Algernon: Poems

Jan 2022 · 233

I will release myself from the ache of love

Algernon Jan 2022

I will release myself from the ache of love

mercy throws open the windows
drops the key down the drain
scrubs the afterglow off until my skin is raw
red
I asked the snake if it always hurts like this

Always.

Dec 2020 · 128

Freeze

Algernon Dec 2020

Freeze

with you
it's like a game of freeze tag
every time you touch me
I stop in my tracks
and immediately
begin the slow process

of melting

Dec 2020 · 106

the whole cake

Algernon Dec 2020

the whole cake

My roommate did a juice cleanse
He looked and felt so good So I did the same.
Chugged nothing but holy water for a week. Left the water in the beam of the newmoon. Tried to flush the bad out of me. I asked my tired liver to do more. Tried fire. Tried sage. Tried charcoal. Tried swallowing stones in hopes they’d grind up what I couldn’t get rid of. Tried pulling my teeth out So my bite marks couldn’t be traced back to me
I wrote I WASNT HERE
in hopes even id believe it
but these are the hands that hit and smothered and signed
these are the lips that cut and lied

there was nothing to clean but my body
and even then I sometimes like the way I smell without soap

I am re learning faith in my own fingers
Leaps of it through my wrecked knees
Trust falls into myself

Chug chug chug. Drown drown drown.
the good and the bad mixed into a dark chocolate batter
tonight I eat the whole cake

Dec 2020 · 101

whale

Algernon Dec 2020

whale

When I am stressed I imagine I am a whale
In the middle of the blue ocean
I am not big - I am the perfect size
For a whale
I swim in water that does not fight me
My body was made for my home
I sing and it is always in chorus
I eat simple meals that nourish me completely
that I strain thru my gorgeous bristle teeth
I don’t own a toothbrush
Because I am a whale
I am fast but slow but moving at the exact pace I need to
I rest when I need to
I sing when I need to
I travel the globe and sometimes visit the beach not unlike people
It is my planet
and my planet is blue

Dec 2020 · 88

gravity

Algernon Dec 2020

gravity

I sit next to you
without
being close
And I can feel
my atoms start to pull towards you

Your gravity is stretching me open
Slow and steady and inevitable
the universe expanding

Man made fences
but with you
I am open pasture
Ever bigger ever green
Ever being

So I give my molecules permission
Every single one
To pull me apart

Dec 2020 · 84

snow

Algernon Dec 2020

snow

you said
"snow makes everything pretty"
so the second it started to get cold
I went outside and waited

Dec 2020 · 104

sweet

Algernon Dec 2020

sweet

Got stirred up to foam
trying so hard to dissolve
all the sweet
back into me

Dec 2020 · 64

gotta rise

Algernon Dec 2020

gotta rise

I kiss my palm
wave it goodbye
place my hand on my heart
and swear

I am my own sun
I gotta rise eventually

Dec 2020 · 66

tonight I eat

Algernon Dec 2020

tonight I eat

My roommate did a juice cleanse
He looked and felt so good So I did the same.
Chugged nothing but holy water for a week. Left the water in the beam of the newmoon. Tried to flush the bad out of me. I asked my tired liver to do more. Tried fire. Tried sage. Tried charcoal. Tried swallowing stones in hopes they’d grind up whatever I couldn’t get rid of. Tried pulling my teeth out So my bite marks couldn’t be traced back to me
I wrote I WASNT HERE
in hopes even id believe it
but these are the hands that smothered and signed
these are the lips that cut and lied

there was nothing to clean but my body
and even then I sometimes like the way I smell without soap

I am re learning faith in my own fingers
Leaps of it through my wrecked knees
Trust falls into myself

Chug chug chug. Drown drown drown.
the good and the bad mixed into a dark chocolate batter

tonight I eat the whole cake

Nov 2020 · 58

On Dinosaur Tracks and Longing

Algernon Nov 2020

On Dinosaur Tracks and Longing

I am standing among footprints in the riverbed. An ancient walk, like the one we are doing now.
Something old in us tells us to walk down river and so we do
What paths we can’t find, we make
We take off our shoes and greet the cold water.

These fossils are my favorite -
Most fossils are dead things bones ribs skulls without expression
Unmoving action figures in the last pose they were put in
But tracks are fossilized life
Creatures on the move, going places, in this place, with me
Just at a different time

We have reunited for this day along the ancient river
Her and I and the footprints
While we trek through and around and over, the Texas sun tires and dips
Our shadows become long, just as the dinosaurs shadows did
I guess theirs are longer, I shrug
I begin to remember that we will part again
But I am going to a town you had driven through, that you had touched, that you had stood in line for coffee at
Me to my home and you to yours
But even at home I will rest assured
Even on the concrete, on the linoleum, on the marble
I am in your tracks
And you are among mine
We are together here
In the same place
Just not always at the same time

Aug 2020 · 87

to the ugly fish who live in the dark

Algernon Aug 2020

to the ugly fish who live in the dark

I raise my hands for
a toast to the void
to the big mouth no teeth emptied out colossus
casually stirring stars
here's to the ******* nothingness
THAT ******
that inthecloset underthebed undermyponytail question
cheers -
I don't know you
But I've been walking the plank for 27 years and I'm starting to think I've been in the sea all along so
cheers -
to the ugly fish
the ones on the sea floor
you're not ugly if you grew up in the dark.
wouldn’t you do the same?
attach a headlamp to your forehead?
wouldn't you sew it there yourself?
for a little bit of light?
Cheers -
to the mother who kneels to check under the bed for you and lies
to the unnamed hallelujah of a no-answer question
to the mouth that asks
to the fish
to me

Aug 2020 · 58

two cups of tea / you eat

Algernon Aug 2020

two cups of tea / you eat

two cups of tea
and two cups of restaurant water
separate us
don't make me eat
fuzzy purple sweater
places two bowls in front of us
we reach for 2 forks, 2 napkins, 2 spoons
i don't want to eat
i sip
i chew
i'm eating just like humans are supposed to
but i don't want to eat
i'm sitting
sentences sentences
i'm wanting i'm sipping
i'm slipping off my plastic chair
gripping the tea cup
bracing against the tablecloth
i don't want to eat
you drink your tea
your water
you chew
but I swallow

Apr 2020 · 80

april

Algernon Apr 2020

april

it's april
Feels like
i'm the fool?
maybe
a little worried at least
that I'm foolish

Ran out of money
throwing all my spare change into the fountain

Ran out of time
Picking up stray eyelashes like baby birds that had fallen from the nest
blew them away
To the tune of
I wish
I wish
I wish
whatever she wishes will happen
What’s another penny at the bottom of a fountain?

Is it foolish
Check my horoscope
Check yours
I look up
As if it’s written up there too
As if I could see any stars in this nocturnal city
As if I know how to read those far away dots

I hold the magic 8 ball in my hands
I don’t believe in this **** I say
As I shake
Shaking shaking
Praying just a little
Not enough to count
I don’t go to church, temple, mosque
I kneel
Not enough to count

Maybe the clouds will make shapes
And those shapes will fit together
In a way that tells me

I look up

I roll my eyes

Astrology.com says I should use my charm, that I’m compatible with Gemini’s, that I’m going to succeed but
check again tomorrow.
The clouds are all circus animals
The magic 8 ***** tells me: Yes, definitely
I pull apart my hands
A kid throws a whole quarter in the water
I rub my eyes. I don't even check
I look down
I see you

I'd forgotten what I was asking the universe anyway

Apr 2020 · 88

A true story about all the things I am in other peoples dream

Algernon Apr 2020

A true story about all the things I am in other peoples dream

In highschool a friend dreamt that the apocalypse left hundreds of children orphaned
lo and behold in this wacky dream world
I was their chosen leader
The leader of the hobo children, they called me
we would go on missions
they were very loyal
She addressed me as such until we graduated

My best friend dreamt that I was dating the Pacific Ocean
but that one day we broke up
on the beach, as it were
but the ocean got angry so her tide pulled my car into the surf and drowned it
while I yelled at her from the sand
arms crossed
huffing and sighing and cussing out
my ex - the biggest ocean on earth

My boyfriend dreamt I was dating someone else
who insisted on telling him that he wasn't a good partner
and while they argued and fought and people danced
he told me that
I sat there dying
and no one cared to notice
what a strange dream he says
what a strange dream I say as my phone buzzes

In my own dreams I am several people
in my own dreams I am often someone else
I am often watching me and occasionally I am myself
I never dream I am flying
I am often running and I am often getting tired
I am often chased and there is often blood
most dreams I try not to remember

I'd like to be the me in other peoples dreams
they are exciting, I tell myself
they disappear at the sound of an alarm
and I am still with me when I wake up

Mar 2020 · 78

windmill night and windmill morning

Algernon Mar 2020

windmill night and windmill morning

our arms are windmills
always circling and setting like the sun across shoulders, around waists
windmills ache to spin
so we switch
your arm around me
then mine around yours
it goes on like this
we could power the whole city this way
your arm around me
then mine around yours
your arm around me
then mine around yours
the wind dies down
my wrists go limp
her face draped over my collarbone
before I can fold up
she turns to face the west
and each blade starts up again
reaching up to the sky
ticking up like a roller coaster drop
falling back like a wave
spin until I can see the sun
spin until her wings join mine
good morning, I say
we could power the whole city this way

Mar 2020 · 86

ferns

Algernon Mar 2020

ferns

there are ferns sprouting from my liver, my lungs, my tongue, my sternum
I'm worried
Am I rotting? Am I growing?

Mar 2020 · 76

got on a plane and left my city but I do still think of her

Algernon Mar 2020

got on a plane and left my city but I do still think of her

Trying to outrun the water but it's
Flooding the streets
Coming in under the doorway locked
Splashing over my feet
I'm at oceans edge
Somethings coming out of the foam

Pines grow here
And so do I
Roll the windows down
Let the rain in
On my sleeves and freckleing my face
I try to eat big bowls of fog
doesn't wanna stay on my spoon

***** in tanks tapping out an SOS
Lanterns red and gold
I walk up hill so I can see better
I taste lemon
Who was ever ungrateful to receive fruit?

There's dark figures of people behind glass
Looking like hieroglyphs
In a city built upwards
So tall it’s forgotten what the ground look like
Flags fly not as high as the rent so
You comb the grass for something sharp
You run your fingers through her trees
They are Green year round here

She is painted, she is old, she is pretty

You didn’t realize seals at the pier leave in the summer
so you **** up your chance at saying goodbye
Maybe I buy a fridge magnet
I move my body east but
The Gold Rush continues
Young men with pans sifting through gravel
Heaps and heaps of gravel
churning through land
leaving roots exposed to the sun

when I close my eyes I see her
her purples and her yellows
her greens and greys
her flamboyant spirals
and the birds that nest there
the first pigeon
that hatched outside my bathroom window had died
the second one didn't.

Mar 2020 · 82

the world didn’t stop

Algernon Mar 2020

the world didn’t stop

I found time
Sliding my finger under
the rind
between the skin and the fruit
There were whole minutes and hours to divide
Placing the little hand in your palm
I wished the earth spun a little slower

I found space
on the backside of an anemic paycheck
(The place where you put your name)
and in a little plastic bodega bag
And on the inside wrapper of my granola bar dinner
in between my *******
between the items of my growing grocery list
somewhere between carrots and eggs and bread and fruit
there was space

I found you
in a place of no space and no time for nobody
and certainly not for me
(who do I think I am to ask for space?)
on a crowded platform there were football fields of expanse for you
and seconds stretched out like taffy for you
the world didn’t stop
but it got a little bigger

she disappears in my arms
and for once I feel big enough
I put her in my pocket
I have no idea what time it is
and for once I do not worry
I found time

Nov 2019 · 116

I brought her a lot of rain because I thought that was what I was supposed to do

Algernon Nov 2019

I brought her a lot of rain because I thought that was what I was supposed to do

I never adapted to the cold and I think the wind knows
My knuckles are angry with me
But I’m angry at them
I yell at my limbs I yell at my feet
I yell until the kettle out yells me
And even then I am a little jealous of her whistle
What a life ! Made To Scream
I wait for quiet but quiet waits for very few
I am in love with the woman laughing on the train
I am in love with the woman taking too **** long to order
I am in love with whatever the **** is waking up after I
put that **** to rest
She used to make me tea
She also used to blame me for the weather
I became revered and feared
but I was not worthy of worship
too much destruction
God of chaos
God of things you don't tell your parents
God of you-only-prayed-for-rain-when-there’s-a-drought
but ******* for dating a rain cloud
Levys are breaking, my love
I am spilling
I am spouting
I’m a little tea ***
Here is my MOUTH
Here is my HAND
I’m a big bad somethingorother
I tell cautionary tales about a monster that looks a lot like me and lives in a little village that looks just like New York City.
Huh you say
Who is that
Not I said the mouth
Not I said the tongue
Not I said the hand
Not I said the feet
Not I said the shoulders
Not I said the stomach
Not I said the fallopian tubes
Not I said the esophagus
Not I said the inner ear
and by the time you started to recognize me
and by the time you opened the closet to assure me nothing was there
I had eaten away at all the sweaters
and the wind blew right through
because she knew that I never adapted to the cold

Nov 2019 · 129

learning how

Algernon Nov 2019

learning how

I’m learning how to be loved

I had a dog once
A big brown mutt
squiggly wiggly throw your weight around steal off the table brute
He had no manners
knocked over children like bowling pins
and yet
that day he found me crying
he laid his head on my lap and
was still

when they put him down
I left the room

I’m still learning how to be loved

We cook a dozen eggs
He buys me the right kind of milk
We don’t know what to do with each other
but buy eggs and buy milk
drink coffee and sing television theme songs
I can't look at him when I leave
But I do

I tear the paper along the tape
She’s watching me like a hawk
before I see them
She starts
It’s okay if you don’t like them. Do you like them? It’s okay
if you don’t.
I tell my mom I like them I love them I'll wear them all the time
I do
But she notices when I forget them on the table

I am still learning how to be loved

I call all the time
Every time it’s dark
Every time I google search my symptoms
Every time I feel a dead end
I call knowing he won't answer
I call just to leave a voicemail
One day his voicemail is full
I’m still learning how to be loved

Nov 2019 · 121

daffodil

Algernon Nov 2019

daffodil

in the first grade I used to spend recess picking little clover flowers for my teacher
even at the age of 6 i knew girls got bouquets of flowers and I haven't changed how i show my affection

once
she
drew me a flower
because she couldn't afford to buy them
couldn't climb the fence to pick them
i kept it too long
but no other daffodil
had stayed yellow that long

Jun 2019 · 147

summertime

Algernon Jun 2019

summertime

in the summertime
I walk by the school
to remind myself that this
used to be a time of great rest

Feb 2019 · 201

a whole lot of nothing

Algernon Feb 2019

a whole lot of nothing

she asked me if i minded
I tell her it's nothing
and like magic it was
I spoke nothingness into beingness
I bore nothing here
So heavy I could barely carry
this big bag of nothing

i waited for anything
i waited for nothing
and so when the doorbell rang
and nothing arrived
i acted surprised

i knew all along
what nothing looked like
looked like you and looked like me
and together we looked like a whole lot of nothing
holding hands in the dark
speaking soft little speech bubbles
empty and white

telling everyone we were nothing
and so we were
slowly but surely
or maybe instantly
we never were anything
but we sure were a whole lot of nothing

say nothing was going on
and so
nothing went
and so
nothing goes
and
slowly but surely
or maybe instantly
or maybe all along
we were never anything
but we sure were
a whole lot of nothing

Jan 2019 · 1.1k

if it's not love it's damn close

Algernon Jan 2019

if it's not love it's **** close

you make me want to buy
a motorcycle

and
you make me want to buy

a
helmet.

Sep 2018 · 225

another sea song

Algernon Sep 2018

another sea song

this is the song of sea
of poseidon wooing me
of the riptide
of pulling in
of wind getting caught in sails
like my fingers in my hair
no matter

this is the song of sea
of not knowing what's
under me
you know
whales are not big
like I am not small
you know that

sea as tea as
sunken sailors and disintegrated ships
castaways cargo and carcasses
fish bones shark teeth
blood **** iron salt
the most seasoned soup
we wade in
not knowing

no matter
no matter
we float

#ocean #sea

May 2018 · 206

i waited 20 minutes for the train

Algernon May 2018

i waited 20 minutes for the train

this station is underground
but birds still found their way in
here
i can see you and you can see me
but we don't look at anybody
voices ring out from above
that almighty instruction -
      ELEVATORS OUT OF SERVICE
      STAND BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE
      DELAY DUE TO WEATHER
It rings out in 4 different languages
we all lift our heads like peaks of waves
and fall back to our faithful phones
the voice is off
pigeons strut by me
we all pretend
we all wait

first draft

Mar 2018 · 189

somewhere down there between my legs i hear a rumble

Algernon Mar 2018

somewhere down there between my legs i hear a rumble

somewhere down there
people confuse dirt with death
hearth with hell
somewhere down there
i pay more attention to my legs
than what they're holding up
somewhere down there
is the underwear memorial
dedicated to all the things that got more attention
than my own bleeding body
somewhere down there
is hunger
if there are lips is there a mouth?
if there is mouth is there a stomach?
if there is a stomach is there food?

to become
the Grand Canyon
gaping with beauty
millions of years
deep
she sits
she spreads
she flows

Mar 2016 · 800

comet

Algernon Mar 2016

comet

hey there comet
sorry about throwing you away
i mistook you for a bad idea
i missed the can and you ended up in orbit
***** little snowball without a place to land
spinning in space without a ship
when i was little i did not want to be an astronaut
i wanted to be a teacher and a mom
i wanted to be responsible for shaping little souls
i thought it would be like play-doh
i thought it would be like dress up
because when i put on mommies sweater
daddys glasses
growing up was just about getting larger
so that this dwarf planet could become a sun
with a few more servings of vegetables
and some glasses of milk
stretching my bones by hanging off the monkey bars
gravity worked for me
and gravity kept me grounded
and gravity kept the planets in place
and gravity would grant me permission to grow
but i would never become a planet
because i was born a bit too fast
and a bit too cold
so just make sure
to orbit on back around this planet
my little comet
and I won’t miss it this time

#comets

Feb 2016 · 307

A New Knife

Algernon Feb 2016

A New Knife

but if you had just shattered
wouldn't you make use
of your new sharp edges?

Feb 2016 · 558

The Drunk Man and The Priest are stuck on a stalled Train

Algernon Feb 2016

The Drunk Man and The Priest are stuck on a stalled Train

The N-Judah is stuck in a black tunnel
the Drunk Man looks heavy
he drags his head to look around
his hands lag a little behind his words
the Drunk Man points to the The Priest
"you a football coach?"
The Priest corrects him gently
"I am a Priest."
the Drunk Man's eyes widened:
"How old are you, Priest?"
The Priest, his hands clasped in front of him,
and with a smile, "Seventy."
"Seventy?!" the Drunk Man exclaims
he's looking around the train
"You don't look 70," he smiles,
"You look beautiful."

the train was stalled for over 20 minutes.
a mans voice over the speaker informed us
someone got hit by a train
he apologized for the inconvenience
he lets go a heavy sign and clicks off the speaker

the Drunk Man asks the Priest first
"What's your favorite scripture?"

and then the whole train
"How intimate is your relationship with God?"

his gaze doesn't move, but he addresses everyone in earshot
"When nobody's looking - do you cheat?"

his gaze doesn't move, but he addresses everyone, even those who can't hear him
"When no one is paying attention - are you honest?"

Nobody responds to him except the Priest.
Finally, the train moves.
When I get off, I can see that
The Drunk Man and the Priest stay on the train.

Work in progress. This is a real event so I'm working how to accurately and poetically write it down.

Feb 2016 · 482

i do not believe in astrology

Algernon Feb 2016

i do not believe in astrology

I do not believe in Astrology
but when you talked about the planets
I started to pay more attention to the sky

I do not believe in God
and neither did you
but your 8 years of Catholic school must have rubbed off on me
cuz when I prayed for the first time
I put you between my palms
and said "God, I don't know if this will work"

unfinished. I can feel there are several more verses brewing under this one.

Feb 2016 · 347

dartboard

Algernon Feb 2016

dartboard

the moment before I saw you
someone threw a dart at a dartboard
I didn't see where it landed
didn't want to
your hands were in your pockets
I was terrified
Still am
because I'm thinking about the dart when
you turned to look at me
and I could feel it hit the board
somewhere in the center

****, i thought
I gotta stop finding girls with aim

May 2015 · 728

Landed Love

Algernon May 2015

Landed Love

amusement park rides are safe
the sheer force keeps you from falling out
roller coasters tilting you side to side
not quite upsidedown
but almost

I'm trying ******* a playground swing
to go over the top
but just keep falling back to earth
******* gravity

in between the trip and the crash
is the fall
That's when I think of you
when my hands are outreached
My feet are skidding
I'm trying not to eat ****
but there's no guarantee
because clumsy people fall a lot

Maybe I haven't landed in love
but I sure am falling

Apr 2015 · 600

damn fine.

Algernon Apr 2015

**** fine.

This girl?
She’s So **** fine.
I mean so **** fine. And
This girl knows I'm bad with words
So
this will probably
Sound like ****
But here's what it is –

Right before I saw you
Someone threw a dart
I didn't see where it landed
I didn't want to
Your hands were in your pockets
You turned and I felt the dart hit
somewhere
near
the center
And I thought - ****
I gotta stop finding girls
Who got such good aim

So I opened my cabinets
And I started reciting all the foods
You're supposed to call lovers
Sugar honey flour
Why do I want to call you things
I could bake into a cake
Maybe it's cuz I want to eat you up
and eat you out
you know I didn't have a sweettoothe until
I met you

And now I've got these
cavities
Deep dark pits
of her
and Grand Canyons behind my canines
And swelling seas and saltmines…

You know that
I grew up in a valley
So when I run my hands down the *****
Of her thighs
It's a little like going home

I've found myself staring at maps
Books on geography
Cartography
Elevations
Latitude and longitude
How can I navigate
When her hips
are my east and west
but the roadsigns say
thank you for visiting
when I swear I just got here

And so I'm driving down your interstate veins
And I'm speeding, babe
I'm going way too fast
And –

At stop signs I think of you
I think of you I think of heavy blankets
cutting hair like snipping sorrows
pruning back bad days
kissing pretty little words into my mouth
Like candy hearts with pink letters
You buy for novelty

This girl knows I'm bad with words
So this will probably
Sound like ****
But that's what it is
And that's what she is -
She’s **** fine.
**** fine.

Dec 2014 · 2.2k

Sandcastle

Algernon Dec 2014

Sandcastle

I fell in love
with a sandcastle
and when the tide came
and washed you away
I let my body drift out to sea
prayed I would disintegrate
piece by piece, particle by particle
with yours
but I'm not like you
made of sand
my moats were useless
against waves

have you ever tried to capture a wave inside of a bucket?

that's what it was like
to love her

Dec 2014 · 296

POOR GIRL

Algernon Dec 2014

POOR GIRL

I DONT
NEED
YOUR ****
ING PITY

Jul 2014 · 1.2k

Catch and release

Algernon Jul 2014

Catch and release

we were playing catch and release at the lake
then going to the store to buy canned tuna
then learning how to tie knots:
latticework and basket weaving, promise keeping and lie making
securing one end of your thought
and anchored down by memory
and kept polished by time
but we keep playing catch and release
with our children
feeding them worms on hooks
and just as they reach the surface
"get back in the water"
we cry
get back in the water.

Jul 2014 · 570

Something about being washed ashore in the city

Algernon Jul 2014

Something about being washed ashore in the city

Clean little taxi cab
picks up ***** little people
deposits them
washes them ashore
the sidewalk like ***** on the sand
their claws raised
and pinching the air
- gasping for breathe
- begging for change
or to just get back in the water

May 2014 · 908

Hand me down

Algernon May 2014

Hand me down

Hand me down children
breathe off borrowed air
born from slip ups
out of the womb they come
into the arms of guilty parents
and into this world of musical chairs
where everybody's fighting for a seat

too many kids?
or not enough chairs?

hand me down children have a way
of looking at the world
a little differently
they ask why and can take a beating
they admire the shades of their bruises
they are made of the same stuff as firecrackers
they know when they are being lied to
they even know why

Hand me down children will always find each other
and love each other
Hand me down children sat in the back
and couldn't spell too well
they did stupid dares and almost died frequently
they got socks for Christmas
and made them into puppets
they weren't scared of the dark
or at least that's what they say
they slice up the night like birthday cake
and pop tires to make swings
and the world is their playground
monkey bars of lead pipes
swings of driftwood
slides of cement, toppled building halfpipes
sidewalk chalk stolen from substitute teachers
Paper cranes made out of pink slips,
merri-go-round-abouts, bikes without brakes

Hand me down children play
in mommys old sweater
daddys old socks
brothers shoes
and sisters scarves
and they play after the flashlights burn out
and after the fireflies die in their jars

struggling with the ending...mmmm probably will change it.

#childhood #handmedown

May 2014 · 732

Kitchen Love

Algernon May 2014

Kitchen Love

my mom showed us how to love
taught us love in a kitchen
I love you - wash the carrots
I love you - mix the batter
I love you - grease the pan
I love you - 250 degrees fahrenheit

I'd like to peel an orange
throw the rind at your face
take turns kneading bread
have a pancake flipping contest

So let's rummage though the spice drawer
rub cinnamon on your skin
let the thyme sink into your palms
breathe in the anise, exhale paprika
sprinkle pepper over your thighs
toss salt over your shoulder
kiss me with vanilla between your teeth
touch me with hands steeped in cardamom
slip on the linoleum
kick up the curry
put the kettle on make it sing
smash a tomato between our hips
throw everything left into cast iron
and simmer on low for 3 days

I love you - mince the garlic
I love you - don't burn yourself
I love you - pass the butter
I love you - smash the plates
I love you - stir stir stir

so honey?
sugar?
flour?
eggs?
you grab the spice rub
and I'll set the table

Mar 2014 · 868

a frying pan full of potatoes

Algernon Mar 2014

a frying pan full of potatoes

a frying pan full of potatoes
and one glass of tea
because you've only one mug.
complaining about my cold feet
while pulling me closer.
taking an hour to find a parking spot
in a city made of streets.
letting go of your hand the minute we arrive
picking it up again when we leave.
I almost called you by her name once
but I bit my tongue and swallowed her name down
with a glass of water twice a day or as needed

Mar 2014 · 486

Diamond [draft]

Algernon Mar 2014

Diamond [draft]

I was told when I was young that I was precious.
And thus -
I didn't want to bleed because I thought my rubies were spilling out.
I didn't want to cry so people wouldn't take my sapphires.
I thought my crown was inside of me.
But instead of a treasure chest, I discovered, I was a firework.
Assembled so neatly just to explode.
Put together just to fall apart.
Cigarettes only become useful
after they're lit on fire.
So pull me out of a little paper box and burn me up?
I've always worked well under pressure.
I only work well under pressure.
And because of this
I pocketed every lump of coal I found in my stockings
knowing that if I pressed it between my palms I could make a diamond
I guess that's why my hands are always *****
sorry sir - I can't shake your hand today -
I'm making diamonds
maybe that's why I held you so tight
why I placed my blackened hands on your shoulders
and pressed so hard
not knowing of course
you already were a diamond.
you already were a diamond.

Mar 2014 · 436

3/9/14 untitled draft

Algernon Mar 2014

3/9/14 untitled draft

i build you out of ***** dish towels and empty teacups
clean ashtrays and yellow porch lights
i painted you with cheap restaurant crayons
wrote you with letters off unregistered license plates
decorated you with my mothers stretch marks and stick on earrings

i folded paper airplanes out of tomorrows newspaper
i sent you messages tied to the legs of sparrows
that both forgot how to fly nor knew where to go
i kept our memories under the fireplace
the landlord wouldn't let us use
i carved your name into the dining room table
so every time i had my cup of coffee
i woke up and saw you

Mar 2014 · 391

i go/i go

Algernon Mar 2014

i go/i go

loving you is like grasping a rose/maybe a pretty piece of glass/I mean/ you caught my eye across the garden/across the street/you/sticking out of the sand/so I did what any other kid would do i/ ran across the street/ stepped over the vegetable plants/ trampled the daises/ i kicked up sand/and i clutched you fast and tight/and honey i know you've got sharp edges/i know you're covered head to toe in thorns under those leaves of yours/but i'm holding on to my pretty flower/my little poison frog/tighter/and/tighter/and i know when i/i know that when i/let go/let go/go/you go/you go/you/go/go/when i pry each finger/each finger/ off of you/whenever/when/i do/i know/i know/i'll look down/at a blood covered palm

Dec 2013 · 841

The day I fell apart

Algernon Dec 2013

The day I fell apart

This is the ground where I crumbled

My arms landed on the sidewalk with a thud
And my leg rolled into the street
My fingers sprinkled the pavement
In the radius of these 5 feet

While my toes tumbled downhill
My ribs spread open like a book
My spine slithered away
While my muscles spazzed and shook

My lips stuttered and tapped 3 blocks east
And my ears curled toward the ocean sound west

My ankles turned into diamonds and waited to be found
My blood boiled and sank, simmered through the ground
My hair curled in a flurry and like a tumbleweed swept away
My skull rattled and sighed, “oh darling not today”

My chest melted into the sidewalk
My thighs could run without the weight
My veins ran rivers, my capillaries cried “stop!”
But even they knew it was too late

So my hips skipped to a playground so they could finally swing
My throat cleared the road because it wanted to sing
My shoulders hunched and knew at once the number of candies in the jar
Then I pitched my eyes hard and fast who had never seen so far

My teeth assembled themselves in lines and marched off in a hurry
The knots in my back sprang loose and clung onto the nearest worry

My nails began scratching their stories into the busy road
My knees sank, relieved at last, of the lightened heavy load

My lungs inflated and like a balloon let go and floated
My tongue, without teeth, went and wagged and gloated

My feet followed my ears and sunk into the sand
My eyelashes, then drowning, sought to find dry land,

My skeleton
drummed out
the beat of
my heart

And that was the day
that I
fell
apart

Nov 2013 · 505

Including you

Algernon Nov 2013

Including you

I couldn't keep you
because how can you
hold onto the incoming tide.
the moon pulled you back
and you obeyed her call
I knit pieces of you into me
thinking that, like a puzzle,
if I fit all the scraps together
you'd become whole
but broken you stayed
listening to the voices
stuck hard behind your ears
rubbing alcohol into your skin
hoping your ***** past could
filter through me and come out clean
but because I'm covered in holes
everything falls through

including you

Nov 2013 · 444

[untitled: 5/11/13]

Algernon Nov 2013

[untitled: 5/11/13]

She came in like morning fog softly and quietly. covering her footsteps and obscuring my view Going 80 down an unlit road and into a wall of fog I turn off my headlights and I lose myself in her. I could see the city peak like mountains over her nudging the city awake One bee One capillary One lonely ghost at a time. We move unable to see our hands but thinking someone somebody someone somebody has to be holding them

Jun 2012 · 2.8k

City

Algernon Jun 2012

City

I looked up from the ghetto
And I saw a little plastic American flag hanging out the window,
And a blue pinwheel softly spinning,
And down at my feet a hoard of pigeons gathered round a chicken leg
And I wonder if they’re aware
That they’re eating a bird

Jun 2012 · 979

A bear and a butterfly [first draft]

Algernon Jun 2012

A bear and a butterfly [first draft]

you are a lot and a little
a bucket and a teaspoon
too much and not enough
you are old pajama pants and a silk ballgown
a pencil and a pen
you tie me up while loosening my knots
staged a coup and while I kept power
you are a bear and a butterfly
you are the static on the radio and the sound of a doorbell
you are a poem and a punchline
a paragraph and a word
a novel and a syllable that hold the same amount of meaning
you are stale crackers midnight and breakfast served all day
you are the laughter on the other side of a wall
but you are a lot and a little
a bucket and a teaspoon
too much and not enough
you are a bear and a butterfly

Apr 2012 · 729

Waiting rooms

Algernon Apr 2012

Waiting rooms

in the open waiting room
at a federal prison
a boy and his father
play a game of airplane

at the airport
a woman is making a final call
but whoever she's calling
doesn't pick up
so she tucks it away
and boards the plane anyway

the sterile emergency room is where
an older sister tries to help
the younger sister make up
the math homework
she didn't do but her teacher
will berate her for