Modern poetry collection by the contemporary Cleveland poet Steven B. Smith
reading room #8 15 titles added 7.9.2003
these are my remnants uncivilized words which won't grow up and leave home poems working neither well enough to live nor bad enough to die they linger in hope of rewrite's salvation
Promise Land
Greyhound bound
To Tupperware City
Light like liquid Zen
Wars time tatter tight
As tight asses tie
Meat neat man to kine, kino
Contempt of course
Playing Plato's barn
Blue bloods
Stabilize fish at 7
Mime the ma'am
Bamboo cathedrals
In wondrous disarray
Just outside real
Where the fat
Flee frantic
Fleece feed the poor
Competing EXIT signs
Dance specific disease
Rude crude
Plus tax
Bouncing Betty's
Slouching Bethlehem belly
Slips on guilt
And splinters.
How weary do I journey on my way
Travel metered not by mile but by day
Seeing naught of moments signing each way's end
But instead the mending of my last way's wend
Into egg ovular
cut glass silence
slides
rusted circle
metal round
eye yellow
not there
stone heart
boomerang would
underbelly red
with watercolor
woodsperm soft
Pussy willow's virgin burp
Soft centers assorted creams
As satin sins Satan sent
Well at will
Damn stencil pencil schedule
And the dead cat band police
Coming plague
Worse than mom's brain
Reweaves inner demon's freedom
Second cousin's kiss
Old notes' odd nots
Fire's ice and thee
But not me
Marijuana, caffeine, and cookies race in vein
In pre-womb gloom before the films begin
Their win at any loss cross poo bare
Where wear's worthy but worn's not
And colons flame in Aspartame
As coffee colored caravans cross caramel colored seas
Off course, of course
For it's way too much for Charley's horse
Plug the nickel for his sister
The shorn are sharing their shearer
The shearers reshearing the shorn
Bitch
I want things which to you are wrong
But for which I yet long
I want to caress your breast
And when passions mounted manifest
Take my hate in hand
And caress you all the more
Make you writhe about in uncommon whore
Then kiss the taunt of your innocent thigh
And wrench from your lips a cry
Of pagan pleasure all your own
The low human female moan
Shattering your sacred hymeneal pride
Rampaging you full deep inside
So you feel my subfreudian lust
In each violent misogynous thrust
Of my hips against yours, dampened fire
Lashing within, exploding desire
For your certain no twists me inside
Till rape and respect, raging, collide
Carnivorous Chameleon
A miserable hunk of unfocused flesh
Cold bellied, no human parts
Excellent hero material, solid
And
Cherrys Mary
Marvelous flush of oft wanted flesh
Warm breasted, befurry human part
Foot crested beaut, bride
Request
The honor of your Venereal Presence
At their
Matrimonial Genuflection and Hump
Roast $1.69
(all you can meat, one blow price)
On or upon
The 1st Dissemble Two Faced Church
RSVP
Conception of 5 Octember A.D.
Bring your own
Rollings spats coffins cats
To be
Held at the convenience of the Ms
Situation pending
(a collection will be shaken)
Middle aged black man tried to ice-pick my stomach this afternoon
one block off Public Square at Ontario & Prospect.
"How do you want your prospect today sire, medium or serious damage?"
The bus had almost missed him in the rain
so he loudly abused the driver all the way to town.
I got off behind him and accidentally nudged his heel.
He snarled: Next time you step on my heel I'll hurt you.
Me: Why don't you shut the fuck up?
He: What did you say?
Excuse me sir, I said why don't you shut the fuck up.
A lot of sputtering (this is a man in a business suit)
muttering about shutting me up when suddenly
he's stabbing at my stomach with an ice-pick
well used, with a red handle, he'd taken from his briefcase.
I can't help myself as I automatically out dance his thrusts
(I was after all on the fencing team at Annapolis)
I laugh and say "you're something else".
This infuriates him more so he shoves his briefcase at his daughter
who's been trying to tug him away and starts slashing at me.
I was wrong.
I should have apologized when I nudged his heel
or at least kept silent when he snapped.
What I did was dance backwards across the street and call out
"You're one sick fuck, old boy"
heavy on the boy
and run down Ontario street, he & his ice-pick chasing me.
The man's going to explode with hate
and I fuel him further.
If I were black, I'd hate white.
Though he was an equal opportunity hater - the driver was black.
I've got to slow my tongue, fasten my brain
walk with compassion, cause less stress, not more.
I am happy. I should share.
