hot gossip

 draft 1prenise fix  check tone later 

i sometimes consider 

that to 

write 

to create 

anything worth a damn-

i bear my soul in 

words

in order to connect 

with any other 

human 

lost alone 

looking to 

understand 

 to feel 

to see 

i do not take myself seriously 

is often true 

the mask life gives us is as absurd 

i do not take my writing seriously  

 is a lie

i do not pretend that the mask you wear

hides the same devine

because 

but i do not speak for you

my 

flaws 

wounds

empathy 

things my judges my stalker my people i rub the way can not see in their own lives. the mirror is black so that is all they see with closed eyes

to some these word  are just 

gossip

cheap thrill

product

like a sad zebra errect at a zoo

like a mother of 2 grinding stranger to feed them and a habit

like the descendant of enslaved people rubber balls around a large rectangle for money

that’s entertainment

like  last night 

as i’m 

standing in front of the ambulance 

the mosey neighbor 

comes 

over

our family pain 

gossip

for 

entertainment 

the red bright lights 

blind me as i stand 

wondering 

if 

he will live. 

but i turn and say

politely-

holding back 

the urge to scream

and damn them to Hell

and 

spit 

hurl shit 

as i bear teeth -

instead calmly say

“Now is not a good time”

Chow Yun Fat Forever

Lee Marvin

Robert Mitchum

Chow Yun Fat 

Lee Van Cleef

Carey Grant 

Chow Yun Fat

Charlie Bronson

Humphrey Bogart

Chow Yun Fat 

Menacing 

Charismatic 

Dangerous 

Chow Yun Fat 

 forever. 

Mother fucker is

Hard Boiled

 A cold blooded

Killer

and always looking for

A Better Tomorrow 

1… 2…. 3…,

Steady as She Goes Captain

 Some teenagers

had the cart on 

them, don’t ask me why? 

We take the cart off them-

Then, 

without the slightest whisper

 of a double dog dare...

of their own free will,

of sound mind and judgement,

holding these truths to be self evident.

One gets in the cart

And the other gets ready to push.

Gentlewomen start your engines!

3..2…1...

Ready, Steady...

Go!

Then with a Huff and a Puff

Blast off! 

Missing little old ladies and children 

By a hair…

Of my chinny chin chin. 

Commotion 

Hijinx

Mischief -

Gangway!

like rodeo 

like Go karts 

like Roller Derby 

Juvenile, yes juvenile 

Because, 

Whose afraid 

Of Death 

when your this alive.

“Whose afraid of the 

Big Bad Wolf!?”

The Bowen bird

 I saw this 

in a documentary that I watched with my father-

It was a Bowen

Bird, stealing 

from another 

eligible 

Bowen

Bird 

Bachelor.

There goes Our potential paramour,

Gathering regalia and puffery 

for his 

Love nest. 

He spots a rival’s treasured 

plush red heart just laying 

there on the floor.

Perhaps left there by 

a previous bachelorette’s-

Rejection 

Reluctance 

Resolve

Perhaps…

Regardless,

there it lay-

A small lush plush

Red 

Heart

ripe for the plucking.

Look there- 

Look it’s your water bottle cap that fell  on the ground 

Look it’s a perfect shard of broken beer bottle glass

Look it’s a Surprise…

Our Bowen Bird Bachelor places his fresh plundered 

loot, lovingly amongst the rest of his 

Love Nest’s 

spoils.

Open heart

Open arms

Open for business.

A bird approaches, 

Our bachelor prepares his performance-

his heart about to burst open, 

an

Invitation…

Then 

Hesitation 

Apprehension 

Respiration-

But-

It’s not what it seems-

A young male bird whose 

Plumes

were worn

like Shakespearean 

drag-

Too young to show his 

Male

gender reveal party feathers… 

Runs off

With 

A stolen heart

And leaves a broken one behind.

Just for Laughs

 In the continent of Africa

In the country of Ethiopia 

In the ancient city of Harar.

There are men 

who feed

raw meet 

to 

wild  hyenas 

Hyenas-

Killers 

of 

livestock

and 

small children.

The Hyenas walk civilly through the

streets 

answering 

the call 

of 

The Hyena Men. 

Men,  who like 

their 

Fathers before them

fed 

Wild hyenas

Raw meat.

They wait 

Bare hands 

holding raw meat -

as a wild beast,

killer of small children 

and 

skilled at turning  livestock into dead stock,

eats from their hand slowly 

like an invited guest.

This is the bargain 

The deal struck-

To keep the streets

Free of

Spirits.

Hyenas-

Protecting the streets

from

the spirits of the dead.

Some say its to keep the livestock safe,

never the less a deals a deal. 

Oh the irony-

In the streets a spirit encounters a hyena, 

an exchange ensues.

In the voice of the spirit resentment,

as it utters "Haven't we met?".

In the eye of the wild beast

the words:

“Well, this is awkward …”

appear.

And then the streets fill

with the sound

of the last laugh.

Since 1983

 Draft 3

There are falcons 

In New York City. 

They eat 

Starlings

Pigeons 

Jays 

and

Black birds. 

Some will 

Specialize in eating bats.

While others wait with

bated breath.  

They

never to turn 

tail,

when at  the end of the 

tether-

{Living/ Chasing the American Dream 

Hard boiled-

(had he lived 

long enough

 Humphrey Bogart

would have 

{a thing or two about}something about 

dreams,

though he was no Shakespeare}

Never hoodwinked.

and when Haggard by the cold

 like true New Yorkers,

head south to 

Florida for the 

Winter-

The Peregrine Falcons,

just

another group of

fucken migrants

killin’ it in the 

City of Dreams. 

In 1983-

Annie closes on Broadway 

Thriller goes #1 on charts

The Dolphins are beaten by the Redskins

in the Super Bowl

And the falcons came to New York City.

My favorite Veterinarian

 

Draft 2

There are 

Only so many people we 

Meet in this life.

Some Angles 

Some Animals.

Not all are memorable 

But 

And 

Not-

all beautiful-

Not all Heroes 

Not all War Criminals.

Some doomed never being to leave the war.

I thought of the beautiful-

Women that stay with you 

People I didn’t 

Even speak to-

Stuck in memory 

Like  {fact}

The Sun is fire

water sometimes falls from the sky

And 

Green is the color of life. 

Taken as fact, based only on faith.

Unchecked 

Unverified 

Unvetted 

I thought of a beautiful creature 

I only saw twice in my life/

She had the feel of the Hawaiian

 Islands  breeze-

Fair skin

Korean if I had to guess but not the point-

The beauty of eyes has lasted 

Longer than teeth

Longer than hope 

Longer than the last rope I ever intend to use.

What made her 

Bright as light

Radiate 

And 

Glow-

Was the large scar on her fore arm-

A huge gash 

Like from 

An animal you are taught 

To play dead too 

Or 

Run 

From.

I never asked her 

About it-

{fear of post traumatic stress disorder 

Or it just wasn’t polite-}

Her face and hair may one day fade 

Go exstinct like 

the polar bear 

From the ice water of heart 

But that scar will remain-

And remembered amongst

All the other

Beautiful 

scars 

Frozen in time 

]forever]

Man of the House

 Quick outline sketch needs 

theme and maybe new ending 

My mother tells me 

It’s important to know about 

Yourself/-

She says my Great Grandmother:

“Raised my father-

She was in her late 80s.

Almost 90,

Raising a 5 year old boy-

She’d sell 

Homemade liquor 

Made from fruit. 

She sell it to the winos.

She’d keep getting arrested 

Told on by her 

Neighbors 

Every couple weeks 

No fine, 

Just a warning, 

To never do it again-

But she’d 

Get taken in regularly for 

Bootlegging 

Yand selling it cheaper 

than the 

Cantinas- 

{your great grandmother was a businesswoman

that way}

Tilll one day my father, your Grandfather had enough…

And declared himself ,

The Man of the house! 

At age of 5.

He put together his 

Own shoe shine box. 

And 

In what would be in today’s  currency-

Would be about a nickels 

Worth of brown and black

Shinolla-

Your uncles would call me

That to bully me but I got my 

Licks in to-

You better believe…

At five he put together his own box.

His own kit. 

A military man,

Asked him:

“What do you charge”

Your Grandfather responded 

“What ever be your will”

“Aren’t you too young 

to be hustling on the streets”

Your Grandfather responded 

“I’m the Man of the House!”

The military man like his answer 

And 

Would bring him his eight pairs of 

Boots. 

He wouldn’t pay him the standard 

Rate 

But 

take pity 

On an old woman 

And a 5 year old orphan. 

His grandmother was a business woman 

Buying the Toosa from the indigenous 

Women 

In the spring when they came down from the 

Mountains. 

(Needs weight and anchor before last vignette}

One time his Grandmother was talking 

To another old lady 

And she says 

I hate to leave you with 

The words stuck to n your mouth-

{note it sounds cooler in Spanish let’s see if I can get 

The slang right and if it needs a rework}

“But I gotta attend the man of the House”

Her friend looking at her 

Like your so old 

Who would 

Court you 

Who would give you 

The time of day.

{don’t be obvious here with the reveal, be clever and see if we can repeat a top line to bring in the landing}

Your grandfather would be 

tell me these stories with pride-

{needs bridge to conclusion}

My grandfather’s blood runs through my viens

So 

Does my Great Great Grandmother