Shay Caroline's Blog

2 New Short Poems

IN THE TIME OF SHORTENING DAYS
The crickets have cometo sing summer out,
smooth black invisible chirringlike planets spinning.
I have fed the little ratwho tips the tray--
each of us awake in differing skins,on a yellow-leaf evening
under white stars
_________________

EMAIL FROM MY BROTHER
Hearing from you is like being operated onby a blind doctortrained in churchby the deaf dead.
_________ 

They Always Get Jesus In Prison

 
I see where David Berkowitz got Jesus in prisonlike they always do.Now he runs a ministry, adept as he always wasat deliveringsuccinctsermonettesdelivering people to God.
He was a postal clerk, always involvedwith the Message.Such converts always have a carnival of explanations--the Devilthe neighbor's dogand other invented booshwah.
Susan Atkins got Jesus in prison tooand wrote a memoirabout her redemption, her will turned overfrom Charlieto Christbut it could have been Moonies or Ekankar.
There ...

Conspicuous Christians

 
The conspicuous Christiansfill 4 booths and keep the waitress hopping.
12 adults5 young children needing highchairs in the aisle17 orders, all different5 special requests2 plates sent back1 spilled coffeeseparate checks. please.
After an hour, they leavedishes, napkins, crayons, sticky syrup spots,and1 tractwith2 crisp 1 dollar bills tucked neatly inside. 
_____

Dreams of Shiva

 
There is a thing I wanted so much--a thing always denied.The evil and the angelic made a pact
and placed this desire in my heartlike a ticket hidden in a bootworn by someone desperate in a station.
I tell people this desire is over--that I visit its grave on holy daysto leave woven weeds,
but there is no grave because it is not dead--only paralyzed like an aster when there is no wind,no sun, no moon, no garden.
There is someone coming up the stairsto hurt my heart, and they are so lit with beauty,s...

Detroit

The muscle cars have aged outof high school hamburger standsand live in landfillsor junkyards
but some survive.The codger across the street in the end housekeeps his in pristine condition,replacing its parts, babying its body
in ways he can't do for himself.I see him rolling out down the street,into youth,joy,music,health,
until he rounds the cornerand disappears._____

Oriental Bittersweet

Oriental Bittersweether arms full of swansnever meant, no really nevermeant you any harm.
Oriental Bittersweetcuts her body with a bladeand never sees, no never reallysees the mess she's made.
Oriental Bittersweethas horse blanket hair--blacktop eyes and blackstrap tongueand promises she cares.
Oriental Bittersweetknows EMT's by name--she'll take you with her, with her takenhere she comes again.______

At 23 (for Bob Green--not the famous one)

Our mutual friendhad told youhow I used to be Queen of a very small tribe.
"It seems almost..." I said, hesitating."Like it really happened?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"It did happen, but nowthings are so different that it seemsridiculous."
I sat there,shot full of arrows like Saint Sebastian--like him, not dyingbut split and empty like a dead pew.
There are more gospels than they let on, you know.This man loaned me two records--Joni Mitchelland It's a Beautiful Day.
Like poetry, it was love for life...

Ooga Booga

 
Ooga booga, darling.It's me, sunflower facethe fox-hearted misdirected letter of your dreams.
I live in the space between the walls.I play Candyland with brain-injured devilsfor a pot of chilly blue dawns.
I raid your fridge while you dream of dolphins.I tip-toe around your place, judging the art,boiling the pasta, making a mess.
That's me saying, "love me" from the heat vents.That's my voice on the tv during your ballgame,making you fuck with the settings.
Give in, please. I haven't got all day.On...

Word Garden Word List--Anna Karenina

 
Hello my little Russian dolls! This week our source is Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." I read it some years ago and despite the long tangents into agrarian issues of the 19th century, it remains one of the most memorable novels that I have ever read. If only Tolstoy, Hugo, and Dickens would have had Max Perkins for an editor! 
Max Perkins
What we do here is to use at least 3 of the 20 words provided in a new, original poem of our own. Then simply link up, avoid railroads, and wear a big hat with f...

Pony For Dray Horse

 If milkmaids dance,I haven't seen it.
That doesn't mean it doesn't happenwhen I'm asleepor dying.
If apples can be poisonedI haven't tasted one.
That doesn't mean to trust your grocer,lover,or restauranteur.
Oh you, decked in white blossoms like some ironic saint,evangelizing my arms, my tongue, my willlike the loving dead.
I know now that I was kissing a corpse--one heart beating for two,pony for dray horse, dragging along.
I can't swear that I'll be smarter next time,but I mean to be.
I'll remember ...