Pages

Thursday, November 27, 2014

TFLN Poem - Dorm Sex, Debate Skills

Hey.

Here's this week's www.textsfromlastnight.com poem.

(202):

Is 36 too old to fuck a college student? THIS IS BOTH IMPORTANT AND TIME SENSITIVE



I’m in the cab, Simon.
Got maybe twenty-six minutes left to reason me down.
Otherwise, I shutter off the phone,
Pop a Tic-Tac,
Make it to her dorm,
Spend the weekend straddling the top of a rickety twin bunk bed.
Fighting for dominance with her stuffed animals.

Rules. Of course.  I know – divide in half, add seven.
And that gives me, what?  26? 25?
Sex math’s hard.  And fact upon fact,
By mid-twenties,  (twenty-one minutes,
And no, don’t play the dignity card –
That’s like trying to start a fire
With wet leaves)

Women wise up.  Seek more.  See that ramshackle
Stare on my face, see me as a tourist of
Human experience.    (sixteen minutes, Simon –
You’ve got to really flex your rhetoric, buddy.
Been a dry spell.  Some goddamn
Annus horribilis )

And if love’s a tomb of compromise,
If I still, years later,
Wake ragged, screaming,
And I justify yesterday’s hateful word,
Each blow.  Each artful punishment.
Clearly, something deserved and true.
If there is no anger in response to that decade,
That child who earned no comfort or protection,
But only a well of manicured sadness,
Then let me live as a charming ghost.

I'll cope.
Be of service.
Entertain. Whisper.  Listen.
Hold court and self-protect.

It’s time.   I’ve paid the fare.

There’s a spittle of snow starting.

Too hot to stick.  Just makes a flitter and melts.

Talk soon.
 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

New player on ODES AND NONSENSE - King of the Hobos Cast Soundtrack -

Hey.

There's a cool new player on the website.  You can stream and listen to all of my original songs written for my one man hobo musical: KING OF THE HOBOS .

Heck, if you'd like to keep some of it for your very own, each track's available at Bandcamp for a buck each, and the whole album's as cheap as 7 dollars.  Go to it!

To stay updated on new information about this show, "Like" our Facebook page!

 - Jara

Thursday, November 20, 2014

TFLN Poem - Force, Fallout

Hey.

Here's this week's www.textsfromlastnight.com poem.




Mass.

Acceleration.

They couple.   The muscles contract.

Force yields.    

I cook in the resolute dark, Nana.

Can’t draw candy until it’s cool and still.
Every stir, every cricket in the mosaic of night,
(that shift and lens of cloud-sight where moon shines

On flakes of dead, whispery skin)


Shapes what I make.
No room for surprise.
You watched your telenovela,
You had your cinnamon tea,
You wrapped your brown, scuffed robe
Against your frame
And you went to bed.
Not to wake until 5 or so.
That’s what’s done.

I closed my eyes.  A moment.  Thought again of
Typing condolence letters in the Green Zone,
Boxes of ash, slightly warm,
Laden on my desk.
Working at night.  I was not prepared
By your footsteps
Or your shadowy hug.
And I’m sorry, Nana.  

It’s just a motion my body makes.
The chocolate seeks optimal care.
 

Thursday, November 13, 2014

TFLN Poem - Fans, Friends



(908):

She dumped me and then asked if I wanted to come to her improv show. Fuck theatre majors, man.

It’s this.
People come in two types.
Some want to be your friends, your company.
Some just want you as their fans.

Seat fillers.

Lasting validation lapping the flames of their candle of pride.

And if I’ve learned
A lick of anything
In this score and sixteen winters,
It’s this:

I’m not fan-chasing anymore.

You want a wall between us, fine.

Tight smile and a pause where confession should eke itself a home.

Too firm handshakes on the train, overly pitched exclamations to
Get Coffee Sometime.   Doors close.  Empty calories of time.

Me?  I’ll make with upstart living
Finding artists who are broken,
Friendly, crooked, open, not always sure.

And I’ll give my dire and impeccable word for them.
Create for them.
Pine for them.  Watch their tiny struggles as they slide their work
Into place.  Bear them witness as they grow.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

DD Poem - A Divorced Dad Pardons a Cockroach



A Divorced Dad Pardons a Cockroach

He’s home.
Counted couples on the train chugging
Home.
From the newly-minted lovers to the
Barely patient partners pressed together,
Silent.  Like a wall of night. Looking outward.
Teeth gritted, bobbing with the rails.
He can’t help but feel like he’s being humored,
Cosmically. The scuffed, metal doors open, a bucket seat becomes
Available.   These couples spy his infirmity. He is
Their cautionary tale.

Home.
And all his burden lifts:
Clothes scuttle. He creeps to
The bathroom, faces his
Toothpaste-accented reflection.
Then, from the corner of the shower tile,
Almost from out of sight,
A thin, brown roach hugs the wall.
He sighs.  Leans close, whispers to the creature:
Tonight, I wish you peace.  Come tomorrow,
We’ll war again.   He taps off the lights,
Leaves him to his gestures.