Clorox (a love poem)

Olson said something about the "shape of light"

You can hold your breath like a handgrenade
while walking a line that’s drawn in
smeared lipstick

just the thing when you’re
trying to lose your balance
half-way thru a rain dance
in the rain

& I turn to her & I say
“You are voluptuous”

because “voluptuous” is such a beautiful word

as in “bleeding voluptuously
all down the front of your shirt”

making my poor heart moan

The needle’s in the bag
as she said it would be

along w/a nickle’s worth of something
dyed the color of nature’s plan

Selling Books for Drugs

Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem
                                                          – Catullus

The octopus has eight arms
three hearts
& an internal combustion engine
but if you look behind the
beach tar mascara
you’ll find eyes that exhibit the same
variable high cloudiness that
defines the sky this time of day
reinventing the concrete
drizzled in pale light
hypnotizing seagulls
& even with the surf feathering out
& engines idling in the cypress
variegated syllables of sand & foam
reclaim the streets
& whatever is buried beneath the
kelp grove is going to have to stay there
& speaking of sea monsters
how is it that I find myself lurking
in the wavy depths of your eyes
when I should be breathing fire & devouring
whole sections of the coast highway
as palm trees rattle & sway
like love at first sight

Case Sensitive

There are no perfect waves
               – William Carlos Williams

This ocean specifically
(ie, The Specific Ocean)
has ideas all it own
           Sun, sand, glass
                       seabreeze all dazzled with
                       blossoms & chrome
“Do you know at the offering of which libation
the waters become endowed with a human voice
and rise and speak?” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
           The wave breaking left off the point
                       & sectioning out
                                   like The Book of Nods
I said I imagine we’ll be here for a while
at least long enough to figure out the chord changes
           & in reference to the natural affinity
                       We were all altar boys once
the Jesuit surf team paddling out now
          In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti
sipping the ocean haze through a straw

CHURCH & STATE by Lewis MacAdams

A VERY limited edition broadside featuring a terrific new poem by Lewis MacAdams is now available for a mere $5 from Blue Press.

Kool-Aid / $1.61 / Endless Refills

She said she could predict the
outcome of every
roll of the dice
although I was betting on the deuce
in a hand flush w/aces
 
tell me again what the odds are
 
I said I’d have the albacore special
w/a side of Valvoline
& we can flip a coin later
to see who gets to break the plate
 
Back on the street the
sunburnt palm trees were whispering
& I swore it sounded like
cards being shuffled or
a million torn up lotto tickets
getting swept away in the tide

The Poetikal Works of Dude the Obscure

A set of 9 poems published by Seven Fingers Press of Colorado and available for $10 from Blue Press.

The Poetikal Works of Dude the Obscure
by Kevin Opstedal