2

Those with the fever, help me please
pitch of hydrochloric pelts
a yellow mitten tumbles down the street
the milk goes chlorine pepper
I'll always get a lot out.

Alliance of breaks, no fair pocks
sugary and parental, really fun and sort of sharp
look at the glare on that farm machine
alone on the beach with thin glimpses of ships
soothe them with your faces.

A list of gums in the clear
real racket boosts structure for all of us
tantamount to a lubricant
a half car for a half block
the rubber and straw are from us.

Staycation

I shouldn't, but I keep a light on in
the other room when I'm home alone.

Saturday Poem

Sweet wind skill
bright cold blooming
slap the max

A turbulent blare
weather has presence
glad you're here

Noveller

Tuesday Top 10

1) Savage Park by Amy Fusselman

2) Necessary Stranger by Graham Foust

3) Two oranges from the deli

4) Drinkable Mango Yogurt from Culture

5) The sound of people shoveling on Bergen Street

6) To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems by Graham Foust

7) Surfers by Raymond Pettibon

8) Wild Blueberry Preserves by Bonne Maman

9) Almost a snow day by New York City

10) Winter

Storm Poem

And then there is the matter
of all the photos of the storm
illustrating the sum of the snow in relation
to common objects in order to provide
a sense of scale to the storm
for people not living where the storm came.
And of course the people will talk about
the storm so everyone living near the storm
will have something in common
for a few days. In a decade
people will tell other people
that were not here for the storm
that they were here for the storm.
There was nothing else like it
they'll say and the respondent
will nod politely thinking
goddamn fool for living where
the winter bites like that.

Mississippi Fred McDowell

KCRW's BookWorm with Michael Silverblatt

Michael Silverblatt interviewed me for his show, BookWorm, back in October. It airs today on KCRW. You can listen here: BookWorm. You can simply stream the interview from this link in the future. It was a fun interview.

Photos of Self Assuredness and a Question About Globes

All morning I looked for people
who looked self assured in photos.
I did it with a capital "do it."
Ever wonder how they make globes?
Me neither.

Dom La Nena

Where on Earth?

Perhaps I am myself again
here on earth where animals
are not original thinkers.
I can a hear a squirrel in the ceiling
above me. People outside talk
just a little too loud for dawn.
A few cars and some wind making
the bare trees shiver. The sky
is silver blue. A little
girl out front asked her mother if the moon
was in outer space. The mother paused
for a long time. Everything is in outer space.

Lee Kang-Hyo - A Beautiful Life

January Poem

I remembered how to start caring again
so I got all the notes and brochures and made my way
to a cinderblock cabin in the woods.
I dabbed the low ceiling with grease from my thumb.
I listened for footsteps in the woods.
There was also a light induced trance
from the flicker of light cast through the trees,
but it all was peculiar and wonderful, like
your cherry belly. In the woods I remembered
adults who were particular and elegant,
if not a little stiff and calculated. Did I ever smell smoke?
Was there a reason to panic? I preferred to use
distance to ward off everything that confused me,
for both the road and traveler are fucked. I had a problem
with the world, but not the details. I loved
breaking pieces off the cabin and putting them end to end
like a series of chalky, concrete dominoes. I dabbed each piece
in fat to hold them upright. I feared the brightness
of the winter days the way anyone would.