OTI:fifteen poems and notes:9/15/16

Open To Interpretation

Will O Wisp

She's a will o wisp.
At this dance,
Her card is always full.
I only rarely see her,
The room so crowded,
So loud,
We talk to one another's ears.
One dance,
I told her she was beautiful.
She wasn't sure,
I said "It's true",
She was so happy!
I was so happy telling her
Made her so happy!
I want to say that,
Over and over again.
It's part of my rehearsal now.
I rehearse everything,
Over and over,
Between each Friday,
Between each too rare dance!
You're beautiful,
And it's true.

Where We're Going

There's a crowd of poets
In my head,
Some living,
Most dead.
There's always a hubbub among them,
Like five pm traffic on the Boulevard.
I'm with them too,
Unnoticed,
That to be expected,
Crowd doesn't watch crowd,
We're watching where we're going.

Attention

I don't want attention
I don't want someone coming
Around
For an autograph
I don't want someone coming
Around
To punch me in the nose.

Blood

Poetry isn't brain surgery.
Poets don't worry about nicking an artery.
They're sloppy,
They get away with a lot of stuff.
But be careful with them,
They're all hemophiliacs.

Déjà Vu

I've been this way before,
I know that,
And it's maddening.
Déjà Vu co-opts my every move!

Wonders

I'm wondering how to support a harem,
And searching in my pocket
For enough change for a hamburger.

I'm wondering if I'll make it.
It's not Friday yet.
If I don't eat on Thursday
I can bring you flowers.

I'm wondering if I can do without it.
I once did.
Then, it didn't even exist!

I come in the door
And they wonder who I am.
I wonder when I'm with you
If you are always with them.
I wonder if I'm no one to you.
I know I'm no one to them,
I wouldn't have it otherwise.
I wonder if I'm no one to you.
They would have it so.
When I'm with you
They wonder who I am.
Me too.

I'm wondering
If I'm a wonder.
I know you are!

Room

There's not enough room
For everything on a tombstone.
In books there's too much!

Rub This Book

Here,
I've put myself safe in a book.
You can kick it all you want.
I'm not like a genie,
I'm not gonna jump out
When you rub the covers.
You're safe too!

Cuts

I can focus.
I can be like a laser.
I smell burnt flesh.
Oh!
I don't know how lasers work!
Sorry.
I just wanted to be impressive.
Here,
I can be your bandage,
I know this,
I patch up myself all the time.

ListList

I
Write
These
Logical
Illogical
Lists
Lists
Illogical
Logical
These
Write
I
Don't
Know
Why
Why
Know
Don't
I

Kitchen

I can jump in your kitchen,
Rearrange your pots and pans,
Show you temperatures to use.
You're in a foreign land
Trying to go native.
We're barbarians,
Be wary of meat dishes.

Camel

Oh,
I thought,
See a camel's head,
You know,
Right here beside my head.
A camels head,
Imagine it
When you give me that
Who are you? long stare.
You've seen camels,
All those long yellow snaggle teeth.
They spit.
They smell.
I can only benefit by compare,
And I need every benefit
When you stare.

Each Friday

Each Friday
Your friend smiles knowingly
So sweetly...
I could change my mind.

Familiars

Somewhere down South,
A car collided with a camel,
The news reports,
The windshield pictured crushed,
The road empty where the camel was.
I'm waiting for the movie coming out,
Colossal,
About a girl who has
A Forbidden Planet manifestation--
A Godzilla in Korea running amok.
I have a camel down South.
That girl in the POM
Pomegranate juice commercial
Has a gorgeous red transparent dragon.
You can even see its guts.
What's going on?
It's like Ghostbusters,
We all have familiars!?
I have a camel down South,
Maybe!

Dragons In Our Caves

Around the fire
In an encampment in the Conifer Forest,
Petra settled in with her
Black Ship Crew.
Pip, with his concertina,
Singing:

There's a dragon in my cave
You make me sing and roar
There's a dragon in my cave
That wants to be with yours
See our dragons wave
Together they'll sing and roar
There's dragons in our caves.

The crew joins in on the chorus:

There's dragons in our caves
Together we'll sing and roar!
There's dragons in our caves
Loud as the ocean waves!

Black Dragon Pet
Sat disconsolate,
Black Dragons can't sing
But Pet was delighted to listen
And add her roar to each roar...
"Sing this please,
Petra,
Again,
At the Midnight Ceremony!"
Pet's request.

DolphinWords

Notes:  Downtown Santa Ana has that old city grittiness...walking the streets...I parked a few blocks away, and when I arrived at the 4th Street Market for the Wednesday night Orange County Poetry Club gathering, nothing was doing...but just there are eateries, and a bar with tvs, the Angels on, so sat, braved one beer...picked up, but checked one more time...their banner is irresistible...a black sheet with a jolly roger...and wanted a closer look...thereabout, an attendant at a table with OCPC books...they're some kind of cross between self publishing and being published by a publisher...I bought one, ten bucks, and in the corner, as with each, the little jolly roger OCPC book's logo...I didn't know which one to buy, the table top covered, but the attendant pointed to one, said, 'She's the author...', the girl standing beside me...so I bought that one, and she offered to sign it, and we sat and talked a bit...she's an adventurer, been all over the world...being in one place all the while like I have a real contrast...we thought on that a bit...next week, I promised, I'll return...learned things don't get going at the event until later...Familiars...reference the POM red dragon commercial...

:)

DavidDavid