“Bad Doggy in the Dark,” “King Kong,” and “A Dangerous Man”
Bad Doggy in the Dark
This is a game for when the nights are long
and mom needs a break. You turn out the lights
and roll newspaper into baseball bats.
Poetry
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I Pray
like the kid who knows
he’s a year too old
to sit on the mall Santa’s lap,
waiting in line anyway,
hedging his bets
to make certain that new dirt bike
is under the tree.
Which is …
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WANDALUST
After and for Wanda Coleman
i wanna talk about wanda, wanda can i talk about you
wanda can i talk to you, wanda, girl, mam, sistuh, mama
how should i … -
Great White Rocks the F—k out, 1989
Mark Kendall’s fingers slither up the strat’s fretboard
so smooth the sound comes out of a Marshall stack
like butter, and then Audie Desbrow switches
from brush on cymbal to … -
The Gift
Angels do not appear dressed as we imagine. Why
would they? They are naked beneath their poor choices:
unmatched and worn. A hat and no shoes. Shoes
and no shirt. … -
I Am Prone to Growing Old
These lines might declare
that I no longer fear it, but I boast
like one who wieldsnew weapons—
all bravado, flourish, and strut—
while inside I’m grippedwith recoil, knocked back
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Halation
With her, you are more. Morning now. You are
horizontal in the guest bed most of the time. You
are awake and horizontal more than you have ever
been. She … -
New Day
If we perceive barely a sliver of our reality,
the knowable only a small part of what’s out there,that fat bee bumping up against the window,
the faint sound of … -
Unsolved Mystery
It is always some northern state.
Michigan. Minnesota. A road, two lanes,
in a soft twilight. Tame woods
on either side, railroad tracks
that …
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Catalog for a Lover (May 9th)
Woke with your name knocking
the light of my teeth.Our love years distant now,
still there are things
I thought you should see.Mountain laurel giving itself
the kiss of my … -
Glasses Crow on Fiat Money
You’d think there’s more copper in a black man
blood than in a penny—every time they shoot
dollar signs spring from his back don’t matter -
[Reagan died, I was 10. Mom watched the casket 3 days]
Reagan died, I was 10. Mom watched the casket 3 days
and 3 nights on Fox News while I fished 5 dimes
from couch cushions and stole 2 dollars …