Q & A
Q&A
Q: You haven’t lived until ________________.
A: You recognize the importance of blank spaces.
Dallas Clayton Writer, Artist and Author of An Awesome Book.
YOU
YOU
Unlike most words
which dull and fray
with usage
a well-intentioned
“I love you”
seems only to sharpen
growing consistently more effective
refined
through each and every
hurried utterance.
TRY
TRY
This morning I stood on a street corner with my eyes closed.
Have you ever done that before?
You’d think the answer would be “yes, who hasn’t!?!”
But honestly I don’t think I’ve ever done that.
It feels pretty great,
almost like “Maybe I’ll get robbed,
maybe I’ll get hit by an out of control car,
maybe someone will just walk by and think I’m
a crazy person…”
None of this happened of course,
just the warmth of the morning sun across my eyelids
and a reminder of how many things I’ve still never actually done.
WAITER
WAITER
He told her she had a nice smile.
He didn’t mean it
but he’d found it helped with the tips.
It felt genuine enough to her –
lightened her day just a hair
enough that she decided to walk home
instead of taking a cab.
On the walk
she passed a man
sweeping leaves from a stoop.
His head was down
until she smiled
then he raised it
and smiled back.
A year later
I was born.
THE RAPPER INSIDE YOU
THE RAPPER INSIDE YOU
The rapper inside
wants to kill you all up
with words about how good and strong he is
how he was so poor you couldn’t even believe
and you told him he was nothing but now he
owns a boat that turns into a helicopter.
The rapper inside is going to make so much money today
he can buy the sun and won’t even let you look at it
so you will freeze to death and your family
will freeze to death too
and before you die
all you will have to think about
is the rapper on a beach
dancing naked
with someone you wish
could be your girlfriend
in high school.
WEAPONS
WEAPONS
The knights arrived via time machine
thirst for valor still intact.
They were astonished to find, however,
the only swords available for purchase
were of a commemorative variety
and sold at the Glendale Galleria
packaged with wizard crystals,
and five pointed ninja star rings
at a kiosk across from
Panda Express.
BE BUSY
BE BUSY
There is an unwritten song
that sounds the same
to your enemies
as it does to you.
A film, unmade,
with parts where you both laugh at the exact same time.
There is a story waiting to be told
that cuts to the bone
for every single person – good or bad -
who will ever have a chance to read it.
There is, young artist,
all the potential in the world
to bring them to their knees,
then help them back up,
dust them off
and offer them a cool lemonade.
MOVING
MOVING
I’ve been stuck in the clouds this month
living on a different wavelength than I’m used to.
Better to switch wavelengths every once in a while they say,
so as not to burn out, spiral down
into a big funnel of comfort foods and favorite stations.
This one was bumpy getting started -
so many plans, so much mapping of where I should be and how.
I never could do much with plans
like invitations to parties.
There is a set up happening somewhere
but you had nothing to do with it
yet you’re obligated to attend
because if you don’t
chairs will go empty,
balloon’s unpopped,
songs played without a proper dedication.
I’d love for all the plans
and all the parties
to be announced just five minutes prior
to the doors opening
and the champagne being uncorked.
I’d love to arrive blindfolded
to a meeting,
an airport,
a wedding chapel.
But it isn’t in the cards right now.
Too many people involved.
Still, the plans are moving at me
just as the parties,
and In their defense
fitting nicely into place
without too much obligation
without alarm clocks
or missed schedule alerts.
And it’s almost summer
when the shirts come off
and parties bleed into the plans
and everyone’s jobs
lose a bit more meaning.
A new wavelength once again.
LOS ANGELES PROPER
LOS ANGELES PROPER
Your apartment
reads just like your blog:
found objects and beautiful images
of people you admire
and so much time spent
arranging them neatly
into a tiny space
that you don’t even own.
UNFAMILIAR PLACES START TODAY
UNFAMILIAR PLACES START TODAY
Didn’t fall asleep on the black sand beach
or wrapped in a field of daisies
in the cold mist on top of a mountain
or singing songs in the back of a beat up car,
not knowing the driver’s last name or the exact destination.
Didn’t fall asleep anywhere important
with anyone new
thinking anything interesting.
Didn’t fall asleep-
and didn’t wake up there either.
SON
SON
How can I ever repay you
for what you’ve given me?
A daily opportunity
to change the world
for the better
simply by spending time
with the person I love the most.
FIGHT ON A NEW YORK CORNER
FIGHT ON A NEW YORK CORNER
You are so mad at this man
and he is so mad at you
yet you mean nothing to each other.
Unfamiliar objects of annoyance
loud as brass bells.
Bits of loose scrap metal strewn about the highway
which, rather than swerving to avoid,
you have chosen
to pull over and yell at
bottlenecking the others
rubbing elbows on their way toward
accomplishment.