Caleb Coy
Birds and BeesHearing of birds and bees
I stood at the threshold of life: It wasn’t dad’s idea, Nor was it mom’s, That when two parts joined I would have dad’s brown hair, Mom’s effortless smile, Grandpa’s distinctive laugh, Grandma’s needful vision, To be sewn together intricately With the entire history Of mankind—hearts and Vessels, nerves and Brains, bones and Sinews, livers and Nodes, all trailing behind A single spermatozoa, A bright future ahead of him, Driven by divine laws of nature A single agent of fertility. Genius and Venus Could never conceive of such a “thing” Not even with twinkles in their eyes. Middle GroundI take steps back
You circle round Neither one gives Neither one wins Avoiding the cooties Our genders at play I try to speak up You talk out loud Each of us willful Each of us waiting Believing and knowing A shame we don’t see I take more steps You try to follow Both of us talking Both of us nervous Back and forth, one step, two, three A whirlwind of words collision-bound. I waste my time You shake about Neither can see Both blind again Waiting for wind To blow us along And now I have faced you in the light Now please turn and face me back Let us find the middle ground How peculiar is loneliness Just take one more step And I will take mine. Week PeopleMonday morning is Bob
and Bob hates his job Bob says hey to Fred in the hall who says hey back to Bob in the hall the coffee percolates, drips a long day, a long week and it all goes downhill from there. Meet the sisters: Fat Tuesday, Hump Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday drinking martinis round a table every afternoon and sleep heavy that evening after they hang up the phone full of the day’s gossip. Friday announces herself steals the show is twenty-three years old and addicted to coke. Saturday morning wakes up late does not remember Friday or what he did to her. He sits in the house all day in his socks when she’s not running marathons or out of town Sunday afternoon is an old Brit sleeping in a musty armchair a wooden cross hung limply on the wall behind him a glass of brandy forming condensation by his side and as he snores the game blaring on the telly |
Birmingham Pigeons
Was once a little boy
A boy who never laughed Never did escape no single smirk from him No waggy-tail puppies No Sunday paper funnies No, never did he draw a smile or a sigh for them When a baby he laughed once A little reflex, they say But that was just once and no more did he have Then he learned to talk And even learned to walk And before too long they found he couldn’t laugh His momma tickled him all over And she took him to the toy store Then off to the zoo to see the animals therein He kissed a girl and she kissed him back His daddy came home from Iraq And still they never saw a giggle or a grin The pictures he drew were all funny At school he was the laughing stock And when he told a joke there was laughter in his ears They took him to a shrink To see what they would think They didn’t know why he didn’t ever snicker or sneer He was made to look at ink blots He was poked and prodded He had to answer riddles with a helmet on his head They brought him in some clowns From the whole world round Not a laugh in the morning, not a laugh when off to bed Scientists came by And even artists too And the preacher came by just to play his little role His words were well rehearsed He said the boy was cursed Oh, this here boy was born without a soul They sold him to the fair Where he was given a tent For a nickel the boy with no soul was there to see He saw a lot of freaks He met a lot of geeks And he laughed at those who came to pay the fee He travelled out West He travelled to the East And he laughed and laughed and laughed at all he saw After time elapsed He finally collapsed He laughed so long he up and died from his last guffaw In Hell he was poked and prodded They tickled him all over He met the very men who sent his daddy off to war The jokes he once told To the devil were sold The girl he once kissed married her a total bore His momma had a daughter She took her to the zoo And the flock never again drank from the preacher’s cup The fair came back to town Folks gathered all around And the boy laughed so hard the whole earth swallowed them up ♢ |
My Comfort Zone
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You sit so still, with your heartbeat snoring
Go ahead and say that you have seen it all, typical guru of stagnant safety Avoiding the possibility of drowning. Here and there with blocks we are building Only to draw up the lines of play This is where I say I think it’s worth the effort And on this trail we’ve reached an understanding. I’ll tell secrets to imaginary friends Only to hope that you are listening in the next room or down the hall I’m glad to see you from where I’m standing. It’s good to have you around if I didn’t mention before Feel free to stick around if it’s not much I ask for I’d like a stronger arm to pull me up When I go out, they won’t beat me down. See, these first steps aren’t so easy taking Tumbling down, I crawl before I walk again I’ll cross the street with my imaginary friend Only to find my hand you’re still holding. You’ve crossed into my comfort zone. |