Looking Through a Glass Eye

May 31, 2010


          Glass eyes are cold.
          Glass eyes are hard.
Stored in velvet lined boxes.
Regular sanitary attention required.

Rainbow beams of prismed light
stop short at the painted pupil.
Corrective lenses only
focus on reflection.

Reflection
is dependant upon the angle
of the head.
Depth perception
comes up short.
Peripheral is one-sided.

For all of its anatomical accuracy
          of size and shape
and artistic quality
          of color and depth
it is still
not attached
to the optic nerve.

Happy Birthday Bush

March 18, 2010
The last of the assignments from Creative Writing 238 (which I passed with a resounding A). Instructed to stroll about campus in teams of four and find objects out of place. I found a birthday streamer under a bush.


Birthday streamers
     damp from dew and rain
     draped about the ground around me,
     clinging to the earth
          like a sheer silk nighty,
     mingling with my roots,
     becoming one with the mulch:

          carelessly planned,
but I do appreciate the thought.

…a set of Ginsu® steak knives—ABSOLUTELY FREE!

March 15, 2010
This was an "assignment" from Jim Lundy, emcee of Monday Night Poetry and Music (aka Monday Night Blues) held every Monday at 8:00 at the East Bay Meeting House. He challenged us to write a poem from the perspective of an inanimate object. I researched Ginsu® steak knives, they have a website, they are still available.


I am at rest,
     set in my appointed slot
     set in the block of wood
     set upon the kitchen counter
     set for service.

Hold my ergonomically designed handle,
     perfectly balanced,
     in the palm of your hand;

let my stain and rust resistant
     stainless steel blade
     do the work—

     gliding over sinews,
     releasing hot juices.
          Another slice?

My serrated teeth,
     that are never in need of sharpening,
     chew the flesh,
     part it as I pass,
     its tenderness no match
     for my razor sharp          wit
                                            ness,       ness
     my cutting power.

I have served,
     you are satiated.

In time,
     the local law
     find me set,
     set within
     the twenty-fifth fatal wound.
     Film at eleven.