tree

I walk past it every night —
a big oak tree far beyond its prime —
pock-marked, knotted, randomly hacked.
truth be told
it didn’t have much life left in its branches,
its thick trunk gutted with unspeakable scars,
leading to the final indignity:
a big red X
just below eye level —
a final appointment
with the axe
that awaits us all.

Dream Sequence - Part 8

In my waking life I have 5 children; my youngest is 18. In my dream I am walking through the snow with a boy of 12 or 13 who from the context of previous events seems to be another son. We walk in silence toward a dock that stretches twenty feet or so into a frozen lake. We walk to the end of the dock and pause.

“I really miss them,” I say.
“Are you sure?” the boy asks in reply.
“Of course I am!”
“Good.”

Thanksgiving Night —
a stray dog
in an empty parking lot

writer’s block —
walking the dog
in the rain

writer’s block —
a field mouse
struggling in the trap

writer’s block —
flicking a moth
into the fire

Dream Sequence - Part 7

the day started out the way so many do —
a pre-dawn screaming match between my mother and sister.
she had been stumbling drunk on the front lawn — also a familiar site —
and somehow missed me walking past on my way to work.
it’s hard to tell whether she had been thrown out this time
or had angrily moved out to be with her wife.
they were all here now, trading the usual incoherent accusations.
my brothers were both up at this point and invited her inside.
she didn’t want to come inside.
so fine, stay outside and let the cops take you away.
that’s just what you'd want, isn’t it?
actually, it isn’t — which is why we invited you in.
it all makes sense doesn’t it?

Counting Backwards in Music

I’ve been lucky enough to live close to some great college radio in the Boston/Cambridge area. My favorite station is WMBR (MIT’s station), and my favorite show the James Dean Deathcar Experience. Back in June the DJ counted backwards from 2009 and picked a favorite band and song for each year. I like almost all of these.

2009) Hatchem Social - Crocodile
2008) Arms - Whirring
2007) Les Breastfeeders - Qui a Deux Femmes
2006) Art Brut - Good Weekend
2005) Soundtrack of our Lives - Lone Summer Dream
2004) High Spire - Glass in my Mouth
2003) Grip Weeds - Every Minute
2002) Resonars - Lunar Kit
2001) The Fletcher Pratt - Spin Label
2000) Lockgroove - Bullet with your Name on it
1999) Green Pajamas - Happy Again
1998) Asteroid #4 - Sorry Way to Go
1997) Bob O’Clock - I Believe in Faeries
1996) Sianspheric - Flow Ebb and Die
1995) Bowery Electric - Deep Sky Objects
1994) Stereolab - Outer Accelerator
1993) Kill Sybill - Deep Sleep
1992) Love Battery - Foot
1991) Bevis Frond - It Won’t Come Again
1990) Superchunk - My Noise
1989) Cavedogs - Baba Ghanooj
1988) My Bloody Valentine - When You Wake Up (You’re Still in a Dream)
1987) Happy Flowers - Why Didn’t You Tell Me You Were Bringing Home a Baby
1986) Screaming Trees - Orange Airplane
1985) Butthole Surfers - Lady Sniff
1984) The Smiths - This Charming Man

Veteran’s Day —
another letter addressed
to Parris Island

Veteran’s Day —
the dog barks
at a falling leaf

Veteran’s Day —
a red strobe light
in her bedroom window

Veteran’s Day —
a fly trapped
behind the storm window

Veteran’s Day —
a bird’s nest
in the tallest tree

Veteran’s Day —
bare tree limbs
against the twilight

Veteran’s Day —
a ladybug climbs
the desktop cactus

dream sequence - part 6

It’s a story captivating the nation — four men stranded in a lifeboat, floating in waters unknown. A website includes detailed biographies and chronicles the hours, days and weeks. When their number falls to three we are spared the grisly details, but not the desperate faces. Then it’s two, and finally one — gaunt, sunburned and bearded, hollow eyes barely alive. It’s me.

waiting room

I’m not a patient boy, and yet I wait.
If function is the key to the waiting room,
how do I get out?