Catch the Cat

Here's what happened

In the front of the market

Saturday suburban sprawl

Setting up bowling pins

For kids to knock down

But we've been around

Since the day before yesterday

And the night before that

The girl in the cowboy hat can't sing

But she brings in the bucks and her cat is named Catch

All holy modes await

For the starlet and her fate

She daydreams

She's coming down a maritime aisle in a white long dress

But it's not her wedding day

The guy she loves is far away

Up and at the peak of a sham mountain

While his girl and Catch the cat sleep peacefully

On a bed made of tooth and nail

As the harbor ships set sail for pirate ports

That's what happened in the peace of the evening

Another Saturday, another 'I know you know I know"

That's all good and just

But the guy regards the rust

As time slip slip slipping

Into the future, far from the flaws and pinned-down hair

The fractures and the beauty stare

As Catch the cat says "he'll be back"

Or, more accurately, purrs and falls asleep

In the clutch crossed heart of a sweet sweat dream

February 4, 2009

Signal Hill Sunday Morning

I haven't been here before
Haven't found a reason to come all this way
This far south and west of Cherry

This far east and north of 7th
Not until this morning
I felt like maybe
I was in a hurry
Had to find the nearest location
Not necessarily the best one
Just the one that I could get to as soon as possible
So I could stroll the aisles for 100 minutes
Pretending to be in a hurry
No need to worry
The effects will wear off
Around the time I need to unwind
Alone in the dark morning cloud of my second and so far best of my Long Beach apartments

I start in present tense
I move to past or more like present looking back
Then the past tense looking forward to a present that's now past
As I write this
Goddamn poem
To justify the picture you see
It was a Sunday morning, the last day of the first month
Of the second decade of the 21st century
There's a Target on E. 33rd, Signal Hill
They're remodeling
There's an oil well just down the street and around the corner
Meaning there's a derrick just down the street and around the corner
Meaning there's a pumpjack.... a nodding donkey... a thirsty bird
Just down the street and around the corner

Slow fade:
I kept the receipt
Actually there were two 'cause I bought electronics too
I kept the receipts
Spent $188 and now I think I spend way too much
I'm returning the gizmo and the high-end toothbrush
I'm keeping the toothpaste and high fiber bars
I never did get the green Brita pitcher
And that's what I went there for
In the first place

Fast fade:
I kept the receipt
Two, not one
I kept the receipts  

2.2.10