Spring Storm
—Photo by D.R. Wagner, Elk Grove
PRECAUTION
—Kevin Jones, Elk Grove
Novelist David Foster Wallace
Usually wore a bandanna
(Though novelist-pirate does
Not come trippingly off
The tongue) to keep
His head from exploding,
He said. And,
as he died
From other causes
Entirely, it seems
To have worked.
But I don’t like
To take chances.
The 99 Cent Store had
A new supply of various
Bandannas: pink pirate,
Patriotic pirate, invisible/
Camouflaged pirate.
And now they have none.
______________________
EMPTY NEST
—Michael Cluff, Corona
Removing the wingtip dress shoes from 1975
a condom from the same year or so
still not used
a ticket stub from The Omega Man
although he slept or made up
for more than sixty percent
of the movie
a clump of the basenji,
Joseph's hair
who died from poison
tossed over the faux redwood fence
in 1977 plus
a breath mint
in a pocket of a green glen plaid pair
of suit pants
in total style for 1982,
all from the barricaded spare room closet.
Morris tried to blink
yet could not
since he was as dried
and frozen now
as the sea monkeys stolen
from a Safeway in Santa Maria
back before the Bicentennial
and placed in a leaky portable cooler
no longer holding anything
except stale and heavy styrofoam
and poppycake seeds.
_______________________
LOTS OF REST
—Caschwa, Sacramento
My doctor told me that it would be best
If I were to
relax and get lots of rest
So I took up playing the tuba each day
In a symphony orchestra where strings have the say
Presently I’m on a ‘round-the-world cruise
Enjoying the women and gambling and booze
Faithfully counting the rests in each measure
Eventually I’ll oom-pah a low note to treasure
______________________
DADDY ANSWERS
—Caschwa
What is a C-Section, Daddy?
That is a procedure performed
On grand pianos to give us
Baby grand pianos.
Do baby grands grow up?
No, but their smaller cousins
At least stand upright.
So do pianos play tunes for
Going to bed and having sex?
Yes, that is why it is called
Sheet music.
_____________________
Today's LittleNip:
ANTIMATTER
—Russell Edson
On the other side of a mirror there's an inverse world, where the insane go sane; where bones climb out of the earth and recede to the first slime of love.
And in the evening the sun is just rising.
Lovers cry because they are a day younger, and soon childhood robs them of their pleasure.
In such a world there is much sadness which, of course, is
joy . . .
joy . . .
_____________________
—Medusa
February Spring
—Photo by D.R. Wagner