Saturday, June 28, 2008

Wildflower











Wildflower


Nowadays, no walking is needed.

Plastic numbers will send tame ones

Around the globe at a click. Try it.

Think of someone in need, first.


Potted, wrapped, still dripping of dew.

Carded and be-ribboned, only idiots

And madmen sidestep such efficiency

Or walk somewhere.


I thought all of this before yesterday,

When… on a hillside I knelt as though

The world were a cathedral. And knew

That I can only enjoy this, by staying.


© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008

Sunday, June 22, 2008

We Didn't Start The Fire













We Didn’t Start The Fire

We would all meet at Tony Jaro’s and someone would start it.
The talking, the topic, the joke, and never a dull moment,
Elapsed. The time I most remember is one I cannot forget.

We were sitting there and as I reached across three shoulders
To grab a fresh Samuel Adams from Gordie it seemed as though
Even that wretched Billy Joel song clamped itself shut and...

It was always burning since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire
No
We didn't light it but we tried to fight it.

And David said, “You know, nothing has been the same since
We learned to talk,” and instantly I was dizzy with a feeling
Neanderthal and prophetic. And I recalled how goddamn...

1953 Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc. 1954 Roy Cohn
Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron…

How goddamn difficult, how difficult it was to tie this tie
Around my neck tonight, before I came here. Before. Long
Before I met with my friends.

© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008

Sunday, June 15, 2008

we grow up


we grow up


when I was a kid it would rain and earthworms
would come from somewhere and be everywhere.
by the thousands at the drains, my sister and I
would run as the rainbow came out to the curbs
and gather them, worms for the helpless taking.

in our hands, a living spaghetti of fun would coil
and fret, as we laughed, kneeling. no conquering
knight proud of plunder ever rejoiced as we did
after a thunder. and I wonder, I will tell you what
it is I wonder. I ask where have the worms gone.

tonight I walked home in a downpour and I felt
my entire childhood a farce, a false history. there
are no worms in the curbs, drifting anywhere and
no one running. sadder still, if worms in squiggly
mountains squirmed, even I would keep walking.

© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008

Aging


Aging


White at the sides, above the ears
I noticed them today. Whispy hair
Like snow fresh fallen appears
To have rested, unmelting there.

Should I fight it or become forlorn
Will neither matter, bye and bye.
I shall not fret nor have it shorn;
Shall calmly age, and never dye.

© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Lanolin


Lanolin


For eighty feet or so we are together, mere seconds.
She hobbles in, cute as a sheep, and I smile.
Her gnarled finger illuminates the “L” on the panel.
Our eyes meet, and “venerable” unbidden springs.
I sip at my coffee, glancing at her silver slippers.
…From here to the moon those feet have walked.

The door opens and a clink of keys breaks my reverie.
Ahh! She is going to check her mail, a wink as we part.
In that final descent to the parking garage, I move to
Where she stood, and breathe in six distinct thoughts
Of my own grandmother. Scenes, words, stories.
As I walk to my car, several more arrive… memories.

And three questions, as I drive to work bug me.
What is that smell?
What is that the smell of?
What is that smell called?

© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008

Sunday, June 01, 2008

The Shape I Gave You


The Shape I Gave You


Water looks like what it’s in.
Else it’s flat, and spread too thin.
The shape of you is much the same.
It needs a cup, a house, a frame.

It wasn’t long before I knew
The very curve and slope of you
Belonged in me, to never part
My ever loving, beating heart.

© Ciprianowords Inc. 2008