1.
nothing
but experts here
so I shut up
and smile
a lot
2.
I like to
rub
my cat's whiskers
kiss
his nose
he tolerates it
3.
phone starts
ringing
in the morning dark
I get out of bed
trembling
4.
went to see
her
with high talk
and thoughts of love
but only got
annoyed
5.
man passes
me
as I avert my eyes
turn around
catch him doing
the same
6.
three-year-old
walks up to a tree
says he'll climb it
to the clouds
tells me bye-bye
7.
maddening
old woman
but just what kind
of people
did I think
needed help
8.
kid in a
cemetery
skulking about
with a rifle
peering behind
gravestones
9.
what music
close
my eyes
to hear it
better
10.
I see it now
big mistake
all my life afraid
of the wrong
things
11.
man with a
bumper sticker
about god
nearly runs me off
the road
12.
have lived
long enough
to know the future
won't be much different
from the past
keep hoping anyway
13.
distracted
by a thousand things
the secret
of their long
marriage
14.
disgusting
on the parking lot
a torn bag
full of
dead squirrels
15.
the couple
who argue
every day
have just decorated
their mailbox with
little hearts
16.
had a very
busy year
substituting
one obsession
for another
17.
mouse hiding
behind the bookshelf
for two days now
I walk around
uneasy
18.
this must be
the onset
of old age
can't even remember
my wet dream
19.
just got
back
from another
vacation
fun
without happiness
20.
thank god
for the taste
of peaches he says
I'm thankful too
but think of the camps
at Magadan
21.
passes me in
the hall
with barely a nod
if she only knew
what we did last night
in my dream
22.
walk around
thinking about my life
see a crack in the pavement
through which some grass
is growing
23.
the swami
says
that meeting people
is meeting god
really had my fill
today
24.
we sit in
the kitchen
with our drinks and talk
about the decrepitude of the old
feel pretty sure
it won't happen to us
25.
nearly got
killed
driving home
on the interstate
now stand here
frying some eggs
26.
mother's
worse
sent me
a birthday card
signed
her full name
27.
if only I
could
open up
in love
what a man
I'd be
