My Best Buddy

You wag your tail
When I fetch the mail
And wait for me
By the door.

But I gotta thought
This ain’t how it ought
‘Cuz you’re the fetcher
Not me.

When you go out to poop
It’s me that must stoop
To pick up your junk
From the lawn.

Seein’s how I’m your boss
I’m left at a loss
As to why I’m doing
All the work.

You want food, I fix it
Never grumbling a bit
But you don't lift a paw
To help me.

You snore in my bed
And mess with my head
But I put up with you
Every night.

You stink when you’re wet
I take you to the vet
And care for
Your every need.

You do as you please
Sometimes you get fleas
And bark your snout off
When I'm trying to read.

You get your paws muddy
But you’re still my best buddy
Even though you zig
When I zag.

So, hop up in my lap
And we’ll take a nap
Then we’ll watch what you want
On TV.

Castro

Nose, like a sail
Jutting beyond cheeks
Of steel wool
His thick, pecan skin
Pocked and filthy
He looks like Castro
On a bender.

Red eyes, like bitter wells
He surveys his world.
Gulping diesel exhaust
He belches curses
In slurred Spanish.

Staggering at the curb
He swills from a bottle
Wrapped in a paper bag.
Angrier by the moment
Castro spins a swaying circle
Gesticulating at all he sees
Summoning an imaginary firing squad.

Dismissing the world
With the flick of his wrist
Castro squats in the dappled shade
Of a scrub bush
Chin nodding
Into his soiled shirt.

In his wake are broken children
And more than one woman
Who cringes at his memory.

But Castro is heedless
As he again rises
To lecture the assembly
At the red light.

I’d Rather Be Lonely Alone

I’d rather be lonely alone
Than be lonely tonight with you.
You’re killing me bit by bit
With everything you do.

Your wondering mind is wandering
And you’re little more than a stray.
I worry over who you’re with
When you walk from our home everyday.

The phone calls you try to hide
And your evasive replies
Are the stuff of shoddy fiction
Half truths and outright lies.

I’d rather be lonely alone
Than be lonely tonight with you.
But try and give me a reason
To think you can be true.

It’s crazy to sit night after night
Listening for your key in the door
Hoping you’ll finally come home
And love me like you did before.

I try to convince myself
My mind’s playing tricks on me
And I’ve no reason to fear
But no one’s so blind as he who will not see.

I’d rather be lonely alone
Than be lonely tonight with you.
I’ve tried and I’ve tried to believe you
But there’s nothing more I can do.

I’d rather be lonely alone
Than be lonely tonight with you.
I’d rather be lonely alone
Than be lonely tonight with you.

Jelly Roll

Great splats salt the boulevard.
Chicago shrugs its shoulders
Traffic and commerce rhythmic
In pursuit of capital.

Warm summer rain drives me
Into a fragrant bakery
Rich, sweet smells rising
Like mist off the lake.
Around me, conversation buzzes
Like Joseph’s many-colored coat.

I smooth a bill into the baker’s hand
Buying a jelly roll
As rent for a stool by the window.

On the rain-silvered street
Horns protest
Tires sigh
And umbrellas sprout
Like mushrooms
From the forest floor.

Where are you?
I wonder if the same rain
Pelts us.
I hope so.
It makes the world feel smaller
The distance between us
Less large.

Too soon the clouds brighten
The rains ease
And my jelly roll is eaten.
Time again to assault the streets
That remove me further away.

Always away and never toward.

Unfamiliar Stars

Morning’s sun rose in the north
Spreading new shadows across my floor.
Amazed, I ran into the yard
Peering over gables
Between spreading maple limbs.

High the bright orb climbed
That blazing sphere
Until, at its zenith
It reversed
Angling toward the delta
Coming to ground
At the foot of farms and factories
Rivers and lakes.

Remarkably, only I observed this peculiar anomaly.
There were no news broadcasts
Commerce continued unimpeded
Wall Street made money
And the government took it.

But I saw the universe
As a spilled purse
Scattered beyond understanding.
It’s been this way
Since you left.

Familiar patterns have changed.
I teeter on a line
Too fine
A path
Too perilous
And navigate by unfamiliar stars.

I must be patient
Hold onto what remains.
Reason will restore
Old markers will renew.

Life will settle
Like dust
Trouble will leave my door
And shadows will again rightly travel my floor.

Not All

Not all poetry is passion
Not all tears are mixed with rain
Not all love is pure; old fashioned
Not all poor decisions bring pain.

Not all sunsets are hued pink
Not all lost loves get renewed
Not all dead skunks stink
Not all clumsy drivers get sued.

Not all noble deeds are feted
Not all nomads live in tents
Not all quotations get repeated
Not all dents can be unbent.

But every foolish thing I say
Will be written on the sky
And I’ll pay a month for every bad day
I must live before I die.