Payment Due

  Foreshadow
—Poetry and Visuals by Smith, Cleveland, OH

 

 

Bathing in Oregon well water
goats in the pasture
bread in the oven
elk in the hills
mountain lions lurking
life goes on
until it doesn't
so we do as well as we can
weighing moral matter
and tooth and claw

 

 

 

 Old Goat

You know we got words
running up and down the page
back and forth along the lines
weeping words wailing
wailing words wondering why
words praising grass
trees
sky
and an endless score
of even more
wonderful words
wondering why

That's why we try

 

 

 

 Full Hazard

Sometimes wham bam
don't end in thank you ma'am

home from hospital ex-cancer call
clean
step on ice drive
know no way can continue
sheet slick and hungry
slow step toward lawn for safety
feet fly fast back
full face ice asphalt
bloods gush
split forehead opens 3rd-eye wide
scraped skins full throttled
bent nose
and

broke neck

face purple rising
broken blacks & blues

how to top this stupidity
keep writing it
soon not enough me left to punctuate

so much badly run
yet good still winning

 

 

 

 Eat the Rich

PAYMENT DUE

Cookie clutter and coffee juice
classical music on the loose
big snow slow falling round

Peaceful and picaresque
until big plastic collar
around broken neck

And bruised face
and bent nose
and . . . you knows how it goes

But goes it does
and I follow cuz love
gave me good life loving wife

So strife's still strife
and hard ofttimes to live a life
specially with intellectual fuzz

But cookie crumbs and coffee calling
me in love and further falling
I go on and do the do's I duzz

Lies are lies and truth be truth
this is known, but what's the use
insides run to feral sound

Someday humans may improve
until then it's bitter groove
of eat or eaten interest

Compounded

 

 

 

Dream On

Down to ember
but remember
as long as able
there's coming September
followed by dismember
ment and compost
hosted by blender blunder
and under the table
dishonor
but what the heck
before you check out
in mad screaming shout
it's always been
Eaters' plan
to keep us moist
& close about

 

 

 

 Music

Is there no single right
no all wrong
do we have to fight
can't we all just get along
no
never
not in our time
cuz meat feeds beast
and eat owns the line
wife off in jungle
of airport concourse
in search of sustenance and safety
me trapped rat-a-tat-tat
by two backpacks
as Elton John clone clown
plays excellent piano
voice auto-tuned
six J's in a row
every song different words
same roll music flow
can't make a run for it
packs too heavy
me too old
broken
nowhere to run anyway
checked by armed checkpoints
willing to anoint my noggin
with real knowledge
but they're not after me
nor should they be
cuz I'm small potato
and smaller fry
my feet flat and slow
no matter how fast I go
I've performed my function
did my dues
left tear trail of word woo
bit of laughter too
know my slog's not your log
your whirl not my want
no matter the elephant
in the zoom we room
keep going
keep sowing
seek knowing
run around the ring
strangling strings in tapestry
knitting nun from none
since sometimes signs don't matter
carousel calling
on road I'm walking
hope your load ain't aching
hope your hopes are making
hope your happy happens
now I take my nappens
here we go round the multiverse
the multiverse
the multiverse
if your spread your arms
and run real fast
perhaps you can fly
evergreen
never grown
holy cross that's your loss
of lichen and the minor moss

 

 

 

 Bluesline

In movies
there's always a parking spot
and you never have to reload a gun

In life
you ain't got no wheels
and they're coming for you

I run fast
fun quick
pun wit

It's a short battle

 

 

 

 Subconscious

In world fraught with froth
I'm fighting added sugar
chemical substitutes
and vinyl

tiny shiny
don't stop the whiney

or so is said

I takes my steps
I stumble
it keeps me humble

 

 

 

 More Than a Mood

Today’s LittleNip:

Dog died
burned him
put him in bag
hung him by deck door
he always wanted to go out

Be free, friend

—Smith

___________________

—Medusa, thanking Cleveland’s Steven B. Smith for fine poetry, for which he stuck his neck out (with unpleasant results)! Progress is being made, though, in the healing department, he says, and we are all grateful, as Winter turns to Spring today in this hemisphere of ours…

 

 

 

 

 Curtain Call
—Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder that 

Poetry Night in Davis honors

National Storytelling Day tonight, 7pm.

For info about this and other
future poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page—
and keep an eye on this link and on
the daily Kitchen for happenings
that might pop up
—or get changed!—
 during the week.

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