Half-Literate

Mar 15 2015

 Knowing how to read it but not how to speak it
sometimes feels worse than not knowing how to read it at all.

Tales from the Intersection

     I sat there, at the helm of the machine, rumbling & grumbling in the misty night, waiting for my turn at the intersection, as the motor throbbed in anticipation.  I strained and in the distance I could hear the echoes of Spitfire pilots over the Channel.  A pink cigarette died in the ashtray.
     The red light disappeared and with nothing more than the slight twist of a small metal plate the beast came alive, all sound and fury and chrome and hot leather.
     The smell of female had suffused the cabin, born of the soaked upholstery, but presently it fought off the invading scent of premium gasoline.
     I howled down the boulevard, a blue streak, fully possessed of the moment.  It was all rich, clean energy, and it reeked of a man dealing with reality on its truest terms, namely: no terms at all.

Liquor

It's curious

it loves you
like a cat

it spits at your trifles
yet uplifts your victories

makes you fight better
encourages you to write better
bolsters you from the sidelines, no matter how hard you've been beaten
even though it gives its fair share of the punches.

always loves you when you're in need
always offers a helping hand when you're struggling

but never hesitates to stand holdin a hammer 'round your coffin.

She shoves you into the abyss as readily as she offers a hand out,
she'll always help you get where it is you want to go.
She doesn't offer you any advice, though she's centuries of knowledge.
No, she doesn't hold a map and doesn't give you her opinion.  Wherever it is you're trying to get, she puts her hand on your knee and pushes the pedal further to the floor.

she tells you not what door you're opening.
She only passes you the key, and puts her hand gently on yours as you turn it.

Anthony's Two Muses by Ron Lewis

Haikus in English are Patent Foolishness

Y'all don't know each other.
You smile.  She smiles back.  Life's gold.
'Murican haiku.

Originally written October 21, 2013

Exit Pull

Going to exit the weed store
pushed on the pull door.

Impractical Lovers

My hand wants to grip that wood
or leather
or in dirty cases even plastic.

To take her out
first being gentle
letting her warm up

giving her the time she needs
to get comfortable.
For her to be rightly lubed
cooled
warm
but cool
for this dude.

And once she gets going
she likes to run
even gallop
Three hundred some wild horses
chugging and loving
under my thumb.

She's strong as a dragon
but sensitive to part of an inch
and she'll bite
right when I won't take it
knowing I'll be back
'cause such beauty I can't not forgive.

I love our wrestling matches
but I don't ever want to fight.
Anyone could be a sadist for such majesty
and I pity he who couldn't,
he who prefers comfort
over alertness
and values simplicity in seduction
over reward of success.

The street runs both ways.
I turn her on
slowly
wondering how much she can take.
She returns the favour
Accelerating my pulse
as fast as I accelerate hers.
Our breaths getting denser
as the strokes mean more.
She screams with pleasure
and I can only amplify mine
by pushing her further.

Some ignore
some sneer
some double take
and some give compliments
to which I cannot instantly respond.

But some know
and acknowledge
and give a smile and sign
and I return the same
to them & theirs.

Ends justify the means
but I pity him
whose doesn't see enough romance in the ends
to justify impractical means.

Younger Than You

When I was young

maybe eight

or ten

I had a conversation

with my mother

at the club.

“Two times in your life

are strange”

she said,

“the first time the president

is younger

than you are,”

whereupon she paused

affecting drama

finishing:

“and when first the same

could be said

‘bout your doctor.”

I believed.

It sounded strange

and far off.

Something

about which I would know

nothing

for a very long time.

Those days are yet to come

while one she failed to mention

has already come to pass.

I speak of the day

when you first know

you’re growing older

The day the pornstars

are younger

than you.