The Power of Suggestion

Avocado green, 
the blender base. 
Nonsense machines
Lies
The power of suggestion 
Osterizer
Cycle/blend
Imperial
Pulse/Magic
Autocorrect: Pulse|Matic
The shape of a cross in italics 
— a symbol for what? 
Ease, efficiency, calm, control
Master of the Kitchen
Whirling liquid — Master Blender 
Master Lie Lender

chop
grate
grind
stir
purée
whip
mix
blend
frappé
liquefy

Can we please just admit that every button does the same thing? 

The power of suggestion is great, but I’m not deceived. 

orange
white 
clear glass
cups measured
plug
cord
Magician
Electric Magician 
Magic Machine
From solid to liquid 
In seconds
The Liquefier 

From something to almost nothing — is that what we want? 

Try this button 
Watch out — there’s no going back. 

Avocado green.
The color that opens up
a river of falsities 
a mirage of promises
Santa Claus clauses’ revealed via home machine
Corporate grownup-masquerade-speak for simple plain facts 
that reveal a basic wheel in a plastic box
The first curtain pulled back 
of many 

Child, not fooled any more 
Child, sees buttons and words and finally detects the nonsense layers applied so thick
Silly
Got my pulsematic pulse going 
Just from remembering avocado green. 

Just from thinking about 
avocado green.

White Shirts

I saw a clothes line
that was nothing more
or less
than a clothes line
except for its white shirts
barely tethered there
in the directionless wind
that might be perceived
as those on the verge
but not quite ready
to surrender.

Quiet Through Tunnel

A crow
A one-stringed instrument
Traditional music on a transistor radio
A car door slam
A city bus
Electric burger fan
Tour guide
Double-decker bus ride
Cable car bell
Voices in agreement
— then in dispute
Plastic bottle dog chew
A swoosh of a car on Columbus
And another
Another
Up the alley
Horn in the distance
Bread truck slowing
Waves
Whistles
Computer warnings
Loose manhole cover
Library door, shhhhhh,
Finger snap, baby cry
Refrigerator switch
Thrumming electricity
Church bell ringing
One,
two,
three.

An Umbrella

An umbrella.
A drip
curved
sliding down
fit perfectly
in the crevice of the point
at the top
sliding down.

Door

Door,
you will make me happy to close you.
Look at all your beautiful knobs
each a different color
each a different idea
a new approach
a quiet exit
a new adventure
a retreat
a symbol
for something great
and undetermined
unexplored
full of potential
waiting to be opened.

Something to Say

I have something to say
that I've never said before.
Here it comes
unraveling from my mind
into the present.

The Painting  (or The Effects of Edvard Munch)

All huddled in a room
craning our necks, leaning from side to side to see
the woman portrayed, head in hands, by the bedside.

A collective moan, a massive sigh, a sinking in, a swallow for all humanity,
As if the hardwood floor had turned to quicksand and the huddle itself was held up
with the weight of mass emotions.
Our feet slowly sliding,
we all stood weeping,
inside or out
for the pain from that scene
100 more years ago
100 years from now
for right now
for yesterday
for disappointment
for loss
for unexplained
inexplicable
nonsensical
mind-stopping
heart-bending
distorting
blasted white
dark green
pure red
deepest blue
obliterating
silence-making
wailing
fear
dread
disaster
blasting
hollow-making
pain.


A walk in the neighborhood

Mattress sales are down again.

Creepy cardboard boxes
all in a pile.

Telephone pole toothbrush
high in the sky.

Florescent red burglar alarm
ready to ring.

Pretend bird house
for books, just can’t not look.

Miniature white picket fence
for a lonely tree.

Almost home.

One last thing: A moon face painting, or is it a pizza?
– you decide. 

Impressions of a Five Dollar Bill

Green
Mildew green
1800s green
yellowed white
not white
graying, fading white
floating stars
going nowhere
seal of approval
official stamp
final document
letters
numbers
no order
codes
eagle feet
ribbons
banners
reserved
organza silk
ribbon tie
starched shirt
jacket
vest
columns
shrubs
colonial décor
five
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
legal
public
private
raised eyebrow
looping waves
candy ribbons
half-mast lids
dreams locked in
high forehead
psychedelic warps and wefts
hidden messages
determination
pointalism
linalism
050505050505050
in light, light yellow
purple!
Didn’t even see it, purple!
quiet
loud
stern
resolved
resting
floating
shifting
moving
mass
public
art
not art
no art
symbol
only symbol
idea
before shape
IDEA
thought
idea
no shape
stand in
promise
secret value
invisible value
whisper
trade
thought
idea
air
light green
lightest green
no green
no

Any Gesture

Reach for a sponge and watch the shapes it makes as it crosses your tabletop.

Hold a glass of water in your hand.

Pour powdered detergent into the washing machine and wait for the bubbles.

Cut paper.

Mark paper with pen, pencil, eraser.

Walk downstairs.

Hold your breath.

Nod over and over again.

Shake your head.

Pull your hair up into a tiny ball on top of your head.

Any gesture can be seen as a creative gesture.

Hold those thoughts.

Keep seeing these things.

Stay with this motion.

Motion. Stillness.

Stillness. Motion.

Any gesture can be seen as a creative gesture.

Diary of a Sphere, High Point

They call me cheap
Average
Practically disposable
Flimsy, fuzzy, fluorescent yellow outsides
Rubbery insides 

But I fly high
In an arc 
A blur of smiley faces, a sea of emojis, beneath me
Passing the midpoint 
No falling
No tangling 
Just soaring 
Gliding 
Me and the breeze
More like a wind tunnel
Where I'm the wind 
And the air is my tunnel
It happens so fast
A second 
A snap
A blink
A tap
And I'm done 
Not over, I've reached the highest point
Of vision
Speed
Clarity
Understanding 
Solace
Calm

Landing
Rolling
To a standstill 
I arrive as if meeting a new planet
For the first time
Which opens my felted chartreuse eyes like never before. 

An amusement park for pigeons

Stove pipes and wire frames
from abandoned billboards
or forgotten plans.
Pushed back to the edge of the building,
building a new space
without walls
without specific direction
or purpose
these spokes and poles,
cylinders and smoke-less pipes
take on new meaning
for nearly flightless birds
who climb and play
look out from towers
imagined royal
whirling and spinning
on rusty wheels
urban blight ferris wheels
for fun
creaking, climbing ladders
rotten planks for daring
occasional pools of condensation from fog, smog
steaming sometimes, like a spa for rats.
This place, space is a paradise for pigeons
flocking far and wide
the word is out
to climb and crawl, spin and whirl
rest and relax
meander and watch.
This is a destination, a beginning and end
for grey feathered friends to be together
sing and chirp, walk and talk
sit and wonder
while eyes from human onlookers
gaze on their actions
as if they spell an answer to the riddle,
the puzzle they’ve been puzzling for years
looking from that window upon
their amusement park for pigeons.

Some of the Objects in This Room are ON

Look around
do you see anything that’s ON?
Maybe some things are OFF
and that reveals the ones that are ON.
Look on top of that shelf
where the cardboard cake sits.
I’m pretty sure that’s on
because it’s glowing yellow.

 
And if you weren’t able to see it at first, just look around.
It starts with the things around it.
When those things don’t glow,
you are able to see the things that do.

An Endless Stream of Questions

an endless stream of questions
different words
different configurations of letters
different order of thoughts
recreated
reorganized
repeated
with variation
but an endless stream of questions
keep asking
attempting to answer
the questions keep coming
this way
that way
again
repeat
different words
different order
mixed up
in a new bag
different day
different questions
but close to the same questions
we begin where we began again
repeating
asking
not really answering
wondering
questioning
conceptualizing
reorganizing
again
again
whirling
ideas
spinning
thoughts
cycling
images
and we’re here again
beginning again
an endless loop
of questions
we all want answered
or do we
do we really just want to keep asking
wondering
experiencing
questioning?
Beginning at the beginning again,
again.