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236 · Sep 2019
TITS
James Floss Sep 2019
Tricky bits, those
I have two of them
Bigger than some of yours

Superfluous on me
But some fun; a
Vestigial giggle

Perky, saggy
Voluptuous or
Removed

Tricky bits, those ****
Used to objectify
And advertise

===================
STANZA REMOVED
STANDARD PRACTICES
KEEPING YOU SAFE
===================

I wish I knew the joy
Of those milky bits
**** for little tots

Every mamma everywhere
Feeds who comes next
Every mamma, every mammal
235 · May 2017
FILM EDITING 101
James Floss May 2017
The refrigerator is humming;
It would only take a thumping
“thrrr!-thrrr!-thrrr!-thrrr!-thrrr!-thrrr!”
To sound like film through sprockets.

My dad captured family life
On 8mm then super-8 film.
He taught me editing.
Splicing, cross-cutting the past.

Thread it; see it, cut it…
Get out the razor blade
And thin strips of splicing tape.
Make the past more perfect.

We are our own editors.
Remembering and forgeting.
I choose to remember joy
And excise the pain.
233 · Jul 2018
CYCLING
James Floss Jul 2018
The clickety-click
of pedaling paused
The sound of ease
of exhale breeze

following gravity’s grade
Sliding flying on asphalt  
I’ll pick up the pace soon
but now, just flow
232 · Sep 2018
RAIN ON ME
James Floss Sep 2018
Rain, righteous rain
Happening right now
Drumming the deck
Feeding the ground

Sun king finally sleeps
After summer dryness and heat
Let’s pre-remember winter
The season we re-enter
231 · Apr 2017
: 0
James Floss Apr 2017
: 0
: 0

Blogs can slog
As long as they like.

Toot-sweet tweets
at 37 + 100 + three.

Twit a bit with only 3:
Emoticon with me.

; )
231 · Apr 2017
DEPLOYMENT
James Floss Apr 2017
Darling,

A redeployment
Next week:
Clean-up crew.

After:
Logistics.

And then:
Shore leave!

I'll be with you.

Soon,
My commission
Will be over.

Then,
Our next assignment
Will begin.
230 · Apr 2020
SUCCOR
James Floss Apr 2020
Give me Nepenthe
To relieve the odd grief of

Sodden swollen days
Odd different ways

We need some forgetting
Of sadness and regretting

I shan’t regret thee, napenthe
For your welcome Elysian sway
230 · May 2017
MOTHER
James Floss May 2017
I'm just six of ten;
You had children
Often.

It wasn't 1/10th love
It was all in.
Always.

Grayce Thonberry Floss
You taught us all
Grace.

Thanks!
230 · Jun 2017
CONFESSION CONCESSION
James Floss Jun 2017
Bless me forward
For I have sinned;
My last concession
Was 52 years ago.

Father, I've lied and slyed
But always told my truth;
Sins of father sync to son
I see his truth but live my own.

Hail, Mary, and our father
I can be contrite and right.
I don't seek Yahweh's forgiveness
For my trespasses, I seek yours.

If this is a one-shot deal,
And this humanist realist thinks it so,
Your forgiveness matters more
Than some spirits' in the sky.
228 · Apr 2017
SOUR MILK
James Floss Apr 2017
Sour milk.

She walks to Three Corners Market. 

An unseen sludge of mud;

a slip, a fall—
PAIN!

Ice helps;
Not enough.
"I'll wait for you in the car"

1 hr. @ Urgent Care.
Tedium at Emergency.
Inconclusive X-Ray.
Cloudy CAT Scan.
Inconclusive.

9 hours later, 1am, sleep.
This morning?
I'm guessing:
PAIN!

I'm off to fill her prescriptions

And get fresh milk.
226 · Dec 2018
BLUE CHRISTMAS
James Floss Dec 2018
Son of no one
Now pater has passed
Mother long gone
Children none

Friends, a few
Fewer those true
Fortunately,
Family remains

I have my life
I have my house,
Critters within
I have my spouse
224 · Oct 2017
ALMOST RHYMES
James Floss Oct 2017
regressive country
past progressive

rights human
redefined denied

your civil right
to be uncivil

polemicized
ploiticized

you essay
your world

topsy-turvey—
orangey

eulogized
224 · Dec 2017
TONY AWARD
James Floss Dec 2017
Mrs. Maisel is
Marvelous!

Set design:
NYC, 1958.

Repurposed speakeasies,
Basement comedy clubs.

Wig, hair makeup:
Yes.

Period props:
Yes.

Costume design:
Fifties fabulousness.

Sound design:
Classic jazz,

50s smaltz,
Faux folk trios

Finger snapping
Beatnik poets: yes.

Acting:
Everyone.

Envelope, please…

And the special acting award for
Above and beyond
Goes to no shlemiel or shlimazel
The Monk with the Funk:

Tony Shalhoub!

(Please do season 2)
223 · Feb 2018
AGES OF A MAN
James Floss Feb 2018
10s: mewling, puking
Then again an adolescent bridge
A human being finally forms.

20s: GOLDEN!
"Look at me!” Said the clown,
Nothing can stop me now!

30s: circumventing adulthood…
Sailing the shoals of marriage…
Navigating career uncertainties—

40s: doldrums. I survived cancer.
Uncertainties no longer fun.
Depression on the run.

50s: Nifty! Chances taken–
Meeting meaningful men;
Reclaiming who I am!

60s: a wide horizon!
From experience and wisdom,
And with all of you, I dive in!
223 · Dec 2018
STUDENT EVALUATIONS
James Floss Dec 2018
I do the best I can
As an old white man
Privilege not withstanding
I try understanding

The world is bigger than me
. . .
Just another tiny speck
Hoping to do so with respect
223 · Jan 2018
BANANANANA
James Floss Jan 2018
Finally, I have an enemy!
No longer fraught for naught;
A nemesis! A right to fight!

****, you Clam-man!
You bivalve bloviator!
Super Slug to the rescue!

Cape, cup, spandex on!
Superslime secreted!
Slugman off!

Faster than a seasonal change…
More powerful then the breath of breeze…
Able to traverse 100 yards in as many days!

Super powers:
Eye stalks pivot independently
*** changes not infrequently

Just you wait, Clam-man
And wait!

And wait!
223 · Apr 2017
OTTO COLLECT
James Floss Apr 2017
Eye eight Iowa’s spill chicken.
Its' all-moist never rite.
Tern Otto-collection rough.
Lean two spill Youseff;
By egg dictionary.
223 · Jan 2018
LONG DISTANCE
James Floss Jan 2018
I’d like to phone the past
First to Jimmy then to Jim and
Let them know it will be all right

I needn’t correct the past
Nurture shaped nature
And I pleasantly accept present

What matters is the is
What time matters is the now
Moving forward is the how
222 · Oct 2017
ENNUI BREEZE
James Floss Oct 2017
I want something
A sirloin steak
A piece of carrot cake

I want more than when
Not who but now how
Something more than then again

A purple drink umbrella
A creature double feature
An itch unscratchable scratched

I want something
221 · Jun 2017
JUNE 1, 2017
James Floss Jun 2017
After the reign of rain
And five years of drought and doubt
The fecund world is green again
With sugar packets growing

Plums aplenty on trees one and two
Cherries and blueberries ripen apace
Late blooming apples
Three varieties, small as olives

Festoon trees one to four
Grapes, clusters of little green B-Bs
Promise wines, jams and galletes
A feast after famine

Best yet, peaches!
Only one last dry year
Now, dozens upon dozens
Fatten in the June sun
220 · May 2018
PELE’S FURY
James Floss May 2018
Pele's hair falls, tears drop
Seething red rage
Shoots high to sky
Black earth roils

Sign of end times?
History fissures?
50th ****** at 45th?
Or just fiery creation?

I saw from the sky
Dragon’s sulfur breath
Shoot two hundred high from
Black cheeks through cracked teeth

What a time to be on the big island
And witness such destructive creation
True wonder,  true jeopardy
Nature fierce in its orange display
219 · Apr 2017
FUTURE PEACHES
James Floss Apr 2017
Future peaches
pretty in pink
Soaking up the
Afternoon rain.
A reign of rain,
Biblical rain!

Reminds me of a poem:
"From Blossoms"
by Li-Young Lee

How I look forward to:
“the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.”

I remember dust.
I remember summer.
219 · May 2017
MUSCLE MEMORY
James Floss May 2017
My body know bullies:
Flames to my limbic brain!
I tense, clench, clutch;
Time and stomach prolapse…

(I'm being bullied;
This makes no sense—
Stay? Run? Respond?
How? Snarky? Politely?)

Retreat seems best.
Breathe, think, relax.
Talk it through with my wife.
Let the F-or-F response flush.

Rhetoric can be a fine-pointed toothpick for
Lifting lint from disagreement
Or a coarse cudgel
Driving points home.

My body knows bullies,
My intellect knows notions.
Trust your body.
Trust your brain.
I do.
219 · Mar 2019
FIC-SF 02-08-1958 FLO
James Floss Mar 2019
When I was thirteen,
I would ride my bike
to the library and
beeline to Sci-Fi

I’d fish out fat books;
a trilogy at least and
have a blast in space
released of all gravity

I’d float in a different place
considering time, consciousness
and race—and human humility.
Rocket-man landed expanded
218 · Apr 2017
SKETCH PAD
James Floss Apr 2017
I'm enjoying (drawing) again,
my (sketch pad) open
a (#2) poised
capturing images.

I chip away at it:
editing coarse lines first
particular words next;
an (eraser) sharpens punctuation.
Violá: a poem!

It was zen, then.
It's zen again.
217 · Apr 2017
WW D
James Floss Apr 2017
Darling,

The battle continues.

Thankfully, my depression
is leashed.
Sometimes a long leash,
Sometimes not.

On leash, it informs me:
I can see clearly now.

Off:

Devastating.
217 · Dec 2017
ARRIVAL
James Floss Dec 2017
Boat overturns
Immigrant swims
Trauma begins

Risking all for family
A life a little better,
A strange future

In a strange land
Living step by step
A survival dance

Different chance
Risking all
To be safer
217 · Jul 2017
TELLER VISION
James Floss Jul 2017
Channel 3 had Commander Bob;
Eyewitness news on channel 7.
Channel 4 could be watched—
Sometimes.

UHF was a twilight zone,
“Imagine if you will…”
Twiddle those rabbit ears
Tune in if you can…

Local news with a weather man
Gesticulating, cut to
“Shoe sale at Tom McCanns” or
“Save on snap peas at the A&P.”

Then cable:
240 stations with nothing on
Re-runs; if you can find ’em, tape ‘em.
Stack ‘em up and maybe watch ‘em.

Cut the cord.
Nascent net hits the nation
You tube surf to some URL,
A network station replacement…

Netflix, not Nielsen’s
Binging, not “tune in next week…“
Amazon, Hulu, Utube, or Vudo,
Storytelling bettered.

Back in the days of Commander Bob,
"Mutual of Ohmaha’s Wild Kingdom,”
Followed by “Wonderful World of Disney”
In Peacock Technicolor

Cancelled shows meant
Unfinished stories
Tangled plot-lines
Unresolved ennui.

Now, you pitch to Netflix *****, get a “yes.”
And tell a story In 6 to 10 episodes.
You won’t be canceled after number 3;
Vox populi decides Season Two.

Story arcs matter;
Just ask David Lynch.
25 years later, you magnificent *******,
Agent Cooper crushes his chrysalis.
216 · Jul 2018
7-7-77 —> FRESHWATER
James Floss Jul 2018
“I’m out of here”
I scratched scrawled
In the warehouse of a
Fantasy Pool factory

Pre-med dropout
No-dread ***-head
Sure my third decade
Would be elsewhere

Bondo *******:
VW van finally sold
Mustang cross country trek
Then, californicated

Going back there
At the end of my career
Just a visit; I’m still here in
Land of fruits and nuts

Cold-slap reality:
I’m still home right here
From the summer of ’89
More than half to the rest of my life

216 · Jan 2019
TIMELESS
James Floss Jan 2019
I live shamelessly
While guilelessly
I know what I did
And did not do

I ask for forgiveness
When necessary
And forge through
The rest of it

Learn from the past
Shape the future
Our presence is present
Make the most of it
213 · Jan 2018
SUESS SAUCED
James Floss Jan 2018
Did Descartes say
"I’m drunk, I thunk:
Therefore I am’nt, Sam…?
And is that now a can of spam, Ma’am?”?

Here and now and then besides
Later perhaps, sometimes betides
Then once again I hunger for:
Tinted eggs and ham once more.
210 · Apr 2017
CURMUDGEON
James Floss Apr 2017
Nope.
Don't want to.
I'm not driving.

It's a week night.
I have to be at work early.
Can we leave at intermission?

Yes; let me think about it.
Yes, I want to see them.
Saturday at six can work.

Well, that was really wonderful!
I know! I'm glad they came.
Thanks for doing it.

With my armor off
Attitudes adjust.
Thankfully.
210 · Apr 2018
SPRING HAIKU
James Floss Apr 2018
Cherry blossoms fall
Spiraling to verdant green
Color contrast: spring!
209 · Mar 2019
BUSHWHACKED
James Floss Mar 2019
Alack!
Taken aback!
It’s a fact, Jack.

Think you’re on track
Then: smack!
It’s a backtrack.

So you go back, Mac
Give yourself some slack
Have a flapjack stack

Carry what you lack
Remove it from the black
And take it back, Zach!
208 · Dec 2018
STATS NEVER LYE
James Floss Dec 2018
I’m 87% sure
I’m 97% right
13.2% of the time

I’m rarely wrong
When I’m actually write
Like wright now

I’m probably certain
And certainly resolute
Of probable absolutes

Maybe
207 · Jan 2019
FRUMIOUS
James Floss Jan 2019
Beware that which you can never ******
Rabbit through another mirror darkly
Endings repeating, more resetting
Choosing left; or just wrongly
Or sing that song again
Oh! It’s amazing the
Ubik places to go
Take it slow
Which pill?
Free will
 -+-
|  |

Go
206 · Apr 2017
FAIRY TAILED
James Floss Apr 2017
Once,
long ago,
in a far away
familiar place,

a girl named Jill
with a boy named Jack
(along with three pigs,
a frog, a princess,
a wolf, a girl in a red frock,
her blonde, curly-haired friend,
three bears,
a strange, rumpled man
with a curiously long name,

his companion:
a tall, crowned,
black-caped woman
of white complexion
and ruby-red lips)

went up a hill.

The earth suddenly, violently
trembled.
And they all fell down.

All were injured;
five of them died.

But miraculously,
two of them,
somehow
managed to live

happily ever after.
204 · Jun 2019
NOISE
James Floss Jun 2019
Too quiet unnerves me
Distractions are needed;
Sounds of birds chirping
Demanding tabby talking

Too quiet scares me
Only my thoughts
Are they too much
Or not nearly enough?

Too quiet is too much
“Alexa, turn on NPR”
“Alexa play acid jazz“

Microwave
Washing machine
Anything

When one of ten
Cacophony always company
No choice in that matter
Finding comfort in discord

Too quiet
Turns inward
Alone with
Solo voce
204 · Jun 2019
RELEASE
James Floss Jun 2019
“Make a poem about that!"
He spat into the phone
Peppered with F-this and F-that
Just more smotherly love,
A little familial fun

My words weren’t aimed at you
Had nothing to do with yours
What triggered your kraken response?
What brought out the bully?
Me standing for women?

No apologies
Load the traps
“Release!”
My pigeon words fly
Your scattered shots miss
201 · May 2017
TRENCHES
James Floss May 2017
Every. Single. Day.
I try to do good.
Build a bridge—
Mindful of the future:

Create something.
Clean my messes.
Fulfill responsibilities.
Say something nice to someone I love.

WWD gets in my way
Every step of the way.

Darling,
I'm still fighting.
201 · Apr 2018
CINNAMON ROLLS
James Floss Apr 2018
Take a day off
Stay in your bathrobe
Watch a movie

It’s a rainy day
Perfect for a vacay-stay
Let’s make some Cinnamon rolls…
200 · Nov 2017
NATURE’S NATURE:
James Floss Nov 2017
The tenacity of life,
Said the atheist,
Is evidenced enough through
The resurrection plant a
Centenarian centurion not
Unlike the tumbling pebble toad
Bouncing downhill
All for a drink of water;
It lands, unfolds, and lives.
Life begets life
While still leaking away.
199 · May 2017
MMMMMmmm…
James Floss May 2017
A little less bitter
A little/lot  better
Let's add more butter—
Anything's better with butter!

A little/lot more richer
It might even bewitch her.
Let's ply her with chocolate
Everything's better with chocolate!

What's cake without icing?
Or for that matter, the ice cream?
Treat yourself with love as dessert
Sleep well, and have a nice dream.
199 · Aug 2019
POW! POW! POW!
James Floss Aug 2019
my first gun
was a bb gun
it had begun
second was pellet

then at ten, sleek 22
later, louder shotgun
beware clay pigeons!
can’t take memories away

i had to take
a driver‘s test to
be a regular driver
well regulated

ammendment:
background checks
psych evaluations
no weapons of war:
an assault on us all
198 · Nov 2017
PICKY, PICKY, PICKY
James Floss Nov 2017
There’s an itch that
Can’t be scratched

That’s what you see on me
Face pock-marked red

(Legs worse with this skin curse
A mottled battlefield)

Dead patches picked at
Skin flayed raw

My admission:
A compulsion…

Work the edge with a
Fingernail wedge

REMOVE DEAD SKIN!
Quick dry then dead again

Itch, scritch, pull scab anew
My dark avenue.
197 · Apr 2017
BALLOON
James Floss Apr 2017
I am a realist.
I'm an artist.
I'm a humanist.
And a humorist.

I'm an atheist.

Yet, I am gob-smacked, daily,
By the beauty of this ephemeral world,
I am flamboozled, daily,
By its dire contradictions.

Stories of people being horrendous.
Stories of people being stupendous.

On the cliff-ride of hope,
I hold tight to a string
That floats above despair.
195 · Feb 2019
A MUSING
James Floss Feb 2019
A poem percolates
Urges unknown rise
Seeking wording
Needing knowing
An idea switch itch

Write right
Purge urge
Woke spoke
Do truth
Be me
195 · Jun 2017
BRAINIAC
James Floss Jun 2017
My brain
Membrane
Contains

Coltrane
Brisbane
Bi-planes

Mansplaining
Hydroplaning
*******

Guilt explaining
Speaking plainly:

Fruit
Truth
Pie
Lies

Life
Liberty
Pursuit of something

Jazz and ****
What it is

Enjoy the fizz
195 · Aug 2017
THRONE OF GAMES
James Floss Aug 2017
To floor to bid old boy good night
When I realize I’m paralyzed.
Pain—icy fingers flowing from
Back to calf with ankle rankle.

Second time this summer;
But I claw a chair to summit
And seek deep sleep
For tomorrow’s Dentistry.

Freshteros to Denteros, journey made.
I sit in Throne of Drills;
Cavities filled.
Yet still, a crown is lost!
195 · Mar 2020
MARIPOSA
James Floss Mar 2020
I was mid-sentence
of a hazy-crazy
argument with her;
spittle sprayed with
unguarded gesticulations
when a butterfly landed
on my finger that was
slashing toward her.
First, I seethed.
Then, froze and
stopped breathing as
I watched gentle flickering
of her beautiful wings.
Delicate things
What was I splaying?
I didn’t matter anymore.
Just stuff to sort later.
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