Poems

Yes I Held a Grudge Yes I held a grudge, what did you expect me to dowhen the thing that was done to me was done deliberatelyand it knewexactly what it was doing and exactly what it costand the person making the decision knew exactly what I lostand made the decision anyway, which is not […]

Worship The Angry Ferret I woke up with a voicemail from a raccoon in a leather vest,The squirrels formed a union and they’re staging a protest.My toaster taps out code,the fridge screamed obscenities in French,And the coffee tastes like vengeance filtered through a monkey wrench. TV’s got a prophet shrieking headlines slathered in glue,A priest

She stood within the doorway with a face of hammered iron The target of a million words designed to tame a lionThey called it hysteria when she found the secret stashOf every promise that he made then turned into an ashThey labeled it erratic when she smashed the porcelain plateA jagged punctuation for a decade

What Victory Tastes Like They talk about the winning like it’s champagne and confetti,Like the moment that you clinch it,all the world’s already ready,But the real taste of a victory is different in your mouth,It’s a little bit of iron and a little bit of doubt. It’s sweet but it’s not candy and it’s warm

War Is Good Business The contract’s in the billions and the dividend’s prepaid,the boardroom’s on its feet, they toast another day,the quarterly report confirms the surge in war demand,for the products that they manufacture for the war command. The lobbyist is working and the senator’s on board,the funding for the mission carries on without accord,the

What I’m Holding (GnR Style) I’m holding something down inside my chestA wild thing that I’m trying to suggestMight just behave a while longer if I’m coolBut this desire don’t play by any ruleI’m holding it together, holding it inBut the wanting is a pressure on my skinWhat I’m holding, what I’m holding backIs a

Too Big to Be Accountable The organization is too large to be sorry,the organization is too large for the storyof the individual wrong to register.The organization is too large and the ministerof the department that committedthe act is gone and what’s transmittedup the chain is a processed version ofthe complaint that sounds very different fromwhat

Trophy Rack She rides into the district with the energy of someone who’s done the math on this city,blood-red lips and a history that reads more like a greatest-hits than a committee.Gold heels that exceed the standard rent-to-income ratioand the dress that made that choice,she doesn’t make an entrance–she makes the room reconsider its own

The Warden Smiles Every institution has its warden and its smile,every institution has the man who runs the aislebetween the rules and the interpretation of the rules,between the stated purpose and the toolsthat purpose serves, which are not what they appear,which are not what the mission statement hereon the wall behind the desk in the

The Work of Anger The anger is not purely the consuming kind I’d thought,The anger has a constructive mode that has to be caughtAnd worked with and directed at the building and the change,The work of anger is a different kind of range.The work of anger, I’ve been learning what it builds,The work of anger