Black and White Blues

–Clouds (#1)–

When it rains,
the clouds commit mass suicide.
They become their tears,
wasting themselves on the earth
and leaving their wet juices all over it.
When they’re gone, the air is fresh and clear
and everyone is happy…

but the sky is still blue.

–Matches (#2)–

Our love is like a book of matches.
Look, it catches! Watch it burn!
But no match that’s based on matches
can resist Time’s cold, wet snatches.

–The Exhaler (#3)–

I heard of an oxygen panic
and took it upon myself
to maintain the balance of the atmosphere.
After I carefully exhale, I shout
“Ah, Breath! I have freed you!”
and admire my own fantastic resourcefulness!

–Being in Love (#4)–

Being with you feels like being alone,
only never so lonely.
When I am with you,
I am you,
you are me,
and we are not “we” at all.

–a list of things my father gave to me (#5)–

a cold name
half of a face
grab-bag genes
a simplified old tree
right-brained eyes
hand-eye coordination
nightmares
a handful of childhood
and a phoenix sore

–dust (#6)–

stay still too long,
and it will gather on you.
tiny weights, little pressures,
light at first, but slowly heavy
heavier
heaviest
splintering your knees like wood
busting your back like cardboard
until you crumple in a cloud
and can move no more.

–The Blame (#7)–

When the summer gets old
and the weather gets cold
and the leaves start to fall,
Blame the sun! we are told.
But there’s no sense at all
in that scientist’s call,
for the sun is not cold;
how could it cause the fall?

–Some Roads Not Taken (#8)–

While making a choice concerning two roads and a yellow wood,
I tripped on you and fell in love.
We left both roads and hiked into the trees to make out,
and that’s what really made all the difference.

–Adults (#9)–

Adults complain a lot
about headaches and heartaches,
mortgages and marriages,
and they think they’ve got it bad.

What they forget
is that they sleep the same sleep
and breathe the same breath
as another human being
with the same heart,
the same mind,
and the same spirit.

And still they act like
spoiled children
who can’t make up their minds.

–pointless (#10)–

you think

just because
you’ve left no clues,
you’re being clever.

just because
you’ve got us stumped,
you’re being subtle.

just because
you have created,
you’re being creative.

just because
you’ve made a mess,
you’ve got it made.

a poem
without a point
might be a poem,

but it’s still pointless.