Unfortunate Unfinished Uglies

1. 20 april 2010

antiquity's chemistry set
test tubes
beakers
et al
and a book of potions
found in a dusty attic
in an abandoned house
on river street
by the lakefront

she who discovered
the discoverer
recoverer
she was
unknown to herself
everything
maybe more

she made her lab there
in the attic
amidst the dark wood
and spider's homes
a faucet somewhere dripped
and gave here a rhythm
for her work
she pawed through the book
discovered it one potion at a time

instinct taught her
to tear pages out
the potions that required
posies and loathing
for the primary ingredients
her hair was tousled
scrambled from her thoughts
she had found a recipe for love

2. 19 may 2010

i displace myself mentally
to achieve peace centrally
this is my way
but what is his?
he has years on me
the beard is greying
arms and hands
dance with liver spots
young enough still
to be fooled by spurts of energy

3. 19 may 2010

don't you recall
what you said about lovers
"they're not worth having
if you don't fight in the end."
i promised that
i'd yell and i'd scream
and even throw something
if neceessary

4. 30 may 2010

when i was eighty-five
in another life
i walked with a limp
from an accident
as a child

i was never much of an athlete
so much as a
runner of imagination
and an
olympian of socratic method

when i was a tree
in another life
i was the closest
to nirvana
as i've ever been
and

i've been a llama
a bumble bee
a starfish
and many more

but when i was eighty-five
in another life
i put out so much goodness
into the world
that i died and became
a tree
and as a tree
i lived in near bliss
til my body had many rings
i was not too old
though
for pride