Snap

it was his fault
the railroad crossing arm touched the roof
of his SUV
but not hard enough to scratch it
if he remained
still
he was mad
in the driver's seat
he flailed like a mouse
with his tail caught in a trap
screaching and jerking limbs
pride broken.

Patience

fifty year old man
realized
he still hadn't
had
the best years
of his life.

shouting

when it gets too hard,
too difficult to remain calm
and your pulse machine guns
take a deep breath
strecth your back
think of a beach with seagulls
then
keep in mind
elementary school students get
excited merely hearing the word
fieldtrip.

Control Freak Directing a 4th grade Dada Talent Show

"ok you are the bleeding concept of Romanticism
and you are a giant hallucinating Totem pole...
damn it, stand over there...
no put that down...
it's 1919 and you are meeting in a cafe in Geneva and you say....."

"I want my mommy"

"No!... who cast you as Romanticism?"

Pick up

heavy woman walks on the other side of the tracks
three teenage boys on this side laugh and shove each other
then see her and become quiet
for a moment
until one of them
calls out
"check this out... Hey baby ... moooooooooo"

Critical Theorist

if his bald head was longer,
and it could have been,
he would have more than one pair
of half glasses resting
up there

Tourist Trap

See the Amazing Four Legged Calf!!
next exit

Abuse

she smiled insincerely
her boyfriend sat silent
she asked the waiter
to return her drink
a fourth time

Gilliam's Riddle

the first film was about youth
the second middle age
the third about an old guy who hallucinates.

Fluid Dynamics

thanks to chilled half and half
I could see
the thermocline in my glass coffe cup.

"Summer Vacation"

two artists argued for half an hour
about the impressionistic features
of a painting they didn't know
had been done by
a third grader

Mr. Right

through the whole conversation
he nodded his head
and agreed without
question to
everything
she said

Twisted

his infant was asleep in the shade
of the stroller
even after he rotated it
on purpose
to let sunshine
fall on her face.

and on the West Coast

an upper class recycler
nearly got in a fight
with the garbage truck driver
over a missing aluminum can.

Yawn

the first of
six subtle signs
the person sitting next to you
is no longer interested.

looking out for number one

everyone looks out for number one
but it's the arrival of number two that gets everyone's attention.

Turnips

I remember way back
when we used to build
forts in the woods
and spend days planning our sneak into that guy's garden
to dig up all of them
even though those things tasted
terrible.

Peel

put a sticker on something
at eye level
and someone is bound to pick at it
till it tears away.

Focus

four men in succession smilled at her
and she looked through them
and the door
and the traffic
and stared at a dress in
a clothing store
window across
the street.

Natural Resource

Since drilling for oil wasn't allowed
the national park service started
charging wildlife
fifty cents per viewing
whenever the Aurora Baurealis
appeared above
the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge.

Reputation

if you were required to turn in a resume
without creases or stray marks
why is he bringing the one you gave him
to a coffee shop
so he can rest his mocha
and beignets
on it?