birds

so i'm sitting in this outdoor coffee shop
partitions and plastic blocking the chill
feet to the flames
coffee cup empty but stomach full
the ambience is lights and fake bushes
and real trees held together with
rubber bands to force a vertical adulthood
some paintings of lesser known artists
and green pillars everywhere.
two birds are here
plump and happy
hopping around bricks hoping to find
some taste of cinnamon roll or bagel
and i'm lucky enough to be in their company until
two women enter with perfume strong enough
to knock down the third little pig's house.
they notice the birds right away and begin
complaining and whining and carrying on
about how they can't enjoy their coffee
with real live animals in their midst
so they jump from their chairs and get
the establishment and now four people
are trying to chase the birds outside the walls
into the open air, for they are wild
and they don't belong in here.
i will not help them
i will sit here and scratch my head instead
at the absurdity of it all.

cockroaches

little seemingly minute things,
that when ignored go away,
but when allowed to be pondered,
begin to pile one atop another.
and they start to crawl over and
under each other like cockroaches
trapped in a jar.
and it's all legs and bodies and
hissing. so you set the jar on a shelf,
and you try to get some sleep,
try to work through the day,
but you can hear them
clicking inside the glass,
banging their little bodies against the jar wall.
and the sound creeps inside your ear,
clicking away, hissing away,
and it's just enough to try and get through the day.
and when they get through the jar
which they most certainly will
just start crushing them below foot
in a state of fury.
you may not win
but you'll feel a whole helluva lot better.

that's exactly what i'm talking about

See, you know the faces,
the smiles, the places
of all the things that make this life
worth every breath that i take.

See, you understand the stories
the choices, the glories of all
things past and present that make
it right and pure for common good's sake.

And when you tell it, i nod
because i understand,
becaues i've been there
because i've seen where
you have stood
and the pain you've
endured to make it all happen
as you planned.

And even if it didn't
you know the path leads
to the end, to the means
to the place where all things
come together.
And for this
I celebrate.

ham and cheese

I'm currently in the middle of a cleanse. Apparently my wife thinks I've been drinking too much coffee and eating too much pork. And those two things combined wreak havoc in my stomach. Create an acidic blend of hostility. So she says. I was doing just fine.

But not now. Now I'm on a strict diet of water with little green floaty things that taste like grass, and a soup concoction of every vegetable known to man crammed into one bowl of delusion.

I haven't craved a ham and cheese sandwhich this bad. Ever. But man, what I wouldn't give for a little slice of pink meat topped with cheese on a good old fashioned slice of goodness. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.