heaven is a bar with patio seating & the hurricane

heaven is a bar with patio seating

heaven / is a bar / with patio seating

under an effortless / blue sky

people / like seagulls / passing by 

calling out

for company / for food / for the hell of it

heaven / is a bar / with patio seating

as clouds come / rolling in / like the gods of old / wielding lightning bolts / like broken beer bottles

do you see, / honey? / that one / looks like my father

they all / look like your father / the wind replies 

heaven / is a bar / with patio seating 

as the rain / falls / like linen / upon my skin / like lipstick / upon my brain

and I remember / all that I shouldn’t / as drops fall / from my / empty glass

I see someone / in the puddle / beneath my feet / lost / in the overcast

some outcast / demi-god

they all / look like your father / the wind replies

it’s getting cold

the gulls call / from their warm / hidden hovels

I take flight / take shelter / from another day / spent / in paradise

(photo by Matthee van der Plas)

the hurricane

my son is up early

he’s listening to nursery rhymes / while my wife feeds him / his bottle

it’s all over for me / this morning

my mind / is a fickle bitch

it requires things to be / just so

everything and everyone / in their proper place

and absolute quiet

I read somewhere / that the great writers / can write / in the eye of a hurricane

I cannot

my mind / the fickle bitch / won’t allow it

not with / “Apples and Bananas” / blaring in the background

“Rig a Jig Jig” / is next

the sun has burnt out / the moon has fallen / the virus has killed the president

and I cannot hear them / I cannot see them

now / “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes”

shit / bring on the hurricane

there are no more words / left

(photo by Lacie Slezak)