"chickenshit" poems
wispy clouds
on a blue sky
and a blood-
less sunset, lost on all for now
some despised boys in
cowardly mens bodies
have more bul-
lets than teeth,
yet the chickenshit bites
and mark and
grief they leave
behind, spent
casings litter the
halls of learning
peace, pieces, seething, see the thing
is now, lost on all for now
so how much hate do you have to harbour, to ****** a child?
yet the clouds of
witnesses stay silent;
no, not the common
man, the common
women, who have
in common with you and
I, tears falling from, my eyes
our eyes, there is
horror, there is shock
there is mouths
open and no air is
getting to the lungs,
a silent scream for
justice, as no one
can bring the children back, memories do not cut the loses,
yet the clouds of
witnesses stay silent; those
seats of power
must be real com-
fortable at this hour
eschewing respon-
sibility, for there
is no gain by get-
ting involved,
the ultimate of pre-emptive fear,
how hard can they be to find leaving a yellow streak
wherever they go, crawling on their yellow bellies.
this is not to be read,
out loud for even the
sound and rhythm,
from anywhere in
world, would break hearts, my heart
cannot make rhyme and reason
about this crime, see there is
an evil scaramouch, no credit
the pantywaist
deserves, takes on flesh and
payment is required.
What is lost on all for now..
What is lost on all for now..
What is lost on all Africa for now..
The value, the energy,
the beauty, the potential,
the future, there were
musicians, there were
geniuses, there philan-
thropists, there were
artists, ** there were poets,**
they were children and
grandchildren, they
were going to be parents,
they were going have
children and that is
lost on all for now and forever.
Apr 7, 2015
Apr 7, 2015 at 11:14 PM UTC
Sit. Meditate. Forgive. Repeat as needed.
Forgiveness holds great virtue. Forgive.
Try to let your anger at the world,
even though it deserves it, melt away.
You will fail, but to try has great merit.
Use your body as it was meant to be.
Move or die. The choice is yours.
Even as you creak and hurt,
pretend that you are a supple leopard.
Spend time with the young.
Mostly, they won't understand you
and you may not like them much,
but they are only future there is.
Share with them what is possible;
don't expect them to listen.
Eat and drink as you like, moderately.
Ignore the shouts of the health nazis.
Let the ******** eat Kale.
Only you know what is best for you.
Ignore or break any rules that you
believe to be stupid and chickenshit.
For the most part, only you will notice.
The bankers and politicians
have already owned enough of your life.
Quietly, but firmly, tell them to **** off.
Fall in love no matter what your age.
Being in love is the true Fountain of Youth;
it awakens things you thought long dead.
Act freely, but consider the consequences.
The only sin is hurting someone. Be careful.
Make kindness your constant companion and mantra.
It will return to you many times over.
Remember, no matter what you do or try,
no one lives forever and time is not your friend.
Get on with it. Live now.
Apr 28, 2015
Apr 28, 2015 at 4:43 PM UTC
A girl from the north country with eyes deep as the Great Lakes (if the Great Lakes were green).
Writers in numbers too great to mention.
The truth and those few who have the guts to tell it.
Contrasts and textures like white wine and black satin or the brown and white of tan lines.
Burgundy, my favorite color. Strong coffee and good bourbon. Garlic and spicy foods. Yuengling Lager. Pall Malls. Evan Williams.
Classic movies. Indie movies. Movies.
Mozart, Warren Zevon and Bill Evans. Beethoven's late Quartets. Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. An endless list.
Lingerie (but not on me). Women in hats. Women in dresses. Long kisses. Women with souls. Women with brains. OK, women, though very few good ones seem to exist.
My sons. Tibetan art. Champagne. Apple computers. Cats. Space travel. ****
Quantum Theory. Buddhism. The Tao. Burning Bushes. Shiva and Vishnu.
Ghost driving aimlessly to see what I find. America is mostly off the interstates and mostly dying.
Young people who listen and know I'm real and like them..
Blueberries: food of the gods.
Breaking any rule I think is chickenshit in any way possible.
And so on.
Apr 17, 2015
Apr 17, 2015 at 9:04 AM UTC
my mother taught me how to work the dirt,
grub it between palms, savor the smells of chickenshit, and
raw flesh. she knows that crops are grown fifty-fifty,
a little coddling, a little resentment. look at the thing
crawling out of your leaking womb, purpled with lacking.
she taught me how to heal, let my body mend itself with
time. when i was born, the salt of my mother clouded around my
eyes. they broke me to let me live, and so forth. but i have never
stopped with the needing. i became a **** in the dirt i worked.
empty, glad with unwanting. i wanted to spread my branches and show my mother the world she forgot. i remember. i remember.
but my chants fell upon deaf ears. my prose too purpled to read.
if you can bring nothing to this dirt
but another dead body,
this is not a garden for you.
May 18, 2018
May 18, 2018 at 3:37 PM UTC
My middle school history teacher
Made me stay after school one day
"Look, your essay is alright, but I know you *********** it. Your a good writer, so your gonna stay and rewrite the whole thing."
I didn't care about school or writing
But I thought, **** maybe I'm good
At this
Then I got into high school
And the entire freshman class
Had to enter an essay contest
"How the Civil Rights movement still influences us today"
I remember the teacher was a
Real stuck up *****
I wasn't interested in her class
I hardly showed up
And she wasn't interested in me
But I showed up for the announcement of the winner
All the kids were excited
"And the winner is...Raymond Suarez" she read it like a
guilty verdict
"Who's that?" A pale blond asked
"Him" the teacher pointed at me
The excitement in the room hit the pavement hard
I wasn't smiling
but I was
"There will be a banquet with the other state winners to see if you won the state finals. I'll give you the information in a few days"
"OK"
She never did...
Then I ran into that middle school history teacher again
We exchanged phone numbers and he called me that night
"Ray...I gotta tell you something... I'm gay"
"ok..."
Then he called me a few nights later
I was drunk and he wanted me to come over alone
"Nah, I'm gonna stay drinkin with Andy"
"Come on, just come over, I got beer and food, I'll pay for the taxi to drop Andy off and bring you here, what are ya, chickenshit? Your ****** chickenshit man" he said in his sloppy Texan drawl
"Nah"
I opened another beer
And wondered if he ever really thought my writing
Was any good
Then I guzzled that cold crisp beer
Down
And that took care of that thought
And all the rest
Oct 5, 2015
Oct 5, 2015 at 11:12 AM UTC
Community center laughter
Raising its false-eerie falsetto
To a decibel that unlocks
Fantasies of vomits
Why didn't I bring a flask?
I'm owner to the darkest mind in the room
But I can describe beauty with
Tears and heart
Are you too chickenshit?!
Too committed now to your own death
Of small talk, small words, and small ideas
I'm surrounded by slow moving train wrecks
My God, I need to get outside and find a flower
Jan 25, 2016
Jan 25, 2016 at 10:41 PM UTC
the two things human beings
are hardwired for are *** &
violence, but chickenshit
humanity, too afraid of its own
true nature [the nervous system],
invented greed [for food or money]|
as a way to
avoid facing | what every era learns for itself:
mankind kills & rapes;
however it needs
to get that done [at any particular time]
Jul 10, 2018
Jul 10, 2018 at 4:11 PM UTC
Ticket in hand, we led to the hall,
Stopping in front to buy toffee apple
At the spot where two kids '9one big and one small)
Were locked in a sticky, bantering battle.
Up we went to our afternoon dormitory,
Now devoid of the faintest trace of light.
I heard a rumbling in the lavatory,
Something which stirred a sinister fright.
“Whooohaaar!” What the hell was that?
Feet shuffled, strange lights glowed, doors creaked,
Plus there were these fake sounds all round of the cry of a cat.
A black arm lunged out of nowhere – everyone shrieked.
Sinking sheets of smoke-sheltering strobes
Loomed ominously over the stairwell.
Plasticky spider webs choke and coat our robes.
Where are we going? Nobody can really tell.
At the base, we were met by a friendly skeleton,
Griming, glowing, grabbing.
One cannot serve God and Mammon.
Thus, pray tell – on which side are you standing?
Why have you come, sorry skeleton?
To scare us?
Know ye not of the fate we cannot escape?
It’s you who should be chickenshit of us.
Sep 13, 2018
Sep 13, 2018 at 8:39 AM UTC