Category: Published

  • The New Ralph Macchio

    People have been wondering for some time now who the new Ralph Macchio will be. They say: “Who?”
    Well, I have the answer, and I’m going to share it. But I think it will come as a big surprise, so brace yourself.
    I am the new Ralph Macchio.
    Ralph knows already, and he’s not happy about it. But so what. And maybe you’re not happy either. But I’ll tell you what I told him. I said: “Suck on this, Ralph.”
    He had his chance. It’s my turn now.
    It’s my turn to be Ralph Macchio.

  • Graze

    The horses are grazing over at the World Trade Center.
    Tourists form a wide circle around the field
    translating plaques out loud to each other
    looking down at the grass-covered pit
    before strolling over to the local Fire Department
    where the hay stacks are piled higher than feels safe.
    Squinting through dark glass into the station
    past the truck, past the pole
    they’re looking for a cow they can rope or a lunch bell to ring
    in this unexpected land of big sky.

  • Circus Ghosts

    Most people don’t like ghosts.
    But everybody loves circus ghosts.
    Circus ghosts may not remember
    who they were in the real world or
    what kind of car they drove.
    But they remember their tricks.
    They say: “Watch me juggle. I can eat fire.”
    “oooOOOOOoooo.”
    “I can eat fire.”

  • Welcome

    Welcome
    to the Golden Age
    of me flossing my teeth.
    An upgraded Age of Reason
    and now even the common man understands
    that the pale dots
    on my bathroom mirror
    are just pale dots and not some grim portent.
    At night there is light
    in this magical time.
    I am guided by the soft reflection of
    my polished mouth bone
    and these gums
    have never felt
    so fierce.

  • Hi

    Sometimes
    when people walk by
    I go to say “hi” to them
    but nothing comes out,
    I just open and shut my
    mouth with a
    dry whisper
    and I think:
    I must look like a lizard to them,
    like a big, hairy, rumpled lizard
    with a tiny
    tongue.

  • Making Noise

    You speak
    and it’s a leap
    of faith
    that someone won’t
    pop you.
    In the nose.

  • Shaved My Beard

    I shaved my beard today so, hopefully, we can put our feud aside.
    You thought I was making fun of the ’70s, but I wasn’t. I love the ’70s.
    That’s why I wore the beard in the first place. Can’t you understand?
    It was starting to tear the block apart, our feud.
    People were taking sides. Mostly they were taking your side. And that made me angry.
    So I yelled at your cat. So I took your mailbox.
    So I rubbed my butt on your car. So what, right?
    Really. I mean, we’re grown ups, you and I. Look: I shaved my beard.
    Let’s get on with our lives.

  • It’s OK

    This couple had a fight at the bar tonight
    about 10 feet from my knees.
    At the beginning, he was saying
    he really didn’t do “Graphic User
    Interface design” any more —
    he was doing “Information Architecture.”
    And then they said a lot of things I didn’t hear
    and suddenly, it seemed,
    she was crying
    and he was trying to make it right
    but he couldn’t.
    And I wanted to lean over
    and comfort her and say:
    “Lady, it’s OK.
    Information Architecture
    is a good job
    too.”

  • Righteous, Stressed-Out Daddy-o

    "Hey Potty-Mouth!
    Like,
    stop expanding
    my toddler's
    vocabulary."
    shouts my inner, angry
    uptight beatnik
    to this guy sitting two rows back.
    And I toss an espresso over
    one shoulder into the eyes
    of this small-smiling fuck.
    I maim him with
    my poetry.
    I thunder him
    with cartoon thoughts
    in my inner,
    angry, uptight
    beatnik mind.
  • Office Life

    It’s not natural —
    how still we sit
    hands hooked
    over keys,
    fingers curled in
    arthritic crunch,
    Blinking at
    black and white characters.
    Blink tap.
    Blink tap.
    You take an ape.
    You want it to sit that still, that long.
    You basically have to kill it.