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-- word biscuit --
-- dog fart edition --
08-19-97 -- ray heinrich
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it happens,
-ray
< simple gesture >
so the end of day
takes us
some of us
gray
clouds and such
laid out before us
we eat the fingers
of children
too naive to know
and later we exchange
a look
a letter
oh
we know how to make this
into entertainment
as our poor flesh
drops
all our sorrows and questions
we caught the unknown
the unexpected
while we tried to talk
to someone next to us
to find
our answer
in a simple gesture
of flesh
- - -
< life is its own metaphor >
this cow
on the other hand
just shit on my foot
- - -
< a pig in shit >
i was as happy as a pig in shit
when i yelled at you
to get your shit together
when i said
that you had shit for brains
when i could tell you
to eat shit and die
when i
could go
ape shit
over your
holy shit
like a pig in shit
but
as they say
shit happened
shit
hit the fan
and you
got off the pot
and left me
up this creek
without a paddle
- - -
< made in china >
i'm practicing my Chinese
in a K-Mart
i'm translating labels
as i come to them
this shirt says
it was made in China
by people who believed in free speech
and made the mistake of saying so
and this pair of pants was
hand-crafted in China
by a woman who mentioned
Tiananmen square
and these socks
were produced in China
by a man who is gay
or maybe he's Christian
my Chinese
really
isn't that good
and this toy
was assembled in China by someone
it could have been anyone
who lived in Tibet
- - -
< the roach and the tampon >
you don't
EVER
want to hear this story
- - -
< doing my part >
i chainsaw republicans
into thin strips
that when dried
make excellent jerky treats
for my dog
- - -
< the night >
our temple
well
hardly a temple
but it gives us shade
and the desert
and the sun
and the day
are what you'd expect
but the night...
- - -
< interior decorating >
this poem is a lonely room
a bare room
these words
are it's only furniture
this poem is an empty room
i'm trying to fill
with the furniture
of these words
this poem is an empty room
i'm trying to furnish
with these words
well...
no matter how i move them around
it needs you
coming in the door
- - -
< dog farts >
a few years back
we had a little brown poodle
koko
(named after the cartoon clown)
now our black lab
could fart large
it took him thirty seconds
to lay one down
but koko was queen
her tiny ones
had the strength of nerve gas
their smell
made people jump up and run away
it wasn't something they thought about
but a reflex
like jerking your hand off a hot stove
one moment
you'd be sitting and reading
and the next
you'd be across the room
wondering what happened
(until your nose caught up with you)
- - -
< too much about faces >
too much about faces
too much
you keep saying
you never meant
to pour the hot coffee on me
and my skin
is red
like sunburn
in galveston
the gulf coast
and texas in your eyes
and each of us
can touch
the scars we made
or maybe slap
it all depends
on how we feel that day
and why we'd ever
want to do this
well
too much about faces
- - -
< i lied about the frogs >
a frog turns gold
in the sun
in the hot sun
a frog
turns gold
a frog
rubbed gold by the sun
watching the sun
make gold frogs
frogs in the sun
frogs in the pond
unless it moves
a frog
doesn't give a shit
hot gold frogs
shitting in the sun
a gold sun
frogs me in the pond
there are no frogs
no sun
no pond
just words
well...
i lied about the frogs
of course there're frogs
- - -
< writing >
Doing it a lot makes it easier to say what
you're saying but of course you still need
a what and when you begin to get those working
you start feeling you have to say it to someone
and then more than one and if you do all that
you're not happy with it anyway and you end up
dying at about the same time so it's probably
better to go feed the dog and not get bitten
but if you were that sensible you wouldn't have
started in the first place and besides it doesn't
take that much time to feed the dog.
- - -
< in this poem the protagonist shoots himself >
bang
- -
< resolution >
suicide as a diversion
from remembering
to renew your driver's license
we got together
on the anniversary
as he shot from a distance
but still managed
as the head exploded
caught on film
no worries
about suicide here
no dreams of
resolution
like driving over
a laptop computer
while it does
your income tax
- - -
< ashes >
excuse
means some small word
said turning
gone
walking
all these scenes
repeated
ashes
i keep eating them
- - -
< blood >
i'm trying to get beyond
the necessity
of its flow
trying to leave
its constant
run
and linger
on the red
my closed eye
sees
when looking
at the sun
- - -
< sweet passage >
it was waiting
undiscovered
waiting for me to find
a bright door
a sweet passage
to you
- - -
_______________________________________________________________
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all this is copyright 1997 by ray heinrich and the free
state of dogs. comments are VERY welcome, send to:
ray@scribbledyne.com and i'm not wearing any pants.
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