—Poetry by Evan Myquest,
Sacramento, CA
—Photos by Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
ALIEN SHAPESHIFTER BLUES
It is not easy being human
Allow me to repeat
It is not easy being human
I have to keep track of my lies and fictions
And to whom I told them
There is this money and job thing
No one told me about the money and job thing
Then the car dies and, well, where is that money
Then the grown-up chores and household maintenance
When you are a people
You hurtle in those deathtrap cars inches away from
Deathtrap cars hurtling in the opposite direction
When all I want is to be my own lack of shape again
There is the cat and dog staring at me
Of course the cat is a shapeshifter
With all the brains, because I am taking care of it
While it laughs at my juggling act
I am not sure but I think the dog likes me
But the doggo cling has the cat shaper in stitches
I do my best not to vaporize the neighbors
But the keeping up with Joneses had to go
Or was it just the Joneses who had to go
And that is the thing with being a people
Once you start vaporizing, well, it just snowballs
There is no mailman who brings the bills
Parking valets snooty wine stewards survey takers
Door-to-door political canvassers and other missionaries
And that needy Santa thing with that obnoxious bell
So being a person is not the fun sold in the brochures
—Go to Earth be a human have some fun on a beach
And how fun is it to go to a restaurant and see
What happened to your friend the wannabe frog
It is not easy being human
Allow me to repeat
It is not easy being human
I have to keep track of my lies and fictions
And to whom I told them
There is this money and job thing
No one told me about the money and job thing
Then the car dies and, well, where is that money
Then the grown-up chores and household maintenance
When you are a people
You hurtle in those deathtrap cars inches away from
Deathtrap cars hurtling in the opposite direction
When all I want is to be my own lack of shape again
There is the cat and dog staring at me
Of course the cat is a shapeshifter
With all the brains, because I am taking care of it
While it laughs at my juggling act
I am not sure but I think the dog likes me
But the doggo cling has the cat shaper in stitches
I do my best not to vaporize the neighbors
But the keeping up with Joneses had to go
Or was it just the Joneses who had to go
And that is the thing with being a people
Once you start vaporizing, well, it just snowballs
There is no mailman who brings the bills
Parking valets snooty wine stewards survey takers
Door-to-door political canvassers and other missionaries
And that needy Santa thing with that obnoxious bell
So being a person is not the fun sold in the brochures
—Go to Earth be a human have some fun on a beach
And how fun is it to go to a restaurant and see
What happened to your friend the wannabe frog
Pinwheel Galaxy
ARE WE JUST THAT LUCKY
Our weathering the bad times by pooling
resources was lucky
Considering our major differences were never
major
How lucky was all that cooperation
All those cliffs we jumped off and the ones
we stepped back from
Our chance meeting hundreds of miles from our
homes was pretty lucky
Wasn’t it?
You were not even on your own continent
Imagine all the comfort zones we abandoned
I can never tell the difference between fate
and luck
So how about we look ahead a day at a time
Instead of looking back like some provident
debt exists
Because my favorite time with you
Is always going to be now.
DOVES IN FLIGHT
I will fight the clock
Lawn and laundry
With my heart
To stay with you
No exhaustion
No quit
When I finish with the mundane
You will see
How the world falls
Away under our feet and
We soar on our own music
As dishes and spoons tremble
Dusted with the trailing glitter
Of our flight path
People will shout
There they are
They are aurora
They are communion
They are love itself
Aren’t they just
Too goddamn much
And of course
We will be
Chicago
LOVE AS A TIMEPIECE
How do I pick which half of the clockface to love
How do I pick which half of the clockface to love
Why run with the pendulum from swing to turn
I am not immune to the ratchet ticks of moments lost
While my love wants no half measures
Should I prefer the hour hand or the minute hand to love
Perhaps the silent floodwater of the calendar
Knows love best as deepest currents smooth the
Hidden crevices and contour the oldest bedrock
I will love as I please and let the falls send me over
As I appreciate time’s heartbeats within me
Chasing the second hand I will never catch
And avoiding the sundial’s advancing shadow
KEEP THE CHANGE
Change is going to come
The more I look at my watch
It seems the progress slows down
My pockets have a couple nickels
The parking meters laugh at
The vending machines sneer
The fast-food joint lines get impatient
A purse of coins gets eyerolls
You cannot even stop on a dime anymore
Maybe not even say quarter to three
And so my two cents stops here
Where bitcoin is a bit or two beyond any change
Change is going to come
The more I look at my watch
It seems the progress slows down
My pockets have a couple nickels
The parking meters laugh at
The vending machines sneer
The fast-food joint lines get impatient
A purse of coins gets eyerolls
You cannot even stop on a dime anymore
Maybe not even say quarter to three
And so my two cents stops here
Where bitcoin is a bit or two beyond any change
I know
__________________
Today’s LittleNip:
OLD IS BOLD
—Evan Myquest
Are our very dreams and thoughts next to naked
__________________
Today’s LittleNip:
OLD IS BOLD
—Evan Myquest
Are our very dreams and thoughts next to naked
Or do we grow the common nudist attitude
Of less than nothing to hide
__________________
Welcome back to the Kitchen to Prodigal Poet Evan Myquest (Eva ’n’ Mike West, power poetry couple), who first appeared in the Kitchen ‘way back on 3/7/13! More of EM can be found at www.mmw50.com, as well as on Facebook.
__________________
—Medusa
__________________
Welcome back to the Kitchen to Prodigal Poet Evan Myquest (Eva ’n’ Mike West, power poetry couple), who first appeared in the Kitchen ‘way back on 3/7/13! More of EM can be found at www.mmw50.com, as well as on Facebook.
__________________
—Medusa
For upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
in the links at the top of this page.
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world—including
that which was previously published—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
in the links at the top of this page.
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world—including
that which was previously published—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
