“Ode to My Favorite Pirate”

My friend is a pirate now,

so I’ll never see him again.

With all the sea shanties he knows

he’ll be safe from any harm,

but it’s how he left that wasn’t fair.

Right before boarding a sinking ship

he wrote a sick note and fell under a spell,

one that would lead him down a river.

Could we meet again by train

or under the cities creek?

Could we meet again in mountains

or pass by each other on a bridge?

Hey you sneaky bastard, come back

and steer the Styx so you can dance again,

or battle in gyms. Maybe we can sing songs

and read Unquiet Things or maybe…

You told us how to attend your funeral.

You’ll never know that I knew you loved

her, she told me. And we couldn’t wait

to see your barn wedding wearing that hat.

You know, I’ll never see you again

and I’ll pay for your two silvers

since I can’t afford to board your ship

and dine with your crew. But if the waters

made me blue, and I couldn’t say the prayer,

could you greet this stowaway and sing

your off tune Irish shanties to deter

the mermaids away, and greet me on board?

Would you be wearing your cowboy hat,

Would you have grown out your hair,

And when we meet again will your

mind be full of health and humor too?

Let me see this pirate gleam,

let us meet and dance on deck,

let us sing away the evils of sorrow,

let me see my pirate friend once again.

“Coffee and Tea”

They don’t taste good together,

but both make me stay up at night

and I wonder how they got together-

did they both just think of sugar,

is that why they were stuck together?

Two cream, two sugar, and stir

the hot mug to blend it together.

Boil the water and dip the tea

bag, and darken their future together.

Coffee gives Tea a wrist-watch,

as if he knew time was short together,

as if it this was a countdown to when

Tea brewed and lost it all together.

Some days were good, I mean

how else do you have four girls together?

Eventually booze spikes Coffee,

and he can’t hold it together

and Tea becomes stale and tired,

but she works to keep this family together.

It isn’t enough though, Coffee leaves

and then all the girls only have each other.

“Six Grandfathers”

Let’s blow up Mt. Rushmore

Let’s blow up Washington

Let’s blow up Jefferson

Let’s blow up Roosevelt

Let’s blow up Lincoln

Let’s call it something new

And wash sins off of stone

And remove these scourges

Take back what isn’t theirs

In the most civil manner

Dust will rise as we settle the score

And shards of stone, when we’re done,

Will fall to the ground gazing at the sun

Emitting the truth of the hand they dealt

US: that they aimed to conceal our ancestors