I’m not sure why
So much is expected from me
Be here
do this
don’t you dare miss this
so many obligations
that I didn’t make
or want
or refuse
i run ragged to make others
as happy as I can
it’s never enough
Like a greedy child
they want more
stained hands
they grab
And grab
and demand
I wonder if they know
the weight of the plate I already carry
or do they enjoy
throwing more upon me
Two and a half hours overtime
that gets counted up in six minute
increments. Night shift
begrudgingly lined up, waiting
their turn. Stop the line
and out, the half-hearted rush
to the lockers because we’re so tired.
Change out of the scrape and
sand jeans, my work goggles,
my bump cap, everything has
a place, and hit the door.
The outside heat smacking me
in the face, reminding
that it could be worse as
I head out into a day
already in progress.
Reality robs your soul of purity
my cat knows i wouldn’t pick her up unless i had to
at least one living thing loves me no matter what i do
it wasn’t meant to be
i tried as hard as i could try
eclipse season tried to tell me
the moon and stars never lie
i’ve got a big big shirt to wear so i can feel like i did
when i wore my dad’s clothes as a little kid
nobody cares what i have to say
still i’m waxing poetic all night and all day
i’m a big girl now
i eat tomatoes and onions
but i’m worse at relationships somehow
i trained myself to like the wine
with an ABV of 12.9
i’ve got scabs that
form points on a map
i’ve got a double crown
so my hair grows down
until it meets the cowlick in the front
i always wanted blue eyes but i like them brown
my best friend knows my debit card pin
and she knows my favorite scent
of my favorite brand of incense
i started taking my vitamins
might as well get better waiting for life to end
maybe i am a gatherer
maybe i don’t know what i’m even after
it was only a
question of when and not if
someone flashed new york
*In reference to the portal video link between Dublin and New York having to go offline briefly due to inappropriate actions on the Irish end. Never change Dublin, never change.*
Let’s
The ugliest green I have
Ever seen,
Slopped onto this picnic table,
Covering HM + MA but not erasing
Their star crossed artifact of
LOVE —-
Age unknown—-picnic table
And HM + MA.
Hot-diggity-damn!
The BMOC of Central Park rambles
Across the green space on his
School bus yellow front loader,
Lifting puke green, faded red
And Go Cats! blue tables
Moving them further from
My observation perch.
He’s a
Hopped-Up-On-Life Cowboy
Sporting Coke-Bottle-Lens glasses,
Kicking up dust as he rambles
Assuredly over on his yellow steed
Relocating another table to the
Herd’s new pasture.
But, WHY?
Adoring throngs of admirers
Freeze in place leaving the playground
At a standstill as if they are frozen in time,
By a Mystic Power chanting their names.
With mouthes agape,
They watch and wait as he
Strides by subduing the yellow beast
As If It Weren’t Anything Whatsoever,
Not even a quiver of muscles is detectable
From the stoic cowboy.
And on their faces, without saying a word,
Each little boy and little girl
Wistfully share their dreams
Of becoming the next generation
Cowboys of Central Park
With their very own big rigs.
the earth is naked here
200 million years
revealing themselves
monolithic Navajo red cliffs
grey ash white sandstone
volcanoes floods
torrents carving and cracking
and smoothing their way
ripples pocket marks
of water and wind
the towering rock
folds crevices canyons
settled for the moment
miracle of juniper and pinion pine
cactus wildflowers
winding roots
through blazing rock
and somehow, for now
we slight creatures
get to walk the ancient trails
rivers and time have wrought
I know it’s cheesy or cliche to say
but you were
a special part of my childhood
and my teenage years,
someone whose movies
I enjoyed and sought out.
As a sensitive, intelligent child
it was probably easy for me
to identify with the characters you played,
gentle, nerdy men
who were often underdogs.
Little Shop Of Horrors
was probably
the first scary
(for me)
movie
that I fell in love with,
paving the way
for my later enjoyment
of horror comedies like Scream.
I wore that soundtrack out.
It’s still a favorite.
You serenading your wife
with the song “Close To You”
in Parenthood
was vulnerable and romantic.
When I discovered SCTV,
I fell in love with Bob and Doug McKenzie.
It’s funny how
the actors we watch as children
feel like friends.
And though I don’t know you,
that is what you were to me.
Someone who could make me smile and laugh.
Someone I felt safe with.
I understand why you stopped making movies.
I think it’s beautiful you chose
to prioritize your loved ones.
I know you’ve been having fun making music.
I know you may never return to acting.
And I understand that too.
I’ve just been thinking about you lately.
Like great actors we have lost to death
or old age,
you’re someone I miss seeing on the screen.
I just wanted to say thank you for all the laughter
and to let you know
you are still beloved.
If you ever decide to return to acting,
there are many of us
waiting to embrace you.
Either way,
I hope you are happy
and I wish you the best.
