover's suicide
The coldest Caribbean I've ever seen
The church's sign scrolls by
"ght in the Lor"
And we're gone
The train rumbles on
Bridges cover bridges
New! Tower of Babel (coming soon!)
A couple thinks they're subtle 3 rows up
Michael Jackson marries Elvis's daughter
He didn't go to the wedding
There's no Jewels Osco's in Georgia
But the houses here exude the same drab comfort
A deer stands next to a storage locker
The train rumbles on
I'm smuggling beer back to the dorm
Like the good college student my mom wants me to be
I don't have my phone on me
I've never felt more alone
Or free
I explain what happened to the guy who checks tickets
I dropped it in the floorboard of my friend's car
Right before the train arrived
He believes me thank god
I focus again on what's outside the window
And now it's just trees
Skeletal and bare
The train rumbles on
May 3, 2021
May 3, 2021 at 9:08 PM UTC
I wonder about the tea called peace
you know the one in the can
my favorite flavor is sweet lemon
i wonder about it's heft and might
the atoms of tea trapped in the can
begging and begging to be set free
free from the real and free from the unreal
do the manufacturers know about me?
who is the manufacturer?
some guy?
is there even a guy?
well hello there!
some guy
I'm henry
I think your drink is pretty good
I can't help but wonder though about the leaves
you know that's where tea comes from
anyway I have a question for you Mr. Some Guy
if that even is your real name
do you take into account how heavy the can of tea is?
cause it feels nice
a reassuring bundle of matter that says "I take up space"
but it's kind of gross
you know?
the amount of liquid you want me to pour into my stomach
and for that liquid to say "I cost 1.49 at the 7/11"
any ways Mr. Guy,
I just wanted to say thanks
Apr 19, 2021
Apr 19, 2021 at 8:01 PM UTC
The sky is beautiful tonight
Lavender, salmon, and pink like blushing when someone says they love you
But it's already gone
No one will ever see the colors I just saw
And I feel like blushing
Embarrassed due to long standing aversions to sincerity
5:26 PM
From where I sit at my desk at the gym
The sky is 2 different creatures
On one side
A blood orange backlight is cut and cracked by black naked trees
On the other side
The clouds shift and bubble like fresh squeezed blackberry soda
4 guys from the basketball team practice their 3 point shots
5:51 PM
Feb 22, 2021
Feb 22, 2021 at 7:03 PM UTC
verily as i sit here
an exercise in automatic writing
in the vain of all those dada artists before me
i sit
and compose
and i wonder
oh how lucky i am
that amongst the marvel of the present
amidst the bone and sinew of my hand
i possess still the ability to type
and to see the beauty
in the real and in the unreal
like those many in my past
oh how lucky i am
and i wonder
just how many before me have loved
in that same way that only i
have loved
loved the feeling of fingers and keyboards
and of cookies in my mouth
and of music in my ears
oh how lucky i am
to be in love
with a woman
a woman as real as me and you
and although she is not here
with me
in this moment
she exists as i imagine her
like the fleeting image of a siren in the sea spray
and i write
oh how lucky i am
and i gaze past my bare legs onto the floor
the floor of my room and i wonder
oh how lucky i am
oh how lucky i am
in love with the image of a coke can
like so many andy warhols before me
and i stare into his sunglasses
on the poster next to my bed
that i got at the art institute of chicago
and i wonder
oh how lucky i am
Feb 4, 2021
Feb 4, 2021 at 8:55 PM UTC