Gogyohka 01/30/10

today
I am the stepchild
of hope
the strained relation
to that old orphan, fate

that shy boy
breaking sticks
in the New Hampshire woods
found a rusty railroad spike
and held it for his future

Gogyohka 1/28/10

don't wait
for someone
to inspire
smile in my face
give a stranger a hand

the bare hedge
bursts into the songs
of sparrows
and the branches
have feathers for leaves

Gogyohka 01/27/10

opening my senses
to a starling pecking at thawed seeds
horses huffing out visible breath
from their fleshy nostrils
making heartbeat stew

give me a kitchen
all day
and then a chicken back
a cauliflower stalk
tender oyster pearls

dreamed
of men
trying to be my father
woke up spinning
in night's confusing infinity

no one
ever got moneyrich
from being generous
(I mean stupid rich)
peoplefacts haunt me

Gogyohka 1.26.10

bureaucracy--
moving through
a line
that moves
to another line

some feminism
makes me
ashamed
to be
a man

most of the time
the color
of my skin
makes me
feel guilty

Gogyohka from God Knows When

Here are two from today, I know that--

after the interview
he shook her hand
it's not enough
so this mother brushes his hair aside
"She's giving you a blessing."

telling myself
don't be afraid
learning something new
a chance to be reborn
and become a child again

Oh, Haiti
I think of Figaro
down the street
and the bright blue children's costumes
on West Indian Day

no one
will ever
be beautiful
for you
so shine shine shine

stars
making constellations
whenever
we shoot
our way to each other

my favorite sound
crowded restaurant
burst of laughter
sudden stab of anger
a thousand drums playing out

she told him
if her father were dead
she would want him
to walk her down the aisle
and he cried

a dairy farmer
killed his 51 cows
and himself
he thought their lives
didn't matter to anyone

to Georgia O'Keeffe

gotta paint the flower
six times
before the pistil
stops looking
like a pistil

even in a dark bar
and looking tired
we can see her profile smiling
He leans in to me
"I like that one."

sometimes
writing these
becomes
learning how
to dream again

a woman
piled up
by rubble
holding her hands up
in an Old Navy T-shirt

last day
in Cleveland
watching the ice
melt
from the drainspouts

Gogyohka 1.14.10

after 25 years
at Grampie's grave
Nana praying straight on her cane
bright August Sun
Olivia and I weed around his name

if you're boastful
watch your back
because every day
now matter what it says
will feel like an attack

if you're humble
stay that way
because every sidewalk crack
and verbal thumb tack
will just be play

Gogyohka 01.14.10

Before the old man
wiped the winter drip
from his nose
it was a rain drop
from a spring branch

Walking around all day
inhaling ether
I leave the house
and New York
puts me in my place

Sitting across from his bulldog face
I point to his MLK pin
"Which speech is that?"
"I have a dream."
He doesn't look at me

Gogyohka 01.12.10

planning
this wedding
knowing
I'm never alone
our best socialism

For John:
He scratched his ankle
until it got raw
then he scratched some more
Stopped three weeks
and everything healed

The birds are singing
Can you hear them?
Sparrows in the bare branches
belting it out
like church bells ringing

01.10.10

In one breath I say
can't cross all borders fully
In another breath it's
"Kon'nichiwa!"
adding-machine vs. fingerpaint

I thought
he never had
anything to say
but it wasn't that
nobody ever asked him

Gogyohka 1.09.10

everyone's pain is their own greatest
don't laugh at someone
whimpering over a stepped-on spider
It might just be practice
for the death of a mother

even in 1933 America
slurping thin soup
behind wide gray hats
people got married
and a stranger smiled

Gogyohka 01.07.10

2010
Ok then
I'll write 2010 Gogyohka
and read even more by you
Now everybody!

make your tears
a bubble
for all the other tears
make a puddle, a stream, a river
an earth in orbit

Gogyohka 1.6.10

winter baby
glutton
for warmth
grasps and sucks
mother's breast

yesterday was my birthday, and this G-poem came to me late in the night, right before I fell asleep. I think the greatest sacrifice mothers make is childbirth, and it is the greatest honor of humanity. Cold, biting death-filled winter only emphasizes the depth of this vital maternal spirit, that gives so much so we can go on.

Gogyohka 01.05.09

wake up
to facebook wall posts
full of Happy Birthday!
shining secret friends
make me feel good

to the dentist
on my birthday
when did I get so old?
still not dreaming
of lost teeth

make politics
more than complaints
carry signs of the dead
to those responsible
teach love always

Gogyohka 01.04.10

On Gogyohka Junction I called this one "Heart Sparklers":

grabbing a handful
of glitter
I throw stars in the sky
waiting somewhere
for you to make constellations

the knot won't untie
from getting pulled harder
tug'o'war tightens ropes
end of violence
begins with one unclenched fist

Gogyohka 01.02.10

If the cold wind
comes hard
let it come
I'll squint my eyes
and keep walking

Gogyohka 01.01.10

hope the door
to your horizon
is unlocked
or if it is
you find another one

Let me come into your life
like rain
or an oops puddle
Always there
or imminent

keep finding these
on scrap paper
in my phone
on the computer
Gogyohka graffiti

wanna find the edges
the moment two stop texting
or when the brain chemistry set reacts
to first seeing a future love
and make them continuous