The Noise
I like the music here
though the man behind the counter
fondles the handle of his knife
whenever I ogle his smoking, pregnant
Ukrainian wife.
But that other man –
it is like a tarantula
dancing on the scrotum,
or smaller spiders
flitting along the eyelids,
depositing eggs amongst the lashes,
the “tink, tink, tink”
of his computer game.
That is what the noise
is to me, that is why
I look at him this way.
Angel Food
I ate a heaping angel food cake
fresh from the Chinese baker.
Steaming, sweet and blonde
I thought of you.
Children Mock Me
After I broke up with L
I moved to a hotel in Chinatown,
a 9×12 room, with a kitchen
and two bathrooms on every floor.
There’s a nursery school playground
on a roof across from my window.
Every day the kids wake me up
and I practice the guitar for an hour or so.
One morning I was playing and singing
and I heard “la,la,la,la,la!”
I opened the curtains
and there were 10 or 15 toddlers
staring at my room and laughing.
I didn’t know they could hear me.
Because of the low rent
I’m stuck in that little room.
L wanted kids and I didn’t.
I got them anyhow.
Loved the last two especially..