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brooke Aug 2015
it's raining outside--
out of no where like it does
here most of the time, sometimes
without a single flash of lightning
just a few raindrops on the frigidaire
and then the whole lot of them echoing
in through the vents and seeping through
the crack it leaves beneath the window, soft
wet drops pulsing in onto the sill,

that's when the thunder come, on page 167,
sounding something like truck wheels in
that thick snow during the dead of winter
punching lines through the driveway
rollin' out onto the street, not too
much like it did last week when
all of 15th St North was flooded
up past all the hubcaps of every
church-goer and The Daily Record
posted pictures in the following day's
Shopper of grandmothers waddling past
the post office looking dismayed as ever--
but they didn't catch them teenagers
swimming in the ditch of a parking lot
at Taco Bell.

And it's a little too hot in here, but i'm not too privy
to open the windows, because the pitter-patter is all
too deceiving, we're still in the mid-slump of summer
when it gets to be 82 degrees by 9am so the best I can
do is sit still and not turn my head too much---

Sunday's on full-force, already cooked my chicken tenderloins for the week and I'm busy watching #103's shadows shift behind the door
ever'time he leaves his apartment for who-knows-what just that
it makes me real nervous when his thin silhouette lingers or his
jacket buttons brush the door-**** an' make me jump.

but it's alright, living alone. Me and God got loads to talk about but he knows that sometimes I'm just quiet and I'm tryin' real hard.

He knows.
(c) Brooke Otto 2015

changing it up, reminds me a lot of how how cd writes.
Hal Loyd Denton Jan 2012
This will cover the darker side I got a firsthand look I went from sleeping on a church
Pew at five years old to dancing with my sister in a tavern for nickels and dimes my dad traded holy fire
For fire water. He had three advantages in this world he was a decent musician an excellent mechanic
Pardon make that four he was a natural at working with heavy equipment this was his strongest suit he
Could have been a prize fighter don’t take my word ask those that went down under his fist especially
His left that was deadly. Fist fights actually sound like they do in westerns my dad and another brave
Man gave me my own show at the north end of the club Avalon on south fifty one not the mist of Avalon
In Camelot unfortunately well two knights were going to do battle in my dad‘s defense in the moral
Sense he didn’t need any defense in the physical this otherwise good man let drink lead him to the
Slaughter my dad did everything he could to prevent a fight there is a reson for the saying that says its better to let sleeping dogs lie when that fails a man takes care of business
They were even courteous one would smack the other in the face and then the other would wait his
Turn I often wonder if I would have been given a turn if dad lost no Buck wasn’t that kind of man. It went
On and on then the blows added up until buck’s legs gave out and he went down in a heap. One more
Telling this was a prize fool we lived in a shack behind the east end grocery my aunt was there and her
Dumb husband came in drunk and tried to fire up on her there I was again with a ring side seat dad and
Sorry brainless stood in the middle of the floor dad’s blow literally drove him across the floor he banged
The screen door it should have just stuck to the wall it slammed with such force all the time uncle was
Running backwards across the porch finally he to after covering the yard to the ditch his feet got all
Tangled up and down he went. That’s been over fifty years ago I can see him like it was minutes ago his
Nose broke forever more it would be crooked and the big round wet spot from the water in the ditch but
What stands out the most was the stupefied look on his face that should happen to ever low class idiot
That raises his hand to a woman.

Let’s get a little lighter sleepies tavern now well it is the last building down from Pizza man on the north
Side if you can’t place it you missed some of the best tenderloins in town we of course had to get ours at
The back door the tenderloin in San Francisco always made me hungry for eddies best cooking. This
Involves rich uncle probation and a long black car with unending chrome and a coloring book Probation
Comes because sleepy an big OAS were competing boot legers this now rich uncle left home at thirteen
And worked for OAS before finding salvation in the navy Sea Bees becoming a crane operator that was
Where my dad excelled in heavy equipment but nobody beats Jack Daniels when you leave Christ
Behind to mention another business uncle’s wife kate owned Meryl Normans and a dress shop in
Neighboring town now the car when I got out my uncle slammed the door the door was completely
Closed problem my fingers of my right hand were now part of the car I can’t explain the thoughts its
Impossible the door is completely shut but my fingers are in there now the feeling part ever hit your
Thumb with a hammer well just take a child have him lay his hand on a piece of hard steel then
Commence banging away with hammer I was having a hard time concentrating but this magic thought just kept a little
Ahead of the pain I had just hit the jack *** uncle had plenty of money for a coloring book and the more
The pain screamed I didn’t scream out loud but I was on the inside. That reminds me of a true rebel’s
Anthem a preacher made his son sit down this is what he heard I might be sitting down on the outside
But I’m standing on the inside like Porky Pig that’s all folks for this time.
Sunny K May 2016
‘Twas a sultry night, when you solemnly inquired –
“Would you like to have a piece of meat?”
A conscientious vegan like myself, rarely required
such unwarranted delicacies to eat.

Startled as I was, to myself I reasoned:
” it’s not as if I indulge every day –
and if a prime rib beckons, so perfectly seasoned
then even I’m allowed to go astray ”

you proffered to me, a choicey cut
Yet I waited for the perfect buy-ins;
lean and trim, the steaks were high, but–
the deal was only for the tenderloins.

Alas dear reader, that is where I mistook
my desires for a saucy brisket,
for in truth it was that I fancied the cook
but such emotions to flourish – I couldn’t risk it.

To grill is a skill that must be honed –
To be well-done is indeed so rare!
the merriment came not from being T-*****
though it wasn’t half bad, to be rather fair.

And oh my dear you had me speared
upon your metaphorical spit,
and thus Impaled like kabobs I seared,
upon fires of desires that befit.

One such night, I denied myself a meal
thinking it to be fine and dandy
what did it matter, venison or veal
when in truth, I wasn’t really randy

To my shock, what I had thought was written-
as my appetite for fleshy delights,
was instead that I was undoubtedly smitten,
indulging my fancies in the chef’s invites.

Oh then I realized, I was in a stew
of a situation I never appraised
My untimely declaration sent your spits askew
When I said I want you preserved, not braised.

And of course, as I knew, you shook your head
said kinds words and went on ahead
But dearest, nigh a mo’ had I expected more
than being hastily pushed out of the door.

For cooks cook, but must not be mistook
for another entree to be had, for sure.
The dish is what the cook will cook
but the cook is not the dish d’jour.

Cured I was of such carnal an error
much wiser a decision I’d made I wish
for a recipe for disaster is every chef’s terror
when a patron, as I, butchers a perfect dish.

A lesson I learnt, one you taught so fast
’twas not a lesson in grilling —
but to choose a more delectable repast
one that thought that I was equally thrilling.

But to be fair, I give credit much deserved
to a palatable person as you
for Grade A and gourmet are commonly served
and yet only to you I succumbed without ado.

For as a vegan, I religiously abstain
from undue pleasures of the flesh
yet while the romps of meats were not in vain
I paid my compliments only to the chef…
Outlanders (& lowlanders) from the European continental shelf shall expand weftwise till theirs is the girth of elephants. We shall call upon one & another to stultify mistrust & dysplasia & dyspepsia & dysentery. Our hips establish carriage—smooth glides & the wherewithal to sashay. Until Americans buckle- & batten-down, no one in Mexicali can be employed. Now's el momento when goodness, righteousness & piety count. Celebrate claustrophobic bends, needles in the pinpricks & medications of fabled remission. Choose not to spin when there's nowhere to turn. One follows another as by natural edict. The guppies that were flushed down our loos in 1974 live in our hearts within 1,000 oils of these revolving tenderloins & caudal *****. People appear @ the funeral home who have nobody dead to visit with. People vaporize in an instant when there's no need for hasty departure. Living our lives to the cruelest is of, & corresponds to, the fragile will of our prompters. I shall speed into slots with a baked face. I shall review Jim Jones' C.I.A. funding blueprints. “Fear not the reaper!” I should replace my olden connections with spiffy prayer-beads. Moving our bowels & furniture honors a keen fashion-sense.

— The End —