When Last I Saw My Toenail (A Poem)

All subjects are topical fodder.
1/23/12

When last I saw my toenail

Curled in cuticle bliss

It never occurred to this footlord

That life should come to this.

Smiling, bald and content

At the extremity of the piggy at home

Estranged from familial relations

An adolescent longing to roam.

Keratin remnant pale from shearing

     Where is remorse for its pruning?

     No grieving of reclusive lunar sliver

On La Quinta room floor brooding.

Have mercy on dorsal adornment

In jagged, refused state

Abandoned and searching the tangent

Of significance in world’s trampled space.

How we recoil at the spectre

Of bodily rejection in view

Disgusted by original origin

Pretending this is somehow new.

Some poems should never be written,

Thoughts desiring fields of light

But to the toenail I say

The grass is never greener on the other side.

Torn Asunder (or A Bizarre Dream)

1/12/12 
An actual dream

Act One: I am learning to drive a semi with dad in my neighborhood in east Nashville. Trying to navigate a sharp corner, I roll over a portion of a homeowner's lawn, then get into an argument with him over knot-tying. "I don't know any knots," I tell him. "How am I supposed to tie a knot if you won't teach me?" I plead. He remains stubborn, refusing to help. Furious, my dad and I leave the scene (abandoning the semi, I suppose), and I make my way to Ramer's Grocery (a mom & pop store I worked at in my native Baton Rouge, LA) where I purchase a Baby Ruth candy bar for my dad.

Act Two: I am watching the removal of a maple tree that has fallen across the street landing in our backyard. At that moment, I am munching on, and enjoying, dog food. It is organic Purina. "This stuff is actually really good."

Act Three: Our neighbor directly across the street - not to be confused with the knot-tying arguer - is a single dad with an infant child. I find myself hostage in this man's house. After asking, he informs me, "Yes, you are welcome to leave," either by being torn asunder -- therefore my head "leaving" in one direction, my legs in another, my arms in another (you get the idea) -- or by avoiding and being devoured by the life-size dragon living in his backyard. When the deranged dad takes his kid for a walk in the stroller, I manage to escape and retreat into my house directly across the street. I lay low, watching him from an upstairs window, hoping my skedaddling would not soon be discovered.

Curtain closes.

I believe the culprit was a spicy Thai dinner earlier that evening.

TAKiNG iNVENTORY of 2011

It's a new year, and I've heard from quite a few folks for whom 2011 was rough. Shall we say "ha ha" to the old year together? I did this last year, very much enjoyed the exercise, so I thought I'd do it again. Here is my Things I'm Thankful For list of 2011.

1. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
2. Paints, blank canvases, #4 Filbert & #2 Bright brushes
3. Impressionism
4. Dave Trout and Under the Radar
5. The Under the Radar In Your House Tour (Fall 2011)
6. Extraordinary booking agentess, Laura Preston
7. Janie & Charlie Peters and Penny Ellis
8. House addition
9. New songs
10. A new album BiRDS OF RELOCATiON (coming soon)
11. Active, swirling creativity
12. Old pine wood siding
13. Kickstarter
14. Good Neighbor Lawncare
15. Common thieves who unwittingly awaken the very best in peopl
16. Al Andrews and Porter's Call
17. Jeff Eckert, PSYD
18. Danielle Ellis, Ellis Perrin and Monroe Carle