ohhhh . . .
who lives
in a pineapple
under the sea?
my childhood

bacon and eggs
over easy
when I was your age
I served trolls
wine and cheese

my new apartment
littered with packed boxes,
and i wonder about
the men who will make
those their homes

abandoned roads
street lamps and signs
made for homes
never built
STAY OUT

top quarter champion

TOP half Chamption

bottom quarter champion

looking at this photograph
the smell of his garage
lingers on my nostrils;
motor oil, sunflower seeds,
and grandpa's hugs

the way I am
no longer
a bread and butter
toast and jam
man

the chalk outline of the base
dissolves into the cracked ground
where just 5 years ago
you smiled at me
for the first time

her key inserted
to unlock my heart
but my tumblers
are broken
from my ex's lockpick

TOP half champion

CHAMPION
 

BOTTOM half champion

wide green field
young on one side
old on the other
war, football, tag, baseball
now, just another lot

my sore aging back remembers
how restless winter horses
made the cold arena sand
seem somehow familiar
with each spin or buck

the scent of the wooden stage,
the heat of the lights on my skin--
ghostly applause fills my ears
and i instinctively
take a bow

the wooden stage
held me,
while the other me
was under the
spotlight

top quarter champion

BOTTOM half champion

bottom quarter champion

freshman homecoming dance
picking my daughter up early
she tells me all about
how prince charming
turned out to be a frog

in the front room
I recall the day
you told me
we were having a baby
though I wasn't pregnant

seeing my high school years later
I look at the softball diamond
and still wish the coach
had let me play through the injury
just one inning the final game

taking breath
i prepare
to talk my way out
of
detention