February 7, 2008
Two true stories
Rising from the mat
I go into the kitchen
to prepare some tea.
The avocado
you left here the other day
is perfectly ripe.
Posted by Professor B at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2008
poetry in the bathroom
taken away from my
customary diet
I become
stopped up.
struggling to squeeze out
two or three small turds
there is more than
time enough
to examine the poetry
books piled high in
Ann's bathroom
Posted by Professor B at 6:16 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2007
Down By the Riverside
I ride the bus from New York to Washington
to protest the Iraq war
At the podium a woman sings a capella
Down By The Riverside
her smooth black voice
full of confidence and determination.
I look at my shoes and realize
these feet once stood
on this same ground
nearly thirty years ago
when I was child
brought here by mother.
The song was the same
but the singer was Pete Seeger
and the war was in Viet Nam.
Posted by Professor B at 5:19 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2007
At the swimming hole
You go off the diving board
and descend
to smash through the surface
of the sudden cold
now you are submerged
in the silent green luminescence
and for one instant
the mind is clear and still
Posted by Professor B at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2007
Rain delay
Tom Glavine throws six shutout innings
Then the rain returns
steady and effortless
falling through the floodlit darkness
onto the abandoned orange seats
pooling on the white tarp over the infield
soaking the flawless outfield grass.
My friend and I sit beneath the overhang
conversing in the way you do
with those you have known at least twenty years
as we watch the security staff
in their yellow raincoats
dutifully guarding the field against nobody
silent and hooded like monks.
Posted by Professor B at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2007
Gabriela's Country
)
Chocolate water land has rainbow
trees
And it's very far away
So nobody can see
It's a long, long country where
my grandma lives
There are flat boats with flat people
-- everything is flat
Their hair is flat and
their crayons are flat
There are special sparkles
from the rainbow trees
-- Gabriela Cloé 17-March-2007
Posted by Professor B at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2007
At the Ale House with Gabriela
When I ask my 3-year-old
to dictate another poem,
she says "Write your own.
That's a good way to do it."
So I grasp a purple crayon
and begin.
Zen teaches us
there is no secret
nothing is hidden
everything is It.
This moment in the neighborhood pub
The butter this child smears on her bread
This table, this paper, this crayon
is It.
-- Professor B. 18-March-2007
Posted by Professor B at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
Another Winter Day
Today it was a winter day
It was a lot of snow outside
And tomorrow
It was another winter day
And then
This is the story
Begin.
And yesterday
It wasn't a winter day
And then Mami
Just picked a flower
Please: it was another day
And tomorrow
It was another morning day
-- Gabriela Cloé, February 19, 2007
Posted by Professor B at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2007
Spring training: a haiku
just after the roar
of the Superbowl is gone:
pitchers and catchers
Posted by Professor B at 2:46 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2007
still more poetry by Gabriela Cloé
If you give me too much love
it could turn pink
and this is part of the poem
I'm going to give you more love
Otherwise
I'm going to give you
nice lollipops for you
If you be good
I'm going to give you
fresh chocolate milk
If you be good
and have fun in your house
I'm going to give you
another special present
I'll give you fresh water
And then
If you be good
I'll give you
a new shirt
I'll give you
more Chapstick
new Chapstick
You know which flavor it's going to be?
Cherry cream
Cherry watermelon
---
Gabriela 21-Jan-2007
Posted by Professor B at 3:09 PM | Comments (0)
January 3, 2007
New poem by my 3.5-year-old daughter
I have kisses all over you
So you can butter them
And turn them to food.
If you want to try them,
Ask your house.
If you change your mind,
You do it tomorrow.
If it's too late,
You do it tomorrow.
Posted by Professor B at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)