The Shoe Store

you can pull and pull and pull but nothing will come of it
you can strain and strain and strain but nothing will inspire
you can rustle with the fabric and ask me for a gift
but nothing will come of it, nothing will inspire

you can hand me a flyer and tell me what I’m missing
you can point me to the street and tell me where you’ll be
you can scramble for an angle and take me with you
but I’m not going with you, I’m going home alone

these were the issues I had to grapple with in 1987
I was young and it was sunny and we were in Anaheim
these were the tensions I had to quash in 1987
there are always ways to get in trouble into Anaheim
and it’s strange but I don’t remember their names
and it’s strange but I do remember the shoe store
and it’s strange but I don’t remember my reaction
and it’s strange but I do remember the shoe store

June 2, 1999

Berkeley

I still see the remnants
of the trip we made to....
you knew where, the place that can’t be named
because we are not wanted there
as we should be

one remnant is liquid blue
one remnant is worn to thread
one remnant is burning sad songs into the firmament
and it’s sticking, I can hear it, it’s sticking

when we scrounged up the will
to step over the hooded homeless and go in for coffee
we were branding the city with our disappointment
we walked in and out quickly
because to stay and linger
would not have been Egyptian

April 22, 1999

Welcome / Take The Body With You

Welcome. Here is where you will find a poem by me, every day, for the rest of my life, starting today. We'll start with the site's namesake, written 11 years and 3 days ago. Enjoy.

Take the Body With You

I paid too much for this corpse to still be here
I gave too much of my time to science and history
I am better than that, more deserving of honor
so go home, take the body with you, go home now

I tried to tell you I had no interest in keeping
my hand on the pulse of the angry and jaded
I tried to tell you but you scoffed, dismissingly
so go home, take the body with you, go home now

I'm not bitter or hopeless, I'm just tired and bored
I have no sense of misdirected apathy and lethargy
there's not enough space in this apartment for the three of us
so go home, take the body with you, go home now

October 26, 1995