June 7, 2011
Beware the Thief Of Moments
for although I am near you
in a casual way
you will not suspect
that I have come to rob you
of your secrets
just to hold a piece of your essence
next to my heart
Shagging what you toss to the wind
as you stroll through the park with your lover
the random bits of conversation
you feed each other
like morsels from a picnic lunch
become my sustenance
tormented by this inexplicable need
I must devour your words
so that I may live
Did you ever hear about
the ice cream wars in Montana?
The guys who ride around in trucks
peddling frozen delights
while the music blares from their speakers
the competition is so fierce
they try to horn in on each other's territory
sometimes one chases the other down the street
trying to shoot his tires out
while the children watch
and the music plays merrily on
I lifted that from a couple guys
at the gas pumps
they were filling their tanks
and unwittingly
filling mine as well
A young blonde
no more than seventeen
beautiful
with that girl-next-door look
sitting with her friends at the mall
I walk by and hear her say
I know it was a hazing
but bamboo shoots up my bum?
That was a tiny lunch
but strangely satisfying
In a department store
a woman clings to her shopping cart
for support
something is wrong with her foot
I can't walk on it honey
she says to her husband
I can't walk on it
There is a silence
Then STAND on it
comes his icy reply
This leaves a bitter taste in my mouth
but it is sustenance just the same
I am the Thief Of Moments
and I must devour your words
so that I may live
A moment
once shared
becomes a conspiracy
the accomplices like revolutionaries
plotting in the torch light
of underground chambers
I am the spy in your midst
You will never know of my betrayal
until it appears in a poem somewhere
A moment is such a long time
when it lives forever
