Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Rose

On a dusty August night in 1974 a rebel rode into the Town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York on his 750 chopped Honda the chrome was polished and the sissy bar gleaming,

as he parked in front of The Well, where he met Billie Ghoulie, the unofficial mayor who
owned and bartended there. Billie was freakish in his top hat, black cape, and skin tight jeans
but had found his niche and calling. Billie also owned the Astoria, the only hotel in town. The Well had a good reputation and you could find well-known bands like Three Dog Night jamming to “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” on a Saturday night.
That first night he met and befriended a man named Dirty John and his wife Sue.
Dirty John’s Everything Shop housed both him and that Honda for the next few months
as he quickly made his way through the local town
produce, squeezing and partaking of all the fresh melons
passing on the Astoria—full up for the Labor Day holiday.
Of course, she didn’t know that yet, a good girl, Cheryl was barely out of high school.
Sue had whispered about him
the way he shined like a new copper penny.
He had called her pretty lady, that first night they met
fresh from a hot bath, he didn’t know
he had swept her away
smelling that way.
Not until much later did he recall
that he had stolen
the Rose out of Rosendale.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Self-Loathing

Bruxism


that's what they called it

grinding her teeth

at night while she slept

only one of the nasty habits

she'd picked up

the main reason

she still needed

to unlock those damned doors



Her subconscious

still directing

the plot

tangled

inside a sixties B movie



protecting her

by hiding

the truth

redirecting

her thoughts

leading her

towards the light

but the dark

still beckoned

leaving a slick stain

beneath the sheets

of her memory

like unwashed skin

exuding its distinct odor

she had to find the key

she had to let go of the ring.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Defiance

How does this sound for the prologue of my new book?


She’s thought about it
way too long
anger simmering
like pasta writhing
in boiling water,
only she doesn’t soften.
Lingering in the old pot
as she plots and
plans her escape.
The final details
appearing as foam
on a briny bank.

One last thing
before she departs
into the unknown
a card
to a loved one
with
unconditional
instructions.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Human Equation

Photobucket

We are a speck
 in the grand scheme
of the universe
ignorant and
full of hot air
waiting for Mars to appear in the night sky

billions of tiny pulses of energy
lowered to their least common denominator
like lightning bugs in a glass jar

Studied from space
like a lab experiment
impatient for the resolution
for a brilliant scientist
to discover the true meaning
behind the meaning

Or are we mere child’s play?

Is it all an illusion

Is our splinter of hope

Fool’s gold

Will we try to use it
to feed
the hungry
cure cancer

What is it about the moon?

Dare we recall
or is it better this way

GOD

If you do exist
have some pity
on us
we still don’t know why
we are here?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Waiting for Dawn

Photobucket

I can see the flushed pink
across the bay as I
wait for the glow, focused
as I envision an orange rim
cresting over white pillows
flanked by a Pirate’s
Black Pearl.
And as my
mind lusts for its
buried treasure
hidden
in the east.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Black Pearl

Black Pearl in Kaneohe Bay

Aye-- that be the Pearl
Savvy Captain Jack Sparrow
at your service, mate.

Friday, July 23, 2010

CONNIE

C--  autiously
O--  ptimistic
N--  ervy
N--  erd
I--    ncites
E--   nthusiasm

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Meteora Musing

Photobucket


In Greece there’s a place called Meteora
where they sent
the bothersome ones, too pretty
and smart to live in the rural villages.

Coaxed, bribed and forced to live out their lives
on top of these
tall isolated rock needles.

So isolated that supplies were brought in
once a month
by mule and then
hauled across deep ravines in a bucket on a pulley

No escape from there.

No hope for those prissy little pussies
Sent off like baby lambs, married to this Christ character
And  IN NAME ONLY

Not allowed to speak out loud for years at a time

Sequestered

Maybe some of them
waited for Apollo,
son of Zeus and Leto
to rain down on them
whet their appetites, soak them with his love.

Can you see them sitting there
waiting for some reprieve
from the kneeling and the prayer
the hours of singing the same old tired song.

Yeah--I’d lay odds

double or nothing

that they did a lot of
musing on their fate
planning their escape
Counting the days, plotting out
the location of the stars and the moon
till the next delivery.
Checking the rope
Eyeing up that bucket
figuring out how much weight it could hold
how much time it took to cross over the ravine
how much time before they were missed.

Of course the Greek men weren’t worried
They already knew
the most important factor
in this equation

Girls suck at Science and Math.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

False Honor

Puzzling
We will travel to opposite corners of the planet to murder each other
To put another Band-Aid on a festering boil
To leave old men and women staring blankly into the night sky.

We have been in denial mode for so long
Waiting
Waiting

The ones that do come back are
Damaged
Pierced by foreign forks
Mere shells missing their normal psyche
We feed the terror with our apathy and our greed

Noble—there is nothing noble here.

We are all busy texting in our business suits
While our vehicles
Plunge into oblivion, taking out the innocent as we go.

We have been in denial mode for so long.
Waiting
Waiting

Our kids lie about everything to everyone
And then forget who they told their lies to.

It has spread like a fever into our sub conscious
We are immersed in our lies
Soaked through the skin
We keep rowing in circles, our speech mimics our thoughts
Drowning
Getting nowhere faster than ever before and

We have been in denial mode for so long.
Waiting
Waiting

Help —do we even know what that word means?

We are conquerors
We come to do battle
Because of fear and loathing
Because if we don’t-- they will
When does it end?

We have been in denial mode for so long.
Waiting
Waiting

Our planet is changing its code
Our round bodies no longer fit
Into the new landscape
There is no potable water

We have been in denial mode for so long
Waiting
Waiting

Monday, July 19, 2010

Send Them to War

Send the gangsters,

the murderers and rapists
the terrorists, the child molesters
the fossils with more than their fair share of piss and vinegar.
Send the bad attitudes, and the free-loaders.

Send the ones that want to die with their boots on.

Send the experienced ones
the Clint’s the Tom’s
the Arnold’s and
the Dukes, the ones
with snot-free noses.

The ones that know how
and won’t think twice
to fuck you up and will love doing it.

Send the salty, the sick
the brave hearts
on their last leg.

Send the ones who want
to leave this earth making
a statement, leaving their mark
their sweat
their blood.

Send Them!

Let’s leave our youth alone
with their wives and children
with their minds and their bodies intact.

Leave them to care for this country
to bring us back to sanity
to give us hope
to revive our economy
to renew our faith in humanity.

Let’s harness those hormones to rebuild our bridges and dams
to patrol our borders, and to forge new alliances
without any preconceived ideas of what they can and cannot do.

Let’s sit down and think about how we treat each other
reassess wants and needs
how we teach our children

Let’s take a lesson from nature
and send the Neanderthal to fight the age-old feuds

leave our kids to save the planet
and send the apes-- the missing links.

Send Them!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Mango Man--Dream State

**** A story in a poem --in 100 words or less, Mana means spirit or power, Haumea and Wakea were ancient Hawaiian gods. Laka is the goddess of hula




Last night he dreamt of the before time,
it is dim.

It disappears with the birds
when he wakes
under his special tree
above Kalihi Valley.

The tree that he knew
as a child,
which shows him its mana
in the howl of the damp.
In the leaves whispering her name,
combing-out memories
tangled within their dark stillness.

Coarse branches stretching back
to the time of
Wakea and Haumea.

A goddess born from Haumea’s eye,

Kapo has many names,
one is Laka.

She can appear
as a lizard or
a human.

Her hula
inspires
his dreams.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

One Syllable Poems

Aspirin


Take one with food
to ease aches and pains.

He looked at the strange script
and scratched his head
as he tried to sound out
the first word

Ass—put---in.


Stamped

He loves to lick stamps

and coat his tongue
with glue.
The taste
slides
down the
back of his throat
sticks to
his ribs
and melds
with the spam and egg
meal
he just ate.

See that Mom!


Déjà vu

It was sweet

She'd had
that taste
in her mouth
a dark fudge
masked
in a thick brown shell
sweet meats
nuts
creams
and mints.

Love

In

A

Box

wrapped up
with a
bright
red
bow.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Intolerance--abcDarian

Aunt Alice had to stop for a few

Beers, she was
Chilling down at
Deeley’s saloon with
Edna Earle. It seems that
Frank James was involved and that
Good for nothing
Henry Hiller, you know the one that used to
Ink the newspaper down outside of
Jasmine over at
Kallops Corner? I believe you know
Lawrence Bishop, he owned the Star something or other,
Maybelle, he will
Never get over this, it sure
Opened my eyes
Pops is still limping because he tried to help poor
Quentin, you know Lawrence’s
Retarded
Step son by his third wife
Tina or Tasha, well anyway it sure was
Upsetting to the old folk they had never seen anything like that in the whole damn
Valley, everyone up in arms over that god forsaken fire
White crosses went up like Christmas trees in July
X-rays showed he had a compound fracture of the tibia, risking his life running down there
Yelling at those fanatics. Nothing he could do and poor Quentin hanging there like that
Zinnia’s got tinged too—will have to replant some new ones come spring.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Yogurt Advertisments-Cinquains

Blueberry Yogurt
Fruity
Low fat yogurt
A five gram protein punch
Satisfies mid-morning hunger
Brain food

Strawberry Yogurt—Rejected Ad
Flavored
Low fat yogurt
Distinguished sour cow
Fermented with bacteria
Grade A




Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed
as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines. It was developed by the Imagist poet, Adelaide Crapsey.
Another form, sometimes used by school teachers to teach grammar, is as follows:
Line 1: Noun
Line 2: Description of Noun
Line 3: Action
Line 4: Feeling or Effect
Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Happy Birthday to Captain Tommy D.

**My husband is 65 today!!
Tommy D is the man for me

His abs are  rock hard
He loves his yard
He knows his way
around my heart

Girl, he sure can cook
he’s really smart.

Tommy D. is the man for me.

He loves his dogs
he gives them treats
He brings them home
raw fish and meat

A man of his word
poetic and proud
surely outspoken
stands out in the crowd.

Yes Tommy D is the man for me.

Obsessed to
not get it, in the ass
Tommy exudes his own kind of class
He wants what he wants
He gets what he gets
So yuz better listen
don’t yuz forget

Tommy D he’s the man for me.

Gone fishing today with
the Habilitat boys
Tommy’s fish catch
all will enjoy

Yes Tommy D is the man for me.

A hard man to live with
his visions are high
He’ll have you
leaping
eyes seeking
the sky.

The why
still blurred
in your sharp head
is clear to him
a leader misread.

Yes Tommy D. is the man for me.

So, as sure as Popeye loves his Olive oil
I’ll stand by my man, I'll be his goil
Cos no one’s perfect, I’m sure you’ll agree

Yes Tommy D is the man for me.

And they lived Happily Eva Afta!!

The End


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Flying Hawaiian- A Tribute

Can Do’s fly into storms to penetrate eye wall’s
named Dennis, Felix, Frances, Gustav, Ike, Ivan, Jean, Katrina,
Ophelia, Paloma, and Rita.
Can do’s stick out their tongues to catch snowflakes while remote sensing gamma radiation in Minnesota.
Can do’s prepare in advance for the what if’s.
Can not’s-- wait for the little fat man in the lederhosen to go back into his side of the house.

Can Do’s are born in July.
They graduate from U.H with a BS in Meteorology
and from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
doing their graduate studies in Aeronautical Science
They Captain—their “middle-age.”
Can Do’s worked at the
National Marine Fishery Service
where they caught seals and sea turtles.
Can not’s Captain leaky dinghies-- catching dry rot and algae.

Can Do’s commanded NOAA ships
like the John N. Cobb and the Morgan Freeman.
Can not’s command accessories-- like THE REMOTE.

Can Do’s collect data and
observe derelict gill nets in order
to predict the drift of the ocean’s marine debris.
Can not’s predict how many cubic inches
it takes-- to hold a case of BUD.

Can Do’s play slack key music.
Can not’s-- play air guitars.

Can Do’s LOVE deep sea fishing
Can not’s-- left their rain gear at home
while fishing for some spare change.

Can Do’s stick their necks into tight places.
Can not’s are still stuck in the 70’s.

Can Do’s make goals and become Captain’s and Chief Science Officer’s.
Can not’s make goals to grow some Kona gold and may go back to get their GED
after they finish all the Oreos and the chocolate chip ice-cream.

Can do’s make their parents proud
Can do’s draw out the best in people
Can not’s --scratch themselves-- and draw a blank.

Can Do’s --CAN!
Can not’s-- can't.
Captain Barry K. Choy is a Can Do--How about you?

Monday, July 12, 2010

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Normal doesn’t live here

Normal doesn’t live here anymore.

IT went the way of the Maya
IT lives somewhere south of the border beneath a bottle green jungle
IT is living its normal life with its friend Patience
IT is happy
IT never looks over the fence to see what’s there

IT doesn’t age or need a Doctor

IT has perfect hair

IT used to have feelings but has advanced itself to a more stable life.
IT doesn’t think about its body because it doesn’t have one.

IT doesn’t concern itself with the doings of man or wo-man

IT knows that much is wrong
but IT ignores them and their hormones
because IT is smart
and realizes what will happen
if IT upsets them or tries to teach them about the laws of evolution

ITS molecules will have to travel to a new galaxy
because even though IT is sure

 IT’s shit is ice-cream

IT is wrong!!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Let us Make a Change

Let us make a change
Let us make a stand.
Good people signed in
saying yes we can.

Let us sow anew and make well known
how we gave birth
to this
our great home.

We stood for the shy
bellowed for the weak
exorcised the demons
that stalked our dark streets.

Sat down with villains to
play their crooked hand
poker faced
then dared to make a stand.

We've laid miles of track
reckoned with
our faith
gambled with our lives
our severed limbs scathed
spilling bloody rivers
digging countless mines
leaving comfort zones
dragging fat behinds.

Let us make a change
Let us make a stand.
Good people signed in
saying yes we can.

To knead understanding
we'll add yeast and salt
and rise to the challenge
to see our own fault.

Let us make a change
Let us make a stand
Good people signed in
saying yes we can.

Remember now
why we belong
to something real
to something strong
and fight, good people
for what we believe
Or lose it all
and die
in our disease.

Let us make a change
Let us make a stand.
Good people signed in
saying yes we can.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Crabwise--Walking Sideways

*** DLNR has informed us that they will be raising dock fees indiscriminately across the board—in order to standardize rates over the next five years—this means that everyone will be charged the same fees regardless of slip size or amenities.



We are off on a crusade
thick exoskeletons armed
claws ready-made.

Crying out to our clan
the hermit, king and
 horseshoe now stand.

Primitive and developed
from land, freshwater and sea
to make our objections known to
DLNR and the powers that be.

We have listened to your
bullying ways for far too long
it is your time now, to listen, to our song.

Our diet has made us strong and fit
And we refuse to stand still
for any more
of your sh---it!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Avatar-cherita

A computer generated image, a virtual incarnation

Where a paraplegic marine
can marry an alien and save a world

Forget about beaming me up Scotty
turn on the power and plug me in
this god has spoken.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Morning Song-Rictameter

Raucous
mynas chirp sweet
music outside, after
last night’s riotous red white and
blue revelry. My canine buddies roll
over and stretch their stiff bodies
no longer shaking now
content with the
dawn’s song.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

A Fourth of July Toast to John Wayne

A Fourth of July Toast to John Wayne

He blazed rocky trails
brought in murderers and thieves
protected them from being lynched by an angry mob
saw that they got their fair trial.
He was a friend to the Comanche.
He spanked respect
into his willful bride and spoiled daughter
as G.W. McClintock
fought long and hard for his principles
infected us with his kind spirit and vitality
and brought us back again and again to the good old days.

If horses could talk
would they give him the nod?
Would prostitutes still wink and flash their goods?
Would the local boyz greet him in the hood?
Would our military show up to see his latest film, shake his hand?

You bet they would!!

John Wayne--an American icon
a vital natural resource
a man of his word, our hero
the indestructible
“Duke”---Well I reckon
we owe him
big time, so here’s to you Marion
thanks for lighting the way!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

C'est la vie

C'est la vie

I am
past being upset
far beyond the nostalgic nonsense
poking into a brand new box
eager
to sample the exquisite
assortment
of dark
creamy
nutty
nougats
my fingers prying
through
the outer shells
examining
the prize within
finding
new pleasures
under the sun.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Hiki No

Hiki No means Can Do!


Hiki No

Can Do’s climb cliff faces and stick out their tongues to catch snowflakes.

Can not’s trip over their own shadow.

Can Do’s march through puddles.

Can not’s wait for a dry spell.

Can Do’s swim the English Channel

Can not’s failed drown proofing at the Y.

Can Do’s run marathons.

Can not’s run to the fridge.

Can Do’s reinvent their world and make it better for everyone.

Can not’s live on another planet.

Can Do’s find the cure.

Can not’s complain.

Can Do’s stick their necks into tight places.

Can not’s are stuck in the 60’s.

Can Do’s will try it once and succeed in time.

Can not’s excuse themselves from too much excitement.

Can Do’s make goals and stick to them.

Can not’s complain about how hard it is.

Can Do’s show up on time.

Can not’s show up late-- ALL THE TIME!!

Can Do’s, consider your feelings.

Can not’s consider their feelings.

Can Do’s --CAN!

Can not’s-- can't.

HIKI NO--How about you?

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Toilet or Closestool

The Title of yesterday's Chinese movie at the Doris Duke Theater was "The Story of the Closestool -- the subtitles were a blurry white on white--gave me a headache---so I let my wild mind loose on the internet, here's what I found out about the closestool: My haiku is at the bottom


The Chain Is Pulled on Britain's Crapper

July 26, 2000

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has flushed Britain's claims to have invented the water closet down the pan with the discovery of a 2,000-year-old toilet complete with running water, a stone seat and a comfortable armrest.

Archaeologists found the antique latrine in the tomb of a king of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC to 24 AD), who believed his soul would need to enjoy human life after death, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

"This top-grade stool is the earliest of its kind ever discovered in the world, meaning that the Chinese used the world's earliest water closet which is quite like what we are using today," Xinhua quoted the archaeologists' report as saying.

"It was a great invention and a symbol of social civilization of that time," Xinhua said.

The invention of the flush toilet is widely attributed to London plumber Thomas Crapper, who patented a U-bend siphoning system for flushing the pan in the late 19th century, and who also installed toilets for Queen Victoria.

Among other inventions claimed by China are toilet paper, fireworks, gunpowder, the compass, paper money, kites, printing and the clock.

The toilet tomb was discovered in Shangqiu county in the central province of Henan, Xinhua said.

Archaeologists also found a queen consort's stone tomb, more than 690 feet long and consisting of more than 30 rooms including a bathroom, toilet, kitchen and an ice-store.

Toilet or Closestool
Two thousand year find
China claims another right
flushed and waste ready.

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