Poetry

Isaac Died!

Eyes alive, voice spewing bile,
He thrust his filthy fingers through
The holes in his pockets and screamed,
“Wake up, motherfuckers!
The clouds are gonna be on fire!
Isaac, he ain’t kiddin’ no mo’!”
And flashed his fist at the
Passing yellow taxi,
When the concrete gave way to the
Warm mists of the N train
Where he cried and cried
And damned them all to the third rail;
That’s where Isaac had known the hand of God;
He would tell you.

“Up and grabbed him, it did,
Squeezed that lump right outta his chest;
“Cause, first, me and him,
We shared a bottle of Thunderbird,
Then, a long, happy stream of piss,
And a flash of sparks, by Jesus!
Just like ….zzZZ-ZIP!
Bolt of light right up his purple prick;
Burnt that baby like a biscuit!
And the steam, it rose from his body,
Twitchin’ itself like a go-go girl,
Or was that his soul I felt
Burnin’ the sores on my lips?”

He shivered,
Tears and curses followed
Stumbling into smoldering twilight;
“Dem fools ain’t neva
Gonna understand!”
When some stranger

Tossed a quarter in his blistered hand,
“Why, I ain’t even seen the fella!”
As he wound up to throw it back,
The words came out of nowhere:
“Better to burn mad,
Than to fade like an ember,”
And he up and danced,
Bitterness, pain, and all
As the clouds burst red with fire.

Coca-Cola Man

He stepped on the moment
And spun
Time skipped and picked up speed
Like film in the sprockets
Of a high school projector
He jabbed a finger in the air
“Swish!”
With a Coca-Cola sweater
And cartoon character face
Weaving his own world
On the polished blond floor
While a boy kick-boxed
His demons in the corner
And students circled above like a halo
Each with a different song in their heads
Boys chasing daddys’ dreams
Girls running from the wide shadows of their mothers
Outside the world was ending and beginning
The sky screamed
Rainbow colors spilled on the round heads of babies
Mothers yawned and stirred their cold tea.

Apart from everything
He faked left and turned
Young colts swung wide
Respecting the gravity of his dense heart
With a nod to his imaginary teammates
He faked and shot
“Swish, swish, swish” perfect
Dark sweat poured off his brow
And for a magic second
His devils turned to angels
And hoisted him on their shoulders
As an indifferent world
Cheered “HURRAH!”


Jesus’ Lament

What have I wanted?
Love.
Understanding.
Two big words
That we all carry in our pockets
Behind the armor.

What they mean to me
Do they mean to you?
No. Not likely.

Find you own mountain
And climb.

Once at the top
Ask for him to speak to you
And prepare to shudder
Because the love he embodies
Is too rich for your weak heart.


The Ballboy

After school he chased
Lizards and shadows
On the dirt road
Until he reached the ballfield
Bled of its magic.

He almost cried.

He had come to see the craters
Which echoed screams and ether
Dogs tearing their own flesh.
All was very still
Except for his imagination
Where cracks of glory
Replayed themselves beneath
A halo of summer lights
And nets of mosquitoes
That reminded him how far
He had roamed.

Softball played joyfully
Away from scents of war
By big men — black and white —
With minds of children
Clutching perspiring cans of beer
That gave them the freedom to float
Home to sticky nights and fireflies
And names like Peaches and Leroy
And girlfriends wrapped in tissue paper
“You can do it, Peaches; hit one out!”

The pop of leather
The hiss of the ball
Dust and bats flying
Had been denied them
By mysterious men in black pajamas
Who had visited with hate
And scars.

One at home plate
A long one like a trench at third
Two big ones had crippled the green wood stands
Studding them with shards of metal
That had ripped through flesh
And stopped the cheering.
An ugly one at first
Turned his stomach;
At least one marine
Had lost his head.

His brain felt heavy
As he walked away
With dust in his pockets
And a sharp piece of the story
And so much to learn
Before he could shout
“Come on, Leroy,
Get something started!”
In the summer night
And feel safe.