To the Left

All of your stuff is in the front hall I think

There are beers in the fridge

Love you

Kate

Urban Disasters

There has been an explosion of yellow umbrellas in the city.

No, seriously.

The police had to set up a blockade for four square blocks and the busses were rerouted.

Cat-Eye Glasses and Nonchalance

I’d like to take a vacation
To London, to Lucca, or Paris
Sitting in a cafe all day
Smoking cigarettes ’cause nobody cares, in Europe
I’ll write my memoirs at twenty-five, got to keep it alive
Notes in a private journal, with the intention that every one will read it
I’ve got my beret, my artist’s black bonnet
A lack of emotion is the proper response, in Paris
My pencil slowly scratches
Daydreams and romances
Take me away
To patron saints at roadside shrines I’ll pray
Take me away

A Modicum

“Is less more?”

“Yeah.”

She was three. I thought it was a reasonable reply.

But, really?

More is more.

Midnight at the Train Station

It is not that she is gorgeous, cause she is not. It is not that she is brilliant. I mean, she is smart, not more than most white kids with higher education. I do not know. But she is entirely compelling in person. She likes to say yes. So when I said we should get out of town of course she agreed. I get the feeling she just wants to see what is gonna happen in a back seat kind of way.

The bus driver pulled up to the curb. “Last stop.” We disembarked. She had her bag and I had mine. When you leave on a whim, you can not bring more than one plastic bag. That is just asking for it.

The Picture of Dorian Grey

Let me paint your picture

Please stand just so in the light

I’ve got my oils and my canvas

And you for the night

Hardly Necessary

Where will you bury my bones when I’m gone? Put them in a box or bleach them in the sun. Leave them for the wild dogs leave them for the tides. Leave them in a dusty mausoleum find some place soft for them to hide.

A Hard Book to Read

Ghost lines dogged his face. They moved, quietly, when he was worried or frightened. They had hidden written meanings and sometimes they read different things. One day it was, “I hate this,” and the next day, “I’m leaving,” and later that night, “But where would I go?”

What They Told Me

The Tribunal met today:
We find you guilty on all thirty-three-and-a-half counts of scholastic misconduct. We hear by sentence you to two terms of small talk with classroom acquaintances and three months of reggae, re-mixed. If upon review, you qualify for parole, you will be restricted to Kitsilano Beach. Also, you will be required to complete Rocket Fuel Rehab. We feel this detrimental addiction was the main contributor to your so-called “artistic” backslide.

I cried as they escorted me from the courthouse, chained to a hard-cover copy of N is for Noose.

Rules of Engagement

Try to be personable. Try to be nice. Try to have fun. Try hard not to fight. These are the rules on vacation. Certainly not in real life.