i wish i had a longer fuse
or understood how to deal with the concept of
actual siblings
or something
to make me less
full of stress
when kip’s family comes to visit
i wish i had a longer fuse
or understood how to deal with the concept of
actual siblings
or something
to make me less
full of stress
when kip’s family comes to visit
perhaps i could make a book
based entirely on my
nonsense poetry
and perhaps it would get published
and perhaps scholars would study it
and wonder of the words i’m putting out there
and what they all mean
together
and i would have to tell them,
with a sorry expression
but still a devilish glint to my eye,
“my apologies, my guy,
it just means
nothing”
[and perhaps that in and of itself
would send the next generation of academics
into a whole new
tizzy]
silly b-day times
with pies for breakfast
and original mystery afternoons
and i’m still so stoked to see
my birthday date
scrawled across the top of
everything
today
[happy b-day to me!]
the only bad part
about enjoying coffee in the morning
is the moment when
there are naught but dregs in the bottom
and you have to admit
there is no more coffee to drink
in your mug.
[but, if you’re lucky, there’s more in the pot
where it all came from
and you can enjoy more
right there and then
from whence the first cup came from,
or in an hour (or so)
if you prefer your coffee
cold]
we are good kips
who do our things
that we set out to do
in the mornings
me with my poetry
kip with their programming
puppies with their naps
and cats with their…whatever cats do in the early hours
constantly feeling on a precipice
of the world burning
of my own superstardom
of our own government disintegrating
of my writing something inviting and entrancing
to my own
senses
but i think,
at least for my own cliffs’ edges,
i cannot wait for the feeling of falling —
i need to just
jump
i wish we had more windows in our house
that were accessible to the animals as they are
so they could gaze out
at the outside world
and be entertained
from the comfort and safety of our own home
[but the cat has the upstairs window
accessible from a hop onto a litter box
and a jump onto a dresser
and, of course, a skip through the curtains]
[and the dog has the downstairs window
accessible from the couch she probably shouldn’t jump on
or the other downstairs window
accessible from a lap
she definitely shouldn’t jump on]
[so i suppose all can be/is well]
will i,
once i get back,
be back into
some semblance
of a morning
habit
with these words?
that would be nice
that would be nice
the morning poetry
still in the morning
still in the morning
as my father waters all his plants
and as the puppy gets into trouble
in the kitchen
the kitchen of my childhood
which only looks half like it did
in my childhood
and i have already scoped through the dozens
perhaps hundreds
of articles of clothing i still have in this house
to see if anything
still slaps
and now my father is done with the plants
and is playing with the puppy
like he had promised her
and i can see into the dining room
as they play
and play and play
and i think it’s
almost
as good as me bringing him
a grandchild
to play with
[maybe
maybe
maybe when our country
isn’t trying to literally kill
anyone who isn’t a
cis
straight
white
upper class
christian
man
maybe then
we’ll bring him one]
evening poems
while william shatner
tells me all the unexplained mysteries
i should care about
but i simply
don’t
~~~
big yawns
and split-up sleep
and hopefully getting
the cat to eat
or take her meds
at least
[almost done with this trip
and i’m so excited to sleep
in my own bed
once again]
~~~
but seeing people has been absolutely lovely —
i wouldn’t exchange that
for anything
[even eight uninterrupted hours]