cheep and cheerful

sluggish early morning denial of alarm clock
last night i was eating skillet kitchen sink
this morning i am hugging the pillow
wishing the clock had fallen back

we are all half asleep
but some of us are more talkative
and i have a fleeting dream of ear plugs
momentary deafness, a cone of silence

i am not a morning person
i am not one of these wild chickens
cheep and cheerful in the early hours
woken by cocks crowing

saturday car futures

future coalesces in the car
the sunshine sputtering in through my lids
as i try to sleep
but can't help listening
to the positive insistence
of a dreamer becoming an architect
and building the possibility
of a future in the heart of another
whose objections waver
like the heat dream they are
byproduct of the crossed desert
i wake a little earlier than the destination
feeling brighter than usual

old poems

you find old poems you'd forgot
they are like love lost regained
and they had always remained
there under the radar

the books that are promised
slow arrival of old ideas in the now
descent into self referential bullshit
a poem about poems about poems

writing about writing
not about what you know
seeing what you see
it's a stretch

random laughs

today the rain was fits and starts
interspersed with talk of farts
walking round and random laughs
everybody plays their parts

seriousness has its place
but some days it just ages the face
and we can skirt through without a trace
and adopt a different kind of pace

natural wake

are off days
sleep days?
the elastic alarm

thankfully there are no gardeners
there are no estate's men
and the cars are happy in the outhouse

i am sleeping
with no cough
until the natural wake occurs

in the tornado warning outskirts

tornado watch
a loud voice on my phone
i have to wait before i can go home
and even then i get soaked

answering the phone
with a rain slick screen
i am paused
and poised to get wetter

waiting on two deliveries
the one guy with his bad rehearsed halloween jokes
and the other guy with the shopping
and the disappointment of butter flavored popcorn

sunday morning alarmed

early mornings are a stupidity
how did evolution lead to alarm clocks?
the part that awakens in me
and wants to smash technology
knows that waking when the body wants
is the secret to a happy life

i don't need hours and hours
not wishing for secret powers
just a few days where i can open my eyes
when i choose to open my eyes
and i can wake feeling rested

fuck the rude alarm
it lacks charm

in the dark

sitting on the porch in the dark
listening to the bark
thinking in snark
of tomorrow and the ark

writing poems, looking at pictures
all of the temporary, all of the fixtures
listening to how the strangers depict us
recognising none of the descriptions

alternative lifestyles aren't like alternative universes
they are insular and limiting
muted apocalypse
collapsed into narrow viewpoints

you hear the music travel
see the night unravel
disheveled apparel
an emptying barrel

what's considered natural? 

riding against the rain

riding against the rain
three days in a row
i am more wet
from sweat
as i arrive

not really worried as i leave
trees sprinkle rain, the bush against my sleeve
i slide into the breeze
the downhill free
the uphill at a price

it's not an unpleasant ride
about seventy degrees
not sure about the sweaty work arrival
but the health benefits are there

that old game

the chess game
i didn't know i was playing
listening to what you're saying
not watching what you were doing
not sure what i was viewing

but the people and the way they're moving
the moments and the way they're reeling
i can't tell, but know what i'm feeling
sometimes swallowing lies is appealing
shooting high, right through the ceiling

the occasional token frown
i was broken down