Category Archives: poem

when he played "The Pretender"

blue crabs stroll
along the night surface
of water that before
looked just like
chocolate silk and
there is this girl,
she sits alone hood
to block the wind and
behind her two women
call woooo wooos
to Jackson Browne while
a man smokes solo
next to a prudish streetlight
the yellow beer guys
carry their loads and
there is this man
he mumbles as he walks
to work his second shift
and the boaters honk
horns in approval
holding hands and rocking
while a vast sea
sings along decades past.

[jackson browne played pier 6 in baltimore tonight.
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Jackson+Browne/track/The+Pretender ]

riding my bike at night (and Russian classical music)

riding fast
down the center yellow lane
no cars
no stops at the signs
(quick turn)
down back alleys
thinking,
i’ve spent my whole entire life
rejecting
everyone
(swerve to avoid a
winter
pothole)
i’ve never felt so ____
as riding this bike
now, darkened city sleeping,
(hop the curb)
and at home,
when i arrive
the Russian classical
echoes alone in
the apartment,
furtive
(minor) steps along-
side my own.