Friday, September 6, 2013

You're in Georgia


WHEN EVERYTHING YOU DO COULD END AT THE HOSPITAL
WHEN GUMMY WORMS ARE PAIRED WITH WINE
WHEN YOU’RE SLIGHTLY AFRAID TO EAT YOUR FOOD
IN FEAR OF BEING BLOWN UP
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA

WHEN NO ONE’S AFRAID AT THE SOUND OF GUNSHOTS
WHEN THE GRITS DON’T EASILY COME OUT OF THEIR CUPS
WHEN THE MOST COMMON QUESTION IS
“CAN WE BLOW IT UP”
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA

WHEN YOU CONSTANTLY HAVE POCKETS FULL OF AMMO
WHEN YOU SET KIDS TO WORK ON EXPLOSIVE MIXING
WHEN THE ALARM CLOCK IN THE MORNING
IS THE HOWLING OF DOGS HOPING TO BE CHOSEN FOR THE JEEP
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA

WHEN YOU EAT ALLIGATOR FOLLOWED BY CATFISH (BOTH FRIED)
WHEN THE RINGING IN YOUR EARS NEVER STOPS
WHEN YOU PUSH YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE CROWD
TO GET YOUR FAVORITE GUIDE AT THE JEEPS
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA

WHEN YOUR VIEW OUT THE WINDOW IS SCATTERING GOATS
WHEN COOKIES ARE CONSIDERED “HEALTHY”
WHEN YOU END THE DAY WITH A BRUISE THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL
THAT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU GOT IN A FIST FIGHT
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA

WHEN NO ONE EVER HAS TROUBLE SLEEPING
WHEN YOU GO TO BED WITH EXPLOSIVE DUST ON YOUR FINGERS
WHEN YOUR ONLY DRINK OPTION
IS SWEET TEA OR ICED TEA
YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN GEORGIA





My Crooked Mind




A labyrinth lives
In my brain
Constructed of mushy, beautiful
Cogs and wheels 
That sing when they spin
That muddles sounds and light
Into wonderful fuzzy aromas
It bends space and time
To allow me to take
As long as I need
It hooks and latches
Onto the oddest ideas
And lets structural dull ones
Slide
My mind is not structurally sound
It is constantly whirring
At speeds unimaginably diverse
Mostly quick and witty
But it occasionally chugs and puffs
Until it threatens to crash altogether
My mind confuses my mind
Which upsets my thinking
And then I end up thinking
Something
Entirely
Different
Then it snaps back like a rubber band
And I get back to business
Sort of
It will then decide to paint a picture
Of an operatic number
Which I can’t figure out
It thinks by itself
Mostly remarkably accurate
But sometimes it blips
And makes me wonder if I really
Just thought of such a thing
Finally I figure out
That I have work to do
And it goes back to
Whirring and chugging
And puffing and bending
Until it finds something else to cling to

Friday, June 21, 2013

Summer


What’s that word for
When time
Is unkept
Tangled and wily
When I never fail
To have a cold drink
In my hand
Or when sand
Becomes a sticky hitchhiker
That I learn to love
When my hair
Turns from a muddy blond
To silky gold
What’s the word for
Warm ice cream
And cold pizza
When my nails
Are forever
Changing colors
Along with my skin
From pale to dark to red
When the sun
Sticks around
For a few more hours
When home theaters
Are more populated
Than cinemas
When friends turn to BFFLADs
And life is taken seriously
What’s the word…
Summer 
2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Not By Any Other Name

My name is strong
Solid

A blockade protecting me
Expressing me
It is harsh when it needs to be

But soft and comforting

In times of sorrow
A head-banging, loud, confident name
An easily whispered one

It flows and ripples until the end
and sizzles to a finish

It will jolt you like a knife in the back

When you know there's something wrong
Or brings tears to your eyes
If spoken like the name of a winner
It bites
It heals
It stands alone
My name is Alex

2013

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Driving the Boat



The tranquil waters breathe
In and out
Ever so slightly rocking me
My mom and brother have surrendered
To the waves
They shared a love of land
While I had a constant need of movement
Waves
Movement
The sunset approached
with colorful fingers
Now my dad and I head back
The sky a cascading rainbow
Dipping its end into the water
Rippling as we glide
The engine is hardly necessary in these conditions
As calm as a puddle
We share the sea with no one
We soon reached the harbor
An even more silent body
In one moment
A moment no longer than a few seconds
My dad looked down and met my eyes
My young adventurous eyes
Pleading to be more than just a passenger
Without any further communication
He handed
Me
The wheel
I took a sudden breath in surprise
But it was drowned out
By the steady puffing of the seals.
The canines of the sea
Come up for air very rarely
Swirling the water with heavy breaths
But now
They surrounded the boat
As if to encourage me
As if to tell me that I could do it
I relaxed
Drummed my fingers on the wheel
And drove
 2013