Bland rooms
and bad food
Time shifts
and lost days
Windows
that don’t open
and beds that
make themselves
Fitful sleep
in unfamiliar places
Makes you
appreciate
the little place
you call home
(D. James)
Monthly Archives: February 2008
cereal killer
I shot
the box
of Rice Krispies
stabbed the
Fruit Loops
and strangled
with bare hands
the Raisin Bran
Now
there’s nothing left
for tomorrow’s breakfast
(D. James)
Bad ear (or I should get a medal for doing this)
My ear is shot
Haven’t slept in two days
and here I am writing
this miserable poem
Is it friendship pushing me
or just poetry’s bad junk
shaking me up and down
and never letting me be?
EL SEBBO
hello it’s me
Nasty habit
of self
referential
involvement
centeredness
Even being aware
only focuses
on the single point
So it is
to what
degree
do we see
there are others
not just me?
(D. James)
Anniversarery pome (To my partner in crime, DJ Eldon)
no candles
but fireworks
no explosions
but roman candles
we have written pomes
for one good year now
we are very tired
but our mouths are still
full of spit, tongue, stones
and words
no firecrackers
but live ammo
no funeral pyres
but a feather
of the Phoenix
EL SEBBO
at sea
Rain falls
over the city
Everything swells
and creaks
Water trickles
along the rails
The apartment
feel like a submarine
I await the order
to blow the ballasts
and rise again
(D. James)
If not
poems
are
free
like a bank robbery
a good fist fight
or a major break up
I said
poems
are
free
I didn’t say
they were nice
EL SEBBO
take a walk
frustrated
impatient
impertinent
totally
intolerant
and spiteful
feels like monday
coulda been sunday
just not certain
anymore
where ya goin?
where’s this headed?
it can’t be anywhere
good
(D. James)
Another mystery
The white veil of morning
creeps around the house
The birds are black notes
and their song hang frozen
in mid-air
We drink coffee in the kitchen
and I want to tell you something
but your words erase mine
and I forget what I wanted to say
and there is no way you can help me
and we laugh it off and another mouth
replaces my mouth with different words
forming behind the seemingly same teeth
although they are actually a few seconds
older
EL SEBBO
fake it till you make it (welcome to hollywood)
Like a bad meal
that repeats
This town
loves itself
more than it deserves
Rewarding mediocrity
Substituting false beauty
for real emotion
Masking belligerent consumption
with blinding sunlight
and palm trees
An American microcosm
of what’s to come
“Reality” TV
played out
in lives of
unconscious consent
Leased luxury
parked outside
your shared apartment
It’s what’s on
the outside
that counts here
This is not
the place
for epic poetry
(D. James)
Deconstruction
My children play
with wooden blocks
red blue yellow
and green
They build towers
and smash them
laughing
like typical
humans
A reassuring thought
somehow
The blocks
await in the sunlight
waiting to be
piled up
and thrown down again
like typical
humans
Not a reassuring thought
somehow
EL SEBBO
Night Life
To live a life
epic like the night
Full with the
weight of the moon
Dark with occasional
streaks of light
Dotted with
a billion possibilities
like stars against
the blackened sky
To be complete
and silent
in an endless expanse
Reaching beyond
the humble existence
of just walking the earth,
To the never-ending
edge of the universe
Swallowing planets whole
and still waking, in the morning
to brilliant sunlight
(D. James)
Em-ba-ra-ssing (To DJ Nic)
Went to a party last Saturday
and all evening I wondered
if my fly was open because
the zipper was broken or because
I was too stoned to zip it up
Time to quit?
Hell no
EL SEBBO
Capitalism
Bank
is a
four
letter
word
(D. James)
Imperialism
Free
is a
four
letter
word
EL SEBBO
the mess we’re in
Waiting
for inspiration
like a brick
to the head
disjointed ideas
false starts
fragments
that go nowhere
Pondering
a fierce headache
the poet
and poem
remain unfinished
(D. James)
Burn all flags
The blue of the sky
crashes through my open window
and a few birds sing
to welcome the first rays
of the sun
Everything is still
except for the millions
of radio waves
spinning around us
like in invisible killer bees
and I say
to the wall
my chair my desk
the open window
the blue sky
the birds and their songs
“Burn all flags”
as flags frame you
in what you are not
and never will be
– a model citizen
a model father
a model nation
a model nature
a model bird
a model sky
a model model
Yes
burn all flags
especially
the white one
EL SEBBO
black waves
Just because
the ocean waves
ceaselessly
pound the sand
doesn’t mean
the beach is
all that fond
of the abuse
(D. James)
A view with a room
If I move
two inches
to the left
does reality
remain the same?
EL SEBBO
what I think I want when I think too much about what I want
I want to
stay up all night
watching movies
I want to
find someway
to feel
I want to
stay up all night
and listen
to the rain
I want to
find a way
to get back home
I want to
be free
from wanting
and just be
I want to
stay up all night
and listen
to the pain
In the end
I just want
to believe
(D. James)
Peace King
I am the peace king
and I come without banner nor flag
My arms are broken
and my friends have fallen
Will you welcome me
with arrows and fire
or kisses and tears?
I am the peace king
and I have no purpose
but to prove that existence
is nothing but choice
whether you win or not
I am the peace king
and my face is as white
as your rage
I am the peace king
and I am sorry
that I hurt you once
and for all
I am the peace king
and you can very well
chose to ignore me
if you wish
as I will not fight with you
I am the peace king
and I am never wrong
although many wish me to be
because peace
is always
more threatening
than bloodshed
I am the peace king
hail me at my passage
or throw me stones
I love flowers
and stones are my friends
but beware
my visits are scarce
and often go
unnoticed
as I am clear as the wind
dark as a starless night
and fluttering as love promises
EL SEBBO
