PoemS of the daY 09.20.08

zebra head

at this bar
on 6th street
they have this strange motif
that kind of melts
cold war communism
with hunting
and all around the front
of the joint
there are the heads
of animals on display
moose, elk, and others
and the bartender
who’s wearing a
coke is it t-shirt
is telling ally and dan
all of their names
while i sit and have
a heineken and wonder
what the fuck?
but then the bartender points
above the bar
to this zebra head coming
out of the wall
so big
so black and white
that his snout almost reaches
to the stools
and i feel maybe we’ve seen
something impressive tonight.
but just as soon as we get
there we leave
and head back down 6th
toward a vegan restaurant
that has great sangria
ally asks dan about the bartender
and he says the guy is an asshole.
i want to ask about the zebra
but i’m so hungry
i can’t think of anything
but getting to the restaurant
and stuffing my face with something
that i wish was raw, bloody meat.


float on, okay

we have a sip
on the scotch
hear the buzz
of the fan
the hum of
the refrigerator
then i ask her
how it went
at the doctor’s
and she said
it went fine
the breasts are fine
the insides are fine
everything is fine
then i ask her
if she talked
to the doctor
about us
having babies
and she said
no
not based on last
night’s conversation
in the bar
and i said
okay
then we had
another sip
on the scotch
heard the buzz
of the fan
the hum of the
refrigerator
and i said
maybe next year
we’ll think about
going to venice
for a week
right before the
summer comes
again.