“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