The swamp wizard

The swamp wizard

will not perform for a crowd

it’s not his bouquet of flowers

‘I don’t need a name

or a fence around it’

he tells me

in his black attire

yet he performs

a perpetual poetic performance

as we sit in a café for an hour

Poets, artists, sculptors

drug dealers and even killers

speak freely to me

‘Is this my gift?’

I ask bob

as he hands me

a recording device

to document

something in life that comes

so damn naturally

Gord reciting his poem

‘dream job’ on his boat

in a freeload moor in falsecreek

Pat whose girlfriend is made of soap stone

and he carves her into existence

yet sells her to a stranger in a second

Mike growing dope up the coast

a bouquet of flowers

up my allergic nose

Then the killer, the aerophobe

on the plane next to me

telling me of the drag queen

he knifed to death in what he calls

self defense

The wacky, the waifs

the bohemians

the junkies, the trend setters

the gypsies, the vagabonds

the panhandlers, the macabre

and the freaks

that make love, art

and preach their dogma

to me

they make my heart pound harder

and my life grow madder and  sadder

are we all just chasing our own lives

into an abyss

into hell

is this like the snake

swallowing its own tail

‘The swamp purifies the water’

the wizzard says to me

as he escapes down an alley

and leaves me alone

treading the marsh

all that much harder

Serpent in a Symmetry

Nina Simone’s melody

a serpent in a symmetry

coming onto Eve with an apple

and Adam’s first bite of jealousy

The snake fits in pandora’s box

cuz there is no lock

there is no key

there is no real mystery

there is no note on the door

saying . . please don’t disturb me

I’ve entered your life

like a bottle of red wine

tho you don’t drink

and I’m the one with the cork . . .

screw the dirty laundry

and her lingering things

I want now

out with the old

in with the new

but the ghosts from our past

still haunt me and you

How long does it take to escape

the disgrace of a decade

laced with addictions and convictions

our souls soiled with un-dedication

I look into your eyes

full of perplexity, curiosity

and generosity

I just want your naked body

and truth beside me

telling no lies

with your tongue

and your thighs

no disguises, no surprises

just you

not a serpent in a symmetry

I may need a snake

but I don’t need an apple

and I’m sure

you don’t need

my jealousy

that about sums it up

nina simone and red wine

your threat to my stability is marvelous

person alley tease

camping in your living room

and you were naked in my van

i wear your clothes

so i feel your smells

on me

inside

your home

we live like bohemians

like squatters in your own

apartment

i have fallen

on you

onto

a mattress we do not have

and you’re so tall

and i’m so

well hmm

average

but not small

like a medium size

a 7½ shoe and ring

tho my head

is smaller than most

and i have evaded the answer

to the question i want asked

and you say

don’t do anything

that doesn’t make you happy

and i say

i don’t know how

to be that way

your overwhelming record collection

my disconcerting recollections

you haven’t figured out my disposition

my person alley tease

my palm, my tongue

my hand writing

you read these

and you lick them

you recollect them

and you analyze them

you criticize me

constructively

i hope and

i summize

now you define

my heart line

and the way i dot my eyes

but you don’t

read between the lines

now you know

my subconscious

my id

my lips

my r.e.m.

yet you still wonder

about my intention

and you say

don’t do anything

that doesn’t make you happy

and i say

i don’t know how

to be that way

cuz somedays

i’m just glad

i’m sad

cuz feelings can fill a void

where is this going

depression is my

means of expression

and joy is a toy

i play

and get high with

sorrow is something

i hold till tomorrow

and then let it sit in

my grief and sadness

play with my madness

i honor my emotions

not pretend in my happiness

that it really never existed

and here you are again

and you say

don’t do anything

that doesn’t make you happy

and i say

i don’t not how

to be that way

Love is like a hangover

Love is like a hangover

Not enuff sleep

Waking up feeling dizzy

I drink my morphine

My elixir

From my whiskey cup

I miss you like cabbage

I miss you like cabbage

More than a cabbage

A cabbage is good

But you are better

Well actually

A cabbage gives you gas

Ask shane and your ex

But you give me the shivers

Like snowflakes