Category Archives: Places

Where I’ve been and where I’m going.

The Stare, Starring Stove

I published a poem in the school literature book in 3rd grade.

I jotted it on a piece of paper during lunch hour. It describes the way someone feels when they are getting stared at. I used the same free form bullshit I’m spewing now but I’m pretty sure it rhymed. As with all my work, the title introduces the piece so we don’t have to waste time with context.

In the final printing of the book my poem The Stare is titled The Stove. It still kinda worked. At least, everyone said they got it. Whatever.  I wish that boy would just talk to me.

I’m at the P&H enjoying the unwitting company of strangers. Mosquitoes finding me inside the bar. Shadows walking up on my left. Passing me by, most every time. Nothing can really phase me once I’m sliced open. The shock alone grants me an amiable demeanor.

Music has a way of smoothing over every situation.  Next stop, Dave Cousar at the Buccaneer.

5-dolla Lifestyle

I know a wise Canadian name Gwarsbane that lives by a simple rule. If a game isn’t 5$ or under, he probably won’t buy it. Nothing personal against all the people that want to pay more. He finds that it’s more fun to play many cheap games where he periodically finds gold nuggets instead of investing in the one polished gem. At least, that’s how I see it.

I feel the same way about entertainment. Not sure if I mentioned a 5$ lifestyle last summer, but it was definitely on my mind. I look at the options before me and think about what I’d get for a Lincoln. Not a lot in most parts of the city. However, if you just want to buy a coke, roughly 2$, you can be the bartender’s best friend with that $5. Or barista, ahem, for that matter.

Then it comes down to the ambiance. Always with the ambiance! Why do people want to be there. Me? I look for spots you’d find in postapocalyptic Frost poetry.

June 25

I did many things today.

Continue reading June 25

June 24

Watching Seinfeld. Pretty much for the first time. I know I was tuned in to the program during a formative part of my youth.  That was at least 3 lifetimes ago though.  Continue reading June 24

June 22

I am a singular person and a walking cliche.

I move through the line
Aware of the appearance
Still wondering
How far I can go.

Self awareness is not comfortable
It averages out well if you
stay true and humble
What I think of me matters

In search of healthy conflict
I know the key to surviving
is wrapped in acceptance
Loving east as I move west.

It warms my heart
Enveloped in the bestDaily life I’ve ever known
Alone for the first time.

June 21st

Today I was the eye of the storm. I that means I only stopped to think twice. I feel bad for anyone caught up in the shit storm surrounding me.

My dad came out mostly unscathed. For Father’s Day, I helped him move furniture. If it were up to me, said furniture would probably have been sold in the great purge of 2015. It will be meted out to my two sisters and favorite relatives eventually, unless I score a moving truck when I head west. But that’s something for future me to worry about. Right now, I’m stoked

Now I’m at the Lamp to catch a punk show. It’s just me and another girl who knows the band and the band. Still the eye of the storm, I drew innocent souls into battle without warning. I understand people are real but that doesn’t stop me from being me.

Good band. I miss Shirley burgers.

Symptomsjune2015

June 18

I’m considering open mic tonight.  The poetry kind.  I scribble notes that look like poems but they don’t have life until spoken.  Words on the page are limp and cold.  Coming from my mouth they take form, develop spirit, breathe with life.  No performance is the same as my mood tints the tone and time captures the meaning in that single moment.  Other words are carved in stone and can only be repeated.

Continue reading June 18

Zeke Johnson

I’m at the P&H Cafe in Memphis listening to Zeke Johnson play the blues. He writes songs and tells stories. Plays guitar like a teenager sends a text – casually accurate.

Following him is Rum Rebellion. I’m a fan.

These two artists may never appear on the same stage again.  You’re missing a great time.PnHjune17

Asshole

The best thing about me is honesty. It makes me a polarizing presence; basically a snake. I pretty, slow-moving and prone to attack when startled. Snakes are primal. When they look at your, they see nothing. You have to either interact or look like food to get my attention. But really my attention is of dubious value.

I’m that asshole you want to fuck.