10

the singlemost significant event

september 29^th, 2000—present

was the official commercial release

of kid a

you would have loved it

when i saw the art for the first time

i resolved to unsuccessfully mimic

the cutting slant of graphite on tracing paper

alone

scribbling on my dorm room loft the quaking mountains

the scraggly, menacing trees

and the fire

it was cathartic, chanting

i'm not here, this isn't happening

i will see you in the next life

it beat the hell out of listening

to the mix tape your mother gave me

the one they found playing in your car

still running

she meant well but it was too much

all that wondering when it came

at what moment

your music stopped

you've got it made

with us here still counting

our conditioned lives in tens and fives

and this year

i didn't even visit

please know i didn't forget

i just didn't have the heart to remember

everything else you've missed.

the slamming mood

today i come home
open all the kitchen cupboards
and slam them in rapid succession
just to hear the satisfying clap!
of board-on-board.

it is true i would prefer to launch plates
like discs and vases like shot-puts
too see if i had the strength
to dent a plaster wall, to rip out the chicken wire
holding the insulation, the strength
to chip the stain from the oak accents and reduce
the brick to a shivering powder.

i would leave devastation and cement my position
as someone not to be fucked with.

of course, i would have to clean it up. i would
have to pay, to be sentenced some form of atonement--
fifty lashes or five days in the cilice--so
instead i slam the cupboard doors closed a second time, listening
for the crash inside.

Terrible Poetry from Terrible People

Terrible poetry from terrible people

Like the bitter words of lovers lost down the sewer drain
Polluting the water that once provided sustenance

From that abortion clinic picketer
Who weaves bible passages into spears that pierce the hearts of those who grace its doors

Like the eviction notices posted on homes crafted into soliloquy
That left every hungry family beyond tired of listening to these demands

Terrible poetry from terrible people

Like those violent chants and angry threats
That emit from peace demonstrators
Reminiscent of sloppy kisses from virgin lovers

Like the soapbox rhetoric of a rabble rouser in downtown Minneapolis
Preaching about the importance of the environment
She enjoys her bottled water on her car ride home

Or perhaps escaping like the satisfied belches from a man
who never stops professing his love of animals, especially those cute kitties and puppies
While stuffing his face with the assholes and intestines of every other mammal on this planet

Terrible poetry from terrible people

Like the promises of a do-gooder who volunteers to be a Big Brother
Then quits after 6 months
The same one who sweet talks another program into letting him be a mentor again
After 4 months he leaves, resembling the fathers that abandoned the same kids he used to tutor

Like the propaganda pamphlets dropped overseas
To those who only pray for peace
But instead get slaughtered like the cattle we view them as
We fill mass graves with glee

Like the racial slurs and harsh words dropped by children on the playground
In a small town middle class hell
Landmines and cluster bombs that would send my brother home crying everyday
Just because he is not white

Terrible poetry from terrible people