"We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language."

~Joyce Carol Oates

as though a week's vacation
might be longer than
seven days
my son has to sit on
his suitcase to close it

knowing the brutality
of a saint louis summer
the purple coneflower
opens up like
a closed umbrella

endless spam opportunties
I throw away a career
stuffing envelopes
and an offer for valium
without a prescription

not scoring
a single run
the night sky filled
with the all stars
no one voted for

hanging onto the power lines
for six months now
the frail skeleton
of a tree branch
powerless to move on

"A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular." 

~Adlai E. Stevenson

playing a game
of hide-n-seek
whatever the cat had planned
altered by
the squeak of a door

a replica of one
of the world's greatest
curiosities
the leaning tower of pisa
now dispensing parmesan cheese

a letter in reply
to my corexit concerns
arrives with a personal touch
my pal obama
addresses me as "dear friend"