Poems

in that instant

after you
roared at me
and I forgot that I
was the adult
and roared
right back

after you
went away
to sulk while I
sat fuming

after all that

when you
came back to me,
eyes downcast,
and told
me in a voice
soft as
mouse fur
that I
had hurt your
feelings,
and
you missed the
way we
all used to
spend time
together

in
that
instant

my anger
washed away
in a great
sad flood

and a
torrent
of pride
that
you had such
bravery
to trust me
with your
hurt

darling, there are
met at arms
who will race
into a firestorm
before they
admit
such things

men who will
detonate
their own bodies
before such
words can issue
from their throats

if I believed in
Christmas Wishes,
I would grant
everyone
on Earth
the power to
speak
as you spoke,
to
hear
as I heard

and for
one instant
have the courage
of a ten year
old girl

I cannot remember why I left
I know that there was bad blood
And accusations
And betrayals
And a fear of deep water
And a cruel denial of
Any future between us
And I left
Furious with myself and her
But I cannot remember
Exactly why

I did not kill her
I was petty and small
And angry that I ran away
Instead of working it out
And yes, I troubled her
And her new man
I poured anger on them both
When I should have bathed in it
Anointed myself with that
Unholy anger
Pointless and shallow
I wished them ill
I wished them dead
But I did not kill her

It was the tree
And the cow crossing the road
And the speeding motorcycle
And the laws of momentum and inertia
And no helmet
Her new man held her as she died
Skull crushed in
She blessed him with her love
As I wish I had blessed her with mine

I am always there
Flying through the air with her
Toward her rendezvous with inertia
I did not kill her
It was the tree
And the motorcycle
And her new man
I only wished it so
And got my wish

My girl is the best ecdysiast,
Among strippers, she's the least cautiouslysiest
She lacks basic modesty
which makes her the hottest, she
is truly the most heavenlysiest.

There once was an Arctic ecdysiast
Who found that her job was the freeziest
So she bought a fur coat
Made of weasels and stoats
And got a new job as a fleeciest

ecdysiast: (noun) a striptease artist; from the Greek ekdysis: the shedding of an outer integument or layer of skin

There once was a lazy ecdysiast
Who thought that her job was the easiest
She'd take off her clothes
And thereby expose
Herself to the men who were sleaziest

There once was a happy ecdysiast
Whose job made her mom feel the queasiest
"But Mom," she'd explain
"It causes no pain
And the tips that I get are the easiest."

With a head cold, the sick young ecdysiast
Soon found that her act was the sneeziest
She made her achoos
Wearing only her shoes
But her tips from that night were the measliest

An ecdysiast sporting a cast
Could not shed her clothes all that fast
She'd rip and she'd tear
And try to get bare
And leave the poor patrons aghast

(from Mike Mayhew)
There once was a dirty ecdysiast
Whose armpits were known as the cheesiest
Said the boss of the club
"If she won't use the tub
She can dance by the door where it's breeziest."

(with Sam Marshall)
There once was a wrinkled old stripper
So old she was nicknamed "The Gipper"
She was long in the tooth
And far from her youth
And her bosom was called "The Big Dipper"