Pony Tail Man (1st draft)

Sitting there amongst the group
Laughing away without care.
The wine is passed and secrets shared;
Opinions and advice given.

Each girl with benign looks
And flirty winks, touch
arms, hands in intimate
Gesticulation.

Yet friend is a four letter word
Unless you're gay like him.

~For Trevor F who coined the term.  Composed while on the road to Rome 6/16/09

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Pasty White Kids (1st Draft)

There they are all vanilla white and
Sometimes naked.
Running about throwing the rocks
On the beach--or the people.

But who cares of rocks
--they're rocks not pebbles--
and burn when the sun appears in England!
It's off to Brighton we go!

~Obviously composed whilst rocks were cutting my bum in Brighton 6/28/09

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No. 4 Sydney Place (2nd draft)

I know you probably don't care,
Since I'm just a visiting foreigner,
But here I am on Avon's banks
--in the town you knew and hated--

Breathing where you breathed;
Thinking where you thought.
I wish you could teach me:
How to write, to choose, to love.

You, a clear, strong, mind
I respect--
If only you were here now.

But All I have are your stories
And the hope your whisper
Still lingers in the waters and breezes,
And the evensong chimes of the abbey.

~Trouble with the 3rd stanza still.  Composed in Bath 6/30/09 3:30 PM

Nothing says the new years like accusations.  I know it it's only been one month into the new year, but it opened up with all sorts of wild accusations from certain colleagues of mine about incompetence.  Namely mine.

I guess that's what happens when you land a $100K grant that's renewable for 10 years and they didn't (especially in these hard economic times--the smaller specialized classes help too when they have +40 in a class and I cap around 30).  And in honor of them I decided to write this poem, though much of it was inspired by Cal Poly Pomona (the fake Cal Poly) administration as recounted to me by countless alumni:

Morlocks (1st draft)

You know them well from ten to two.
Diligent at their nine to five.
--Though sometimes they're out to lunch,
Their job is always finished.

Satisfied with government work
And their logoed business cards
--They toil away--
Confident in what you don't know.

After all sweeping mines builds
Hand and eye;
Solitaire: critical thought.
Don't tread on their sacred rights!

They earned it well by who they knew
By favors, race, or blood.
Better a nibble from everyone's plate
Than eating your children whole.

The Allosaurus.  Because it's cool.  And also in one of my favorite author's (Arthur Conan Doyle), books The Lost World.

   

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