dimes every time i look down,
and a ten dollar bill near the bus stop on the ground.
ones and zeros at my feet--
I am Bo Peep of the real world,
a human video game for the spirits, perhaps.
Change, are you keen to kick my ass?
it gets harder to get up again, each time.
Goddess bless Aleve, and my Catholic notion that I must somehow have it coming.
tens, made of beginnings and ciphers.
everything is nothing is everything.
Buddha, go away, I don't like men very much, especially not cagey ones.
does nobody just say what they mean anymore?
what's with all these dimes?
how much coffee can i drink, trying to give my lips something to do?
Franklin Roosevelt is my distant familial relative.
i've been to Hyde Park and felt the soul tree shake.
it grows again, here, dropping dimes, and i say caller, caller are you there?
Alexander Hamilton doesn't ring any bells for me--
he must not have been an altar boy,
and anyway, i never go to Mass, or meetings, anymore.
i'm tired. i'm getting old.
all i wanted was someone close at hand to write for,
but everything is nothing is everything seems out of reach.
i have felt this way before, and then something new opened up ahead.
i don't believe it very much anymore, but though i'm feeling lost, and stuck,
i am Bo peep of the real world, and i
keep finding change.
___________
Too many wonderful words and gambits to begin quoting. Are you there caller? Enhance my day, why don't you!
ReplyDeleteAloha
.. impossible to run away from that Catholic thing, I know.
ReplyDeleteHello? Hello?
The subjects that you turn your pen to never seem contrived or old--even this little voyage of divination through change and the ever repeating waves of the sea of turmoil. People say it's about the journey and not the destination, but I think that depends where you end up. Still--there's something to be said for taking the trip.
ReplyDeleteOh my Goddess, this is brilliant. Love the Catholic belief that somehow we have it coming. Oh I so know!!!!!!! Loved this so much! The coffee to give your lips something to do? you crack me up!
ReplyDelete"but everything is nothing is everything seems out of reach"
ReplyDeleteHey, we've all felt this way. If it helps, please remember that many of us out here hang on your every word. You've more friends than you know! :-)
And...another great piece! Love the idea of a soul tree. That's something I'll be mulling over this coming week...
That last line ties it all up so brilliantly.
ReplyDelete10's or 55's, some numbers just seem to attach themselves to you.
ReplyDeleteYou Rock Shay...
I feel like I'm living this one. This one totally speaks my language.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Coffee to give your lips something to do! Brilliant!
ReplyDeletechange is good ... embrace it, spend it ...
ReplyDeleteYou'll laugh, Shay, but I just found a dime on the front porch this morning. Yeah, change is complex...and never comes to us in the way we imagine.
ReplyDeleteYour poems have the strength and depth and strange, blue beauty of a really good jazz saxophone solo. I liked all the colliding/colluding allusions in this one.
ReplyDelete