Thursday, February 28, 2008

LOVE, LOVE, RUN! by Jakob Chapman

Sink down to the dusty cigarette!
Sink down to the cold skyscraper!
Sink down to the misty door!
Sink down to the frail concrete!

Hate faceless faith!
Hate small life!
Hate roasted exhaustion!
Hate rainy anger!

Roughly heal your deadline!
Quietly buy your flower!
Openly disarm your girl!
Quickly fight your cigarette!
Loudly desire your job!

Calmly sell your rain!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Oblivious by Jakob Chapman

I could not live
with that
platinum
blond
bouncing
and typing
snapping her
slender fingers
to her hip-hop
music
stroking
her own hair
flipping it out
and waving
her hand
in self-conscious
oblivion

Friday, February 22, 2008

This Is The Place by Jakob Chapman

this is the place where I sit on a bench
and wait for a golf-cart

this is the place where the sun shines
and warms the january air

this is the place where a new year
of poetry
begins reluctantly
in public

this is the place where people know my name
because it is printed on my shirt
in sharpie
in my own handwriting
and I smile at small girls
who wander from their young mothers
and I wonder if it was really worth
the effort to come
and meet people I already casually knew
back home
who left
and someone I knew years ago
his name escapes me
but I know it must be Loyd
because it is printed on his shirt
in his own handwriting
with sharpie

this is the place where I am
I could go back
no questions asked
several answers silently given
but for now this is the place
where I sit
benchside
and wait
and wait alone

Friday, February 15, 2008

Temperary Changes Due to Contests

The following poems are currently entered in poetry contests and some have been pulled from my blog depending on contest rules:

Cheetos
Greener Pastures
Loose Change
Malzbier
Paint by Numbers

Poems will be reposted after contest consideration and other submitted nonposted poems will be added. Sorry for this inconvience, but a writer has to make a living.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

A Listmaker's Life by Jakob Chapman

making a list
of do's and don'ts
will's and won'ts
checking them off
one by one
cross them off
once they're done
prioritize from one to five
do the fours before the ones
they are always more fun
and sit up
late at night
wondering why
fours are not ones
and ones are not fours
or fives
if that where the case
everything important
would always get done
and life would be fun
again

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Greener Pastures by Jakob Chapman

sleep with the fold
curly haired ewe
blades crisp
for a pillow
jade carpet
jewels for food
breathe in shade

easter dress
dandelion croquette
without shoes
blue-sky
eyes
hold the locks
Holland in hand
bring her nearer
feed the hunger
before the sun goes down

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Leave the Foil on the Floor by Jakob Chapman

by the time
she came around
the foil was already
on the floor

the apartment
I cleaned
I scrubbed
the sinks
and tub
dishes I spooled
fell away
into evening chaos:
corndogs
and sloppy joes

earlier
I would have offered
lunch
apple beer
and together
we could dirty
a kitchen
mealtime coquette
warm hands
held over the stove
wait for the baguette
don’t bother
the dishes
in the sink
share an omelet
one plate
one utensil
if she doesn’t mind

but she did
show up
hours later
hours too late
and I started
to worry
dropped the foil
getting hungry

Monday, February 4, 2008

Patriotic by Jakob Chapman

there is reason
for upset
Tom Petty
can't make it better

flawless finishes
fouled up
against giants

false securities
touch down
predictions awry

why
ruin perfection
for nine billion

old England
might take them back
after 42

wars shouldn't be fought
on Sunday
anyway

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Cheetos by Jakob Chapman

orange fingers
only the first three
tips soft
almost sticky
bag in left hand
fingers on the right

can't say
I'm sorry
while eating
more than 21

tonight indulge
a little fun:
lick fingers clean
tomorrow

Friday, February 1, 2008

Death Sentence by Jakob Chapman

when it is my time
to go the way of the Zelazny
I want a pencil
and ream of paper
to prove
that I really can’t
do any better