1.14.2010

Straight Lines and Circles

A poem about my father
should begin
with goddammit you little Bastard
or black steel beams
exploding
off Camelback Mountain
at dawn in the desert
my father said
the hole isn’t going to dig itself Doc

A poem about my father
should include
the wind off
Lake Michigan
my mother
a game of tennis
a bottle of scotch
a truck and a skill saw
a straight line
a circle
a sky light
a cement mixer
a hook shot in Cave Creek
Sconfinato
my brother and sister
a party in Wauwatosa
Suzanne and Julia
Catlin running away
to heaven
or a swamp
on the side of the road
next to an old barn
in Germantown
My father said
You’re talking like a man
with a paper asshole


A poem about my father
should close
with a cigarette
after a long day
standing over
a drawing board
in the basement

3 comments:

  1. i'm digging it. very proud of you for doing one every day! think your dad would like it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. this is the best one so far w/ g-town a close second.

    you fail to capture the alienation though, y'know?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is very clever.

    It's like a three paragraph essay, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
    ...But in a poetic sort of way.

    ReplyDelete