Secret stop signs I see your earing; it signals keep my distance.
I make a left turn instead of going ahead.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:58 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I could care less

The kitchen's dirty
my office is a mess
the living room/bedroom
needs to be made.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Trying to be a man about it

Still I mean to be quiet
but it's not my fault
if I start to cry.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post
No more stomping

Bark at the distance
highlighted by the moon.
You'll be on your hands
and knees by tomorrow,
wishing you hadn't looked
the other way when someone else
had been forced, also,
to walk this way. The shoe
is on the other foot, and, now,
you have to wear it.








She says I care but I can't show it

She'll rip your heart out,
and you've had your heart
ripped out before,
so you don't even say hello.









Look them in the eye

Can you give me something that I haven't bought?
And if it cost you nothing can you use it?
Your mother taught you to work for a dollar,
but your mother is dead, and so are most of the principles
in this world that she raised you up on.
So are you better than me for being such;
one of us is wrong.








Rattle rattle you're so superior.

Rattle rattle their thoughts are empty.
Rattle rattle their words mean not.











Listen to her

She'll document her decline;
then,it's a mountain
you don't have to climb.


--Mikel K
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:45 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Feel the weight.
It's on your feet.
It's in your head.
You don't get satisfaction
in the things that you used to.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:43 PM 0 comments Links to this post
No more stomping

Bark at the distance
highlighted by the moon.
You'll be on your hands
and knees by tomorrow,
wishing you hadn't looked
the other way when someone else
had been forced, also,
to walk this way. The shoe
is on the other foot, and, now,
you have to wear it.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:34 PM 0 comments Links to this post
She says I care but I can't show it

She'll rip your heart out,
and you've had your heart
ripped out before,
so you don't even say hello.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:31 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Look them in the eye

Can you give me something that I haven't bought?
And if it cost you nothing can you use it?
Your mother taught you to work for a dollar,
but your mother is dead, and so are most of the principles
in this world that she raised you up on.
So are you better than me for being such;
one of us is wrong.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:28 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Rattle rattle you're so superior.

Rattle rattle their thoughts are empty.
Rattle rattle their words mean not.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:26 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Listen to her

She'll document her decline;
then,it's a mountain
you don't have to climb.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:24 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Being happy in spite of them

You lived your life
with a smile on your face
in spite of their not so vague plans
to ruin everything that you are.







Static

Listen to the conversation
whisper into thin air
in the end which one
makes a difference?








Life

Listen to your heart beating
be thankful it's the greatest
gift you have.









Landslide

Call on me don't
fall on me.







Bargain basement

They've obscured your view
of the sky/it was a conscious decision;
money meant more to them than air.

--Mikel K
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Being happy in spite of them

You lived your life
with a smile on your face
in spite of their not so vague plans
to ruin everything that you are.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Static

Listen to the conversation
whisper into thin air
in the end which one
makes a difference?
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:12 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Life

Listen to your heart beating
be thankful it's the greatest
gift you have.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:11 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Landslide

Call on me don't
fall on me.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Bargain basement

They've obscured your view
of the sky/it was a conscious decision;
money meant more to them than air.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Is it still a "friendship" if you make out?

At a half to three quarters of
a bottle of wine she starts
kissing me, or should I say
that she starts responding to
my kisses.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:48 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Balancing Act

War is in your hand; peace is in your heart.
You can make money with war;
you can make love with peace.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The death of our friend is not a time to point out differences in opinion between us.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:58 AM 0 comments Links to this post
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2010
I don't know where we fell out or why probably cuz I drank to black out and you didn't but this seems like as good a time as any to kiss and make up. We have lost one of our our own, one of our dearest, one of our dirtiest, a man who lived life to the fullest; a man who lived life his way.
Posted by mikel k poet at 4:23 PM 0 comments Links to this post
He is gone, and I better get on with this business of living.
Posted by mikel k poet at 12:41 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The teardrops in your eyes.
The frothing in my mouth.
He's dead. He is dead.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:19 AM 0 comments Links to this post
It's all crap sometimes.

It's all crap sometimes
just shit in your oatmeal
and coffee,
the things that you normally enjoy
soiled beyond recognition
by a mood.
The teardrops in your eyes.
The frothing in my mouth.
He's dead. He is dead.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:08 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The cat seeks comfort
he lays on papers of mine
on my desk that are
semi-important near
the heat that is being
expelled from my computer.
I don't have the heart
to pull the papers
from under him,
I also figure they would
wrinkle even more if I did.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I don't go to funerals. I don't view open caskets. My friend Skinny Joe Nihiser just died. I would go to his funeral, and, I guess, I would give ole Joe one last look. Skinny Joe was my drinking buddy for about a decade. He was a drinking buddy that I was not able to get rid of in my black outs like I had gotten rid of so many of my drinking buddies over the years because of my drunken behavior. Skinny Joe had demons of his own, and it was, partly, these shared demons that kept us together as friends. But it was far more than demons that kept Joe and I together as friends.

They say that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. It's not fair that I, and all Joe's other friends have to handle this. Joe was too young to be knocking on heaven's door.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:58 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Skinny Joe is drinking beer in heaven
pounding his fist on one of God's tables
laughing and sharing that magnanimous smile of his
with the angels just like he did with us on earth.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:54 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I know that I'm not the one,
but I know that I could be.
Her curtsy dismissed me.
She baked biscuits for
someone else in the morning.
Posted by mikel k poet at 12:22 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The Gift

I'm still here. I might become a King, a Killer, a Coward.
He's gone. His chance to become anything on earth is gone.
The lesson is not lost on me. The most precious gift that
I have is life. It is o.k. to be near broke. It is o.k. to
not have a woman. It is o.k. to dream of publication. It is ok.
It is ok. It is ok. Everything is ok, as long as you are breathing.
Posted by mikel k poet at 12:13 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I haven't cried yet,
but I know that I will.
Posted by mikel k poet at 12:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2010
His father had the plug pulled
on his son, at two, today.
It isn't right;
fathers are supposed to go
before their sons.
Posted by mikel k poet at 11:48 PM 0 comments Links to this post
This week one friend of mine died
of a heart attack,
and another was shot in the jaw
in a botched robbery attempt.
I stood a little further back
Posted by mikel k poet at 11:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post
It's as possible as anything else
that he is smiling down at us
from Heaven, right now.
He certainly was no angel
while he was alive
but his love affair
with the demon liquor,
never caused any of us
to run from that dazzling smile,
to elude that playful manner.
He leaves a snake,
and I bet not much else material
on this planet
but you know what
you can't take it with you.
He leaves behind countless friends;
friends who love him,
friends who miss him.
He left us too soon.
It really wasn't his turn.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:42 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Did you hear that she or I died?

I called her to tell her about
the death of a close friend of ours.
As I was dialing her number
I realized that one of us
would die before the other
and would be making phone calls
to others about our death.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:51 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Poet has quit puffing

He doesn't eat
the whole bag
of chips
like he used to.
And that is how
he keeps
the twenty pounds
that he lost off.
He quit smoking,
recently,
and that is going well.
At a certain point
in your life,
you either start living,
or you start to die.
Posted by mikel k poet at 5:22 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The conversation was strained.

I couldn't remember her name.
She didn't like standing in front of me.
One of us dismisses ourselves,
saying that we had to go to the bathroom.
The air was, then, easier to breath.
Posted by mikel k poet at 4:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
They said I couldn't be an angel,
so I lead a life of danger,
the drink in my hand lead me the way.
Posted by mikel k poet at 4:31 PM 0 comments Links to this post
There are 24 hours in a day.

How many of them should you
devote to your writing,
when you are a writer.
How much time do you give
to your dogs, when you are
glued to the computer all day?
Posted by mikel k poet at 4:21 PM 0 comments Links to this post
You don't always have to fuck

I was trained somewhere
(probably in the fraternity
that I was in the first time
that I was in college),
that a kiss is not enough.
I was trained that holding hands
is not enough,
and yet here I am holding someone's
hand, and kissing them,
neither one of us, at the age
that we are at virgins,
and I am finding
a great satisfaction in the behaviors.
Posted by mikel k poet at 3:34 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Be what you say you are

I must put insecurity, and petty jealousies aside.
They eat me up inside, stagnate, or stop my progress outside.
I don't know where such traits come from.
Was I born with them? Were they handed to me from ancestors
who didn't come over on The Mayflower.
I preach peace, and love. I should live it.
Posted by mikel k poet at 3:15 PM 0 comments Links to this post
She's got to look great in a mini skirt
but be fun to talk to covered in flour,
or paint.
Posted by mikel k poet at 3:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
A final solution

I don't keep a gun in the house
because I believe that if a gun is around,
eventually, it might get used
when it didn't need to be used.
I might have a moment's fit of depression
reach for the gun
put it to my head
and pull the trigger;
such a final solution
for a temporary dilemma,
one that could have been fixed
with a pill
a half hour on a therapist's couch
or time.
I don't want to kill someone
because they want my wallet
or my t.v.
Posted by mikel k poet at 2:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Opportunity

It would be sad to think
that I have made a difference
in nobody's life but my own.
Posted by mikel k poet at 2:40 PM 0 comments Links to this post
It's not as much fun writing about your ex when you are getting along with her. Who wants to hear that you said to each other, "I love you. Have a nice day?" You want to hear the dirt; feel me spew the venom. I know you do, but it's just not going to happen. We have buried the hatchet, forgotten what used to piss us off. We have moved on with our lives, and can congratulate the other for having done the same. It took almost twenty years to get to this place, but whewwwww, we are here. I'm walking on sunshine, and don't it feel good!
Posted by mikel k poet at 11:48 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Death to the inquisitors

Evil words come to mind
when these flies land
on the desk in front of me.
If they would just stay
out of sight, they would be
out of mind, but they aren't;
they are right here in front of me
tantalizing me taunting me
daring me to pull out a fly swatter
that always proves inadequate.
I have unrolled yet another fly strip.
It will work, slowly,
to eliminate the bastards.
If I could guy a gun
that would kill this menace, I would.
Seeing them land on my dog's poop, outside,
and then wind up on food in my kitchen
makes me distraught.
What was that that I was taught
about turning the other cheek?
Hah, not a chance in this situation.
Posted by mikel k poet at 11:45 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Forgetting to signal

I know what's right,
and what's wrong,
but sometimes I'm not sure
if I've written a poem,
or a song.
This poet friend of mine
says that sometimes
when she gets to
the top of the stairs
she's not sure
whether to turn left
or right
such a fright to think
that the mind is going
that a way.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:51 AM 0 comments Links to this post
No more free lollipops

I draw a blank
when I go to the bank
the teller starts laughing
when I ask what's my balance
it's real juggling act
to pay your bills with zero.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:47 AM 0 comments Links to this post
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2010
It's the beginning of the world as he knows it,
and he feels like shit. Well, too bad, pal,
what have you done to feel good today? Drank
until the wee hours, yesterday; smoke cigarettes
all day long?
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:53 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Fired.

You can't fire me; I quit.
Wait. If I quit, I can't get unemployment.
O.k. I'm fired.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:47 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Reasonable

Put me to the test I whisper best
when I am screaming way beyond reason
you still find me reasonable when
I have lost all track of myself
Put me in the zoo with the monkeys
let me beat my chest it's what
I like to do best when I've lost
control oh no I've got to fit int
Oh no I have fit in and it doesn't seem
so unreasonable as the seasons change
I leave who I used to be behind me
I haven't lost my mind in two decades.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:44 AM 0 comments Links to this post
We were all better looking
when we were younger
thinner
and all those things
that come with being
thin and better looking.
Many of us are lucky
that we lived through
our youth,
that thinness
and those good looks
not being the best things
for us.
Or was it our sense of
invincibility that was
what was dangerous for us,
the feeling that we would
live forever that propelled
us into situations then
that we would never
allow ourselves to be in now?
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
My brain is on fire, this morning; tonight I am going to see poet Billy Collins read, and when I step up to the table that he will be sitting at, after his reading,selling books, and signing autographs, I am going to hand him ten poems of mine, and a letter asking him to write a letter of recommendation for me to the MFA in Poetry Programs that I am interested in attending.

Billy Collins is a great poet. He is intelligent, and accessible, just like I think a poet should be. He is a former Poet Laureate of The United States. He has done things that I so far, have only dreamed of, and a letter of recommendation from him might well be a strong start on those dreams of mine. Wish me luck!
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:51 AM 0 comments Links to this post
He gets paid to teach writing,
his writing doesn't pay him
enough to not teach.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Relative Degrees

I need to take the dogs out.
I am taking them out
into much colder weather
than they have, recently, been used to.
I like the cold.
Let me say that I like it better
than the heat of summer.
I like the cold of winter
better than I like the heat of summer,
much the same as I like coffee better than tea.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:06 AM 0 comments Links to this post
One of the dogs is lapping up water.
I am lapping up coffee.
The filter in the turtles' tank
is making noises to rival Niagara Falls.
The rest of the apartment is silent.
It is a Tuesday, much like any Tuesday,
but still a unique day all to itself.
I have said it before, and I will say it, again,
every day that I am alive:
I thank my Higher Power
for letting me see this new day.
Posted by mikel k poet at 8:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
MONDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2010
stow me
in your heart
it s a start
then
we have
towards something
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Being a memoirist, as well as a poet, I am always looking for things to report to you from my life. As some of you have pointed out, sometimes the pickings are slim. I may repeat myself, or talk about things that you don't much care about. Caring is weird, though, because what matters not to you, makes another laugh. What you find boring, someone else looks forward to reading each day, so I am treading a thin line bringing to you, each day, these bits, and pieces, of my life.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post
If I could save time in a box,
I would
Posted by mikel k poet at 1:41 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I think you are special,
like a cool day
after a sweltering hot summer.
I think you are different,
not like a freak
at the carnival.
I think that you are lovely,
but it doesn't blind your vision.
I'd like to hold your hand,
I'm thinking that would be grand.
Posted by mikel k poet at 1:40 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Who is there to lean on
when they have shot you
in the jaw?
Posted by mikel k poet at 1:19 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Who is there to lean on
when they have shot you
in the jaw?
Posted by mikel k poet at 1:19 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Our only friend in common
has been shot in the jaw
he was working a scene
that was making music
outside the law.
Posted by mikel k poet at 12:53 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I think of you when I need you
Posted by mikel k poet at 5:51 AM 0 comments Links to this post
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2010
"Come down and join everyone else,"
said the man to me with a smile.
I smiled back and said, "I'm not
much of a joiner."
He nodded, as if he understood
and then went off to mingle with
the posse.
It's not that I don't enjoy
the company of people,
it is just that I am more at ease
with my own thoughts.
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
I am the recipient of love

They say that you get what you give.
I spend a lot of time alone,
with animals that is, so what
am I going to get?
Posted by mikel k poet at 10:06 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Blab blah

My ear aches
I don't have a band
I can't sing
I can only smash guitars
but I've given that up
for more than lent
which I don't celebrate
any more
they took my candy away from me
for years.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2010
I have needs that are not being met,
that will never be met,
I can either whine about it,
let some misery occupy my head,
or get on about it.
Sometimes it is hard to get on about it,
but I have to try.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:27 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Adam's not saying hello for the whole week that he was home. I mean what's up with that?
Not discussing when I would be paid, just saying, "You will get it on Monday."
20 bucks being put in the mailbox; what's wrong with handing it to me in person?
No mention of why I was not allowed to use the car for the weekend. Am I using too much gas? You'd rather pay a cab 20 than let me use up that in gas?
The "friendship" has turned into more of a long distance thing, even though we live next door to each other, which is fine, but I now have to treat the dog watching as a business matter.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:24 AM 0 comments Links to this post
It is a beautiful new day, and I am blessed to be here to see it.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:20 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I was slugging a cup of coffee,
as he sipped on an Irish coffee;
PBR back up neatly perched
in a beer glass.
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:18 AM 0 comments Links to this post
I can't always get
what I want
things do not always
go the way that I want them to
oh well
deal with it
Posted by mikel k poet at 9:16 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The Good Neighbors aren't so good anymore.

--------------------------
Secret stop signs I see your earing; it signals keep my distance