Creativity

I hope
that if I were to place
a firecracker into my brain
with a lit fuse
until my thoughts
splattered through my ears
like a muddy geyser
onto a page
that it would look
just like
this.

Sucks to My As-mar!

You had the worst asthma
(Mom explained)
not Troy
we bought our first breathing machine for you
and drove an hour to Boulder
to visit Dr. Bach
the allergist.

Nice story
She must be mistaken though
because I am strong
and don't need an allergist.

Thermal Time

Winter wheat-
like a molding fuzz
you frost the hills.
A green surprise beneath the thaw,
how do you breath
under choking whiteness
and bitter nights
to meet the reaper
for an early harvest?

Thermal time
you answer.
My days are degrees above
and my nights below
a threshold for growth
I take heat when I can
to make my leaves
and my fruit.

Ah,
thank you for that advice,
because I need to grow too
and only get three vacation days
for each quarter.

Dry Clean Only

Our neighbor-
successful
probably happy
paid for home,
cars
and grandchildren
by selling the fabric
for the labels
found sewn to the collar of your shirts.

Does that mean
that I can find my fortune
in cloud, butte, and Mullen?

Because we need those much more
than we need washing instructions.

Scabby

Restless heart-
you fill me with hope
dreams
and fantasy.

All the while
peeling away contentment
chunk by chunk
like a bleeding scab.

Its worth the trade
if you ask me.

Pretzel

I bid
one-thousand-five-hundred and fifty dollars
on a pretzel reminiscent
of The Virgin Mary.

I was going to make
a shadow-box
to put it in
To show my friends

But five-thousand one-hundred dollars
was way too much.
Don't ask why.

Love?

Take my breath away
like a kick in the stomach
-viscously-
when I'm not expecting it

And when I am on the ground
tell me the things that I long to hear
the promises I can't make
impose on me.

Then drag me by my hair
to a chapel of broken hearts
bend my knee
and take my soul.

Isn't that what love is all about?