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You made your way down
to the gas station
for your third day of work
in the heaviest fall of snow

since the year you were born
15 years before
and Mr. Fredericks was there
limping about the forecourt

around the pumps
with a big broom
brushing away snow
hey

he said
right you can try sweep
off the snow about the pumps
make it easy

for the customers
to get in and out
their cars and trucks
and handed you the broom

I’ll be upstairs
if you need me
just press the bell
under the desk

in the kiosk
at the front
and off he went
limping inside

snow still fell
there was a cold chill
about your limbs
your fingers ached

you pushed broom
shoved snow off
about the pumps
until all

were temporarily clear
then went inside
just as Miss Billings
rode along side

of the gas station
on her motorbike
then walked up
to the kiosk

where you’d taken refuge
you the new kid?
she asked
you nodded

I’m Miss Billings
she said
I work here too
in the back office

doing accounts
help out in the forecourt
if needed or the shop
in back if you’re overrun

she stood there
in her glasses
blonde hair covered
by a scarf

a black leather jacket
zipped to the neck
and helmet in one hand
white overalls coming down

to her knees
followed down
to her ankles
were red wool stockings

and white boots
on her feet
she stared at you
her eyes scrutinizing

the customer
is always right
did Mr Fredericks
tell you that?

yes
you said
well he’s right
so don’t matter

if the customer’s thick as ****
or **** stupid
they’re always right ok
so be tight Kid

tight as *****
in the *******
in a freezing shower
get it right

you nodded
and she walked in
and disappeared
into the back office

with a slow sway
of her of hips
her words
like chisel blows

to your ears
she about 21
to your 15
innocent

boyish years
she seeping
into your imagination
not knowing then

that her beauty
was probably
some marine’s image
for secret *******.
Hello.


Good evening and welcome back


This is tonight’s program


The air is ripe


Ripe with social abundance

And whimsical latte grooves
A warmth in the air

It caresses your body, this warmth
It walks by your side, this warmth

It’s there holding your hand

Knowing that you’re alone

Because this isn’t the same warmth of a

person’s hand



But this comfort, this invisible hand, this invisible other



Is the warmth of the free midnight air

The city lights: fluorescent metal plants with flashing neon insects and prowling jungle dwellers
The soft ambient jazz that plays from the dripping rain.
Giving your life the harmony of passion

The melody of joy

But with the rhythms of melancholy

A lone phrase that passes by each composition

Your world goes black and white

Full becomes hollow

Radiant becomes dull

Trust becomes deception

Love becomes hate

Life becomes death


The rain intensifies with translucent color
Reflecting the street illumination of grandeur
and sensual subtlety

Urban poetry doused by mythic ambition
Perplexing the eyes of the unknowing artist
Raising the half full glass to the half empty person

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear


You are that much closer to your reflective self

The part of you that will never leave the gaze of reflective surfaces

There when you look away from your noon time coffee on the café window

There when your mind wonders away from your spouses’ arguing; the mirror behind them

There on the puddles on the asphalt and street corners, asking you with voiceless faces


‘Where are you now?”

“Is this the dream of God subconscious?”

“Is God asleep?  Is this all just a dream of something bigger than us/’

Having a conversation with your reflection can turn out to be quite enlightening.



This program is brought to you by the following sponsors; Oatmeal, tea leaves, voiceover actors, large print books, Lucretius, Bill Shakespeare, handmade leather wallets, chocolate kisses, long hair, motorcycles, Frank Gambale, Daft Punk, Martin Scorsese, Goya, Kevin Smith, Evan Rachel Wood, Jones Soda, Cappuccinos and all the little people (excluding mole people…they know why.)



Please swing by again.
Not really a poem, but a writing exercise I developed.  I treat it as monologue directed to an unknown audience/reader.  Check out the other entries in this series, all of which our motifs for my next book. Reactions and comments are advocated.
As dry as a landslide
As moist as a flood
Feeling extreme
But not sure what's what

Can't relax like a panda
Can't sleep like a sloth
Feel more often than not
Like a light deprived moth

Eyes feel heavy
But not with weight of sleep
Body feels disjointed through lack of meat
Diet is appalling
Sleeping pattern is so bad
Feeling like half the person that I was.
2012 poem by Josh Morter ©

After couch surfing for a while couldn't comprehend. Where I was, who or what either... In my head this kind of summed it up for me.
my nose is the pointer
as i explore your skin;
like
fingertips
on a brand new piece of paper...

the trace of skin on skin
forces breath to speed
as my lips search for their final resting place.
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