Blue Collar Friday

Pay day
5:00 o'clock
Straight to the bank
     cash in 40 or more hours
 
I grumble at the government
 
    I drive with the windows
    down
    play commercial rock and roll
    louder than every other day
 
At Eddies I buy a fresh pack of Camels
                      a six of 
                      Whitetail Ale
                 and spin the tires leaving 
                 the gravel parking lot
The radio plays Sympathy for the Devil
        I pack my smokes
        to the 
        beat
            Drive fast and curse
            all the bad drivers 
 
    At home
I pick up my woman 
    spin her around till she slides 
        out of my grip
    the dog barks and jumps
 
We smoke cigarettes and drink
    till it's gone
    Rush to the bar for dollar pints
        skip dinner
    Drink until we fight
        until we forget about the week
 
Go home and have great drunk sex till daylight
then sleep till noon

Don't Take my Sunshine Away

           cigarette smoke sky
           still here after 
           last call
                    interrogated
                    by agents of light
 
                    the smoke squints
                      startled
                    but it lingers around
                         like the rest of us
 
      Later
      the sun sets 
      treetops on fire
                  10,000 well dressed
                  matchsticks marching
                  Caught in black and white 
                  photographed purgatory
 
            in this second
            I have seen eternity

Disorganizationial Skills

dirty T-shirts
scribbled scraps
snot rags
empty Camels
overdue bills
two week old newspapers
broken lighters
          black matches

A garbage pail full of
stale air
Swampy food in the sink
A choice to love

All this I have
and bills don't shred themselves
                   like my self respect does.
My poems bring me nothing but love

       My shoes are gifts;
I don't earn my luck.

If only I could hit the big
score
        dollar and a dream
              pick six
     win for life
                powerball!!
       Yollanda Vega!!	

The sun set's inside fog.
                My heart
          hangs from a twig
          trapped with last daylight
          inside a droplet of unfallen
                 rain.
                 Together
                 sunshine and my soul
                 wait for their
                 sentence.
Lynched indecision.