IN THE FLASH OF AN EYE

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads--dVerse Poets Pub

And now I find
that I give less and less
of a damn
about any of it

But it would do my heart good
if I knew that just once you stopped
and questioned your motives
for all of it
cuz if it's just by rote
it plays a sad and sour note
to my ears

And let me draw my own conclusions
as to why she smiled at me
in the supermarket
let me hang onto my illusions
a wee bit longer
cuz in my mind
and in my heart
I'm still back there listenin' to
The Mighty Quinn
(everybody's gonna want a dose)

Don't mean to be morose
but I need a reason
to fall out of that bed

Just don't make me feel that
 your day
and your life
won't be complete
unless you are killing something
that smiles

Decades whiz by
in the flash of an eye
and when I say I took her support stockings off
and wore them over my head
and then went out and robbed da liquor store
I think U know what I mean--
it's the universal language of love
ooby dooby dooby doo
 just me and you

Will apologize to neither god nor man
for what I am
my is-ness
is none of you biz-ness
and yet I'll pray
that you'll be forever freed
from your own private hell...
and thus release me from mine

HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

Some look
really geeky

some look
really dorky

and a few
so arrogantly
self-assured

but I was there
and I know
that was whistling
through the graveyard

MILLICENT BEGINS THE MONUMENTAL TASK OF DICTATING HER MEMOIR

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads--dVerse Poets Pub

(A revised version of one that appeared a few years back. Enjoy!)



OH, BUZZARD SHIT
she said, with a wink
and a drink in her hand.

I knew Marilyn when
she was still a brunette.

I boinked so many famous men
there's no keeping track.

It wasn't notches on your gun
back then...
nothing like that.

They were all indiscretions.
You either gave in...
 or you didn't.

Some guilt?
Sure.
But you did it for love.
Every time.

That's the difference 
between then and now.

BUZZARD SHIT
she said with a start, 
momentarily nodding off--
her gin and tonic slipping
from her fingers
to the floor,
seeping  into the
wine-colored carpet.

It only lasts for as long
as there's a twinkle in his eye...
get that down...
a twinkle...in... his...

And she is out
down for the count
and done for the day.

It's a beginning.

A WOMAN'S SCENT...FADING

Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads--dVerse Poets Pub

A worldly young man, tainted by love,

railing against the ruling classes,

(promising a chicken in every pot

but offering a payday loan joint on every corner)

drives down a lonely road.

The snow beyond the windows impenetrable.

The wind whipping across the park.

In his mind's ear: 
flute music played

by street musicians from Chile--

portable lives in the nomadic sun.

He hears: The war drums of the Sioux.

He hears: The voice of God singing "Hey Jude."

He wonders if he can reconcile

with the Antichrist in the kitchen.

He remembers when she said "Teach me to love."

They devoured each other like

children with melting candy.

(The just washed dankness of her hair.)

He drives past a billboard that says:

WE'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH STRETCH MARKS

In his mind it is all compartmentalized--

there are remnants of old lovers in each of these rooms.

And it's so puzzling to be a person

asking why does anything exist?

Time moves imperceptibly

until the world becomes a city full of strangers.

And he wants to be at a ski lodge

in the Grand Tetons, sitting cozy by the fire.

A young woman moves near.

She is an African girl--so lovely

it makes him sad. It is her love

for her youth, and for his,

that draws them together.

Could a dance like this go on forever?

And he passes a billboard that says:

WE'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH B.O.

And he is back on the island

with Marie--it is where they met.

The alliance of sun and alcohol

so conducive to romance.

His imagination so fertile now,

filled with ghosts and ballerinas.

When he gets home they will talk,

like they never do. He will clear the air.

He will ask if she's having an affair.

And though he knows she is

a sovereign nation unto herself,

they must remain allies to prevent

both their worlds from collapse.

And he knows to some degree that he

will always be searching for the Holy Grail.

He glances at his watch
though he does not want to think about  time--

the only constant in life being the question

of whether love will be there in the morning.

The snow swirls around his car.

On the street a white-haired man

bends haltingly against the wind.

He is almost home.

He passes a billboard that reads:

WE'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ATE THE WHOLE THING

He parks the car, then tramps

the few steps up to the apartment.

He inserts the key. He opens the door...

A woman's scent, fading.

The past...
the present.. 
a blurry haze. 

The world is on fire.

The funniest thing...

And now he remembers.

Marie has been gone for twenty-five years. 

And he is not the young man anymore.

He is the old one.


This is a revised version of a poem that first appeared here four years ago.

ULTIMATELY

Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

When I start to thinking about it
I say to myself what was wrong
With that one?
And what was wrong
With that one?
And so on down the line
Covering all the ones I
Ultimately
Found something wrong with
And then I think about
What was good
And there was always something good
And often there was a lot that was good but
Ultimately
There had to be something
that was bad
That trumped all the good, otherwise
DUH
I'd still be with that one
But often I don't recall just what it was...

And then I start to wonder if any of those who
Ultimately
Found more that was bad about me than good
Ever run through the same checklist
In their heads
Asking what was wrong with him?
Ya know
Cuz there WAS a lot of good
(At least for a while)) but
Ultimately
There had to be
Enough bad to trump all the good

But

Why do I get the feeling that THEY
Sit there shaking their heads saying,
OH SHIT--how could I forget about THAT???

And 

Gee, I wonder whatever happened
to that A-HOLE anyway!