There are a lot of things I want to say. But I can't. I can't say them to people, I can't say them on blogs, I can't say them with green eggs and ham. But I remember this quote in The Brother's Karamazov it went something like, "We're all in paradise, and if we would just realize it, it would be heaven on earth."
I remember watching the movie Green Fried Tomatoes with my cousin. There are a lot of movies like it. At the end of the move it makes me wish that I had friends like that, or love like that, or a life that exciting. The thing is, in all those movies, they have the crappiest life ever. It's always about people who hate each other becoming friends and love that just keeps on failing. But they took what they had, and they made the most out of it, they make so much out of it, we envy them at the end of the movie. I don't think thats how it should be. We have so much more to work with. If only we realized it, we could make our lives so romantic (in both senses) and exciting. I feel like I get little glimpses of it, moments with friends, climbing trains, shopping cart racing, sitting with my housedudes and listening to music, just listening.
I went and sat in a coffeehouse today. An old man with a gray plaid cap played steel slide guitar. There weren't many people there, but we all clapped when he finished a song, and we'd watch the lamp light dance in the city street while he played. Some people in the back played cards and yelled to the barista. He had a mandolin but I didn't see him play it.

Bah-bah-bada-bum-pa.

Toy Cows

I was little when my father
flew me in his helicopter.
We flew over cows and
I thought they were toys.
Then I was older, flying
with strangers in larger
planes and wondering about
turbulence, if we would
crash and die. Even then
I knew death was worse
for the living.
But I didn't want to
fall towards the planet,
watching small cows grow,
hoping they were toys.

Pylon Rams

There are pylons on the wings outside my window.

They are round in the front but come to a point on this side of the wing.

Perhaps if we could turn them around we could be like a great flying Corinthian trireme

Catching the broadside of Persian planes with our pylon rams and hurling them groundward

Because we were nimbler and had caught them in a narrow pass.

Perhaps the Grand Canyon would make a nice spot for historians to return to

And say, "Here who and such sunk five planes and garnered much glory."

It would probably all be written down by a large-named fellow and

Students of history would read it slowly wondering what it was like,

Peering out of the tiny window thinking we were next.

Population: 91

In Tensed, Idaho

the green sign low

to the earthy sod said

Population: 90

And the sinking sun

still struck the quiet town

lighting windows and their only street

at all odd angles

unmasking the empty place

as if everyone was gone

waiting for the seventy-seventh citizen

to give birth to the ninety-first baby

and the penciled pieces of paper

taped to every shop's window

said they were all gone to the waiting room,

waiting.

Cows Without Holes In Their Stomachs

A warm sabbath

Most beautiful day of the year

Moscow got out of their houses

I sat, and ate, with friends, with the zephyr, in the park, with Moscow

An awkward engagement party

On the way to the party we passed a girl standing in the street and crying

When we left, she was still there, but in somebody's arms, he was just standing there, and holding her

Its turning into summer, so you're almost asleep before the beauty is too dark to feel

I tried to catch some frogs in the pond, but my footsteps put an impromptu rest in their orchestra

Frogs aren't beautiful to listen to, but if you imagine you are one, and you can almost feel the crescendo and the sudden silence that follows as I make a particularly crunchy step

Kids selling lemonade

Cows without holes in their stomachs

There are still green hills and fat sheep in Ireland

On a day like this I think that the only difference between heaven and earth will be us.

you will not remember this

Pay attention to the candles,

the way they are arranged.

In a week, a day, or an hour

You will not be able to recall.

We forget so easily,

Our memories are so short.

That is why we take pictures,

to help us recall the moment;

But even pictures will not tell you

how you felt, or what you were thinking

About her.

As the conversation in the background

droned on about the war

Despite you.



Our memories are so short.