Smith poems December 2024
2024.12.2 – J. D. Vance
2024.12.2 – There’s running on empty
2024.12.5 – It’s the leash I could do
2024.12.5 – Blood of love
2024.12.6 – Aaahhh the easing of the pressure
2024.12.6 – Slow folk on highway
2024.12.6 – “I’ve got to go downstairs
2024.12.8 – Hey U S of A
2024.12.9 – The gripes of wrath
2024.12.10 – I look
2024.12.11 – The city seeps
2024.12.11 – Is night
2024.12.13 – Dog’s talking to me
2024.12.13 – If mirror life looked into their mirror
2024.12.14 – Got my rage on
2024.12.15 – O woe is man, for I am omen
2024.12.16 – Tantalus never tastes grapes
2024.12.17 – No light in sky
2024.12.17 – The way we’re going
2024.12.18 – Lilac sky
2024.12.18 – Lilac dawn gone
2024.12.19 – Why does society expect me to feel bad
2024.12.19 – Go into the light without dark
2024.12.20 – He /She / It looks down
2024.12.22 – Smokestack lightning flashes in fog
2024.12.22 – I used to program the machine
2024.12.24 – To Lady on her 52nd Birthday
2024.12.24 – There’s humane
2024.12.25 – The word salad seasons
2024.12.25 – As hard as it is
2024.12.26 – Gummy gummy gummy
2024.12.27 – Feline dies of bird flu
2024.12.27 – Pale violet on horizon
2024.12.28 – Can’t kill myself
2024.12.29 – No wise no wisdom lotta woes
2024.12.29 – Tried for the big time
2024.12.30 – Each night I take myself apart
~ ~ ~
J.D. Vance
do and say anything
to advance
~ ~ ~
There’s running on empty
then there’s this steroidal
keep-going-no-matter-what
as parts fall off
small things like kidneys
a cut of colon
a bit of back
a flesh tumor crying horror
with no STOP option
I reach for phone
grab vape instead
no known clear here
so back to before
in long hard nothing
a going nowhere
already gone
keep going
hoping
not knowing
some say God
set everything in motion
then wiped His memory
so He could enjoy
The Show
so one more time
why are we the punch line?
~ ~ ~
As the coffee slowly creeps
toward the surface
through no of go
and lie of why
we continue
new day
way
There’s 8-fold path
there’s foot in foot of foot
life is
as always
rent
and the check ain’t in the mail
~ ~ ~
It’s the leash I could do
said the dogwalker
to the harness
~ ~ ~
Blood of love
in dirt of rebirth
I move in small arcs
with large pains
must be using muscle memory
cuz I’m still moving
Said you’re on or off the bus
Taint true
you can be over, under
front, back, both sides
and dimensions in between
and believe me
I been all
be some now
going down this unknown road
with unknown load
pointy sticks stuck in back
as goad
And as for bus go
I don’t know
but I’m a hangin’ on
~ ~ ~
Aaahhh the easing of the pressure
of holding myself together
in this hellish whether
take another toke
ain’t no joke
weed eases bleed of bad
but baby bad abounds
in hounds
of Capitalistic Hell
nothing new
the many used by few
never told true
killing you
and me
for free
they cheat their mothers
screw their brothers
as for the others
they’re meat
to beat
eat
but as bad gets badder
thoughts of maybe better
perk
perhaps early work
in getting jerks jailed
for forbiddances
and fails
evil’s empowered
bad guys in the tower
no other way to put it
didn’t have to happen
doesn’t have to be
depends
as always
on you and me
what’s it gonna be?
~ ~ ~
Slow folk on highway
heavy hammer just behind
in The Temple of the Turning
~ ~ ~
“I’ve got to go downstairs
and take the laundry upstairs”
said Sisyphus to his wife.
“Don’t drop it” she cackled
~ ~ ~
Hey U S of A
slick sick list here
not one you want to be
number one on
nine times world wide
#Total Crimes
*Rape
*CO2 Emissions
*Divorce Rate
*Teen Birth Rate
*Heart Attack
*McDonald’s Restaurants
*Plastic Surgery
*Prisoners
Lotta sad seeping down
cuzza bad wearing crowns
Steal enough
they make you a king
guess it’s always been a thing
the strong in force
but weak in heart and mind
are usually unkind
history finds
Of course
No mystery here
good with bad cannot cohere
cuz paths diverge
in different woulds
that end in flesh
or cinder
Which will will we
I wonder
~ ~ ~
The gripes of wrath
social aftermaths
bite my ass
pay a pig a day
and capitalism still
won’t go away
but hey
what can I say
it’s the way
I have spoken
ofttimes token
ain’t jokin’
jive ‘n strivin’
for the livin’
not the dyin’
keep on tryin’
not to lie
as I pry
tug at why
in magic try
of sun
and moon
and sky
no one home
but hope alone
~ ~ ~
I look
I watch
I don’t understand
Or maybe do
ole lizard brain and you
took hunger
need
danger
greed
to crawl sea bottom
to land top and not stop
And looks like lizard brain
gonna crawl us right back down
to slime and crowd
of life biting life to survive
in unstrive
Sorta like it never stopped
just got lipstick put on the slop
and called smart
(but not, sings the lark)
O well
buy and sell bye-bye cell
here we a-go-go to lower down woes
stuffin’ our pockets
with glop
Hug my body
hug my spirit
hug my whole
Sorry soul
~ ~ ~
The city seeps
juices
uses
cries cross hill
for creatures of will
and won’t
but I don’t answer
All you got
is you
your honor
your corner
your cancer
Outside horror
normal
day one
to day done
eat must eat
cheat must cheat
got us out of the ocean
into the trees
down to the penthouse
Their rent rends
they tent trends
to bad ends
All we got
is our corner spot
to soothe the knot of never
Grab a chair
glad you’re here
well come to my corner
We’ll raise our thumbs
to the dumb someones
humping money fever
~ ~ ~
Is night
but still light
dark trees black against falling snow
moon somewhere above
fog, deep fog
glowing city half smoked dope infused
with cry and laughter
now
and ever after
streetlight delight
~ ~ ~
Dog’s talking to me
Watching talk box
up stairs he’s too old to climb
he barks to go out
I comply
coming back in
I grab a candy bar
he gives me his where’s mine look
I ignore it
go up
10 minutes later bark
come down
he’s standing by the pantry door
where treats are
demanding
I laugh
give him his treat
back upstairs
15 minutes later another bark
down
he’s by his bed
in which cat’s sprawled
I remove cat
dog gets in
I’m glad we had this talk
he sighs
I go upstairs
again
happy I understood
~ ~ ~
If mirror life looked into their mirror
would we be what they see?
“Scientists Say Mirror Bacteria
‘Should Not Be Created'”
it doesn’t end, does it?
friend sez
“we’re rollin down hill
and pickin up speed”
heck
can’t even say
that was yesterday
and yesterday’s gone
cuz the future’s waving at us
in the rearview mirror
they talkin’
o boy they talkin
talkin
growing mini-brains with eyes
time crystals in quantum computers
reviving 24,000 yr-old permafrost zombies
making mutant daddy shortlegs
reversing age
talking zero with crows
bringing back wooly mammoths
seeding the sky to scare the sun
bleeding sea for electricity
freeze drying the arctic
ignoring the scars
fleeing to Mars
putting Liberty behind bars
gonna ban the tran, be The Man
what a bloodsucking end
from small-handed men
a bit disappointing, my friend
~ ~ ~
Got my rage on
read the news
amped my inner anger with coffee
mellowed that a bit with weed
so sun’s coming up
and I’m wound
with nowhere to go
and I ain’t going slow, Moe
ain’t going slow
but I’m going
I’m going to be a better person
someday
going to raise rationality
someday
lower nationality
someway
and actually
I lie
won’t even try
gonna keep stumblebumbing why
crashing through the course
raising rants and crying curse
and worse
ain’t gonna close my eyes
in possum try
will crawl on through the hurt
and work
to help move more mellow plan
be more in the am
junking my jerk
losing smirk
irk
lot of murk
~ ~ ~
O woe is man, for I am omen
“Sounds like Shakespeare”
No, just me
in shaky peer down history
~ ~ ~
Tantalus never tastes grapes
nor Sisyphus hilltop seizes
yet we know them you and me
their failures make them famous
unlike what my mirror returns
lots of little losses
often close, but not enough to pay
or earn return for lowness
so I trod side streets only
never big, never known, never lonely
Is good deal
life is real
~ ~ ~
No light in sky
small spark in me
another day of chasing why
cuz life is never free
I trod the treads ahead
carry past on back
no idea what to spend
getting back on track
Every day is starting over
every day is just the same
every day is 4-leaf clover
every day is blame
Is it all a game?
Don’t make no difference
what they say
still gotta play
But what the hey
~ ~ ~
The way we’re going
we’re heading for owing
an owing often hard
Be that it may
perhaps we can pre-pay
future prospect
Helped someone today
felt better
about eat and play
But also
that is the way
of 8-fold pick’n’pay
Right path
right action
right word
right thought
And the four other oughts
I’ve forgot
So there goes the arc of my plot
Bye-bye old burden
hello new
how you?
~ ~ ~
Lilac sky
black tree branches
today and tomorrow
sunrise or sorrow
two into one
~ ~ ~
Lilac dawn gone
I made it through the day
night cushions me
from reality
soon sleep
re-ravel sleeve of care
adding up my brownie points
and used-Camelots
subtracting shudda-beens
from Karma plots
leaves me somewhere twixt
shoe and leather
maybe okay
maybe bad whether
but who am I to judge?
~ ~ ~
Why does society expect me to feel bad
about the murder of a health C.E.O.
who made his living killing other people?
~ ~ ~
Go into the light without dark
go into the dark without light
go
call me when you return
~ ~ ~
He / She / It looks down
on our toilet paper world
deems it dirty
Blame the paper
not the plumber
for the proper promptly pay
Purgatory’s probably less fun
than Impurgatory
I’d unmagine
There’s a line
where lines align
in time
There’s time
that thinks it’s rosemary
but that’s relative
Faster you go
the younger you are
higher your slow
Is it delight
or sour devils
we fight
Whatever
I surrender
to what’s right*
*right of course
less a concept
than the need to justify now
[as always]
~ ~ ~
Smokestack lightning flashes in fog
guides us though the slog
of shudda wudda cudda
heading for a better bend
2 hours in car in cold parking lot
this here-we-are a nowhere-to-go
as wife does her hair
her hands
her toes
monthly
I watch the come and go
tavern to my left
Dairy Mart on right
salon ahead
so far not a moving car
nary a narrative nibble
bread basket empty
except empty’s never empty
whether cat’s dead or alive
I sit drinking bad coffee
eating cheap cookies
snow falling soft
wet
slow
windshield cheap holiday card
of lost innocence
our family Christmas cancelled
by Covid age of plague
slow fall of snow
hides the unhidden
muffles sound
flesh demands of lizard brains dampened
cold slows them down
which is why
they’re warming the planet
to thicken their lizard musk
we splay
trapped in crap of The Corporocrats
whose eyes are never filled
new snow covers our sins in white
except white is one of our sins
snow falters
flesh flounders
bad coffee getting cranky
up and down the hill
rock in roll here we go
again
joy always fades
sometimes so does pain
words slow know where to go
~ ~ ~
I used to program the machine
code in
code out
if else
if
else
now I’m number unknown
alone in some side buffer cache
waiting for my way
to explain
why I missed the station
getting
of course
no explanation
~ ~ ~
To Lady on her 52nd Birthday
This is desiccated to the one I love
cuz that’s what I’d be without her
This is dedicated to the one I love
cuz that’s what she is
19 years 3 months 13 days
of what I thought wouldn’t
Now must
We the deal real
no Hollow Would & Bovine
More random and roaming
roaring down Vroomin Road
Happy bornday, baby
happy cancelled Covid Christmas
Love sharing our unknown going
cherish our bearing of been
I’ll continue driving, Lady
you decide our where and when
~ ~ ~
There’s humane
and there’s human
one doesn’t take out the trash
You can trim my eyebrows
and put me in a suit
but I’m still farm boy fool
in its best essence
King court jester
I tell truths
and nobody listens
we’re all happy
~ ~ ~
The word salad seasons
the eye salad which seasons
the mind salad lacking reason
It’s all one big mixture
of what you perceive
versus me
Plus the 8 billion others
othernesses
adding up their messes
Is red red?
Is dead dead?
Is feed fed?
When?
How?
Why?
What is truth
but a lie for youth
~ ~ ~
As hard as it is
it’s a treasure to be alive
sometimes even a pleasure
But what a mess
this having to guess
flee fight feed fornicate
They say time isn’t
and space is questionable as well
it’s gravity wells all the way down
To . . . ?
And speaking of such
our universe is expanding
but into what, exactly?
Of course answers don’t matter
not these
not here
Just shiny beads strung on string
before hungry eyes
unfilled
Rent is rent
flesh is flesh
and sometimes rent must rend
But when rend don’t end
and game goes on
there’s the fun
And for fuel?
me, fool
tool
You?
~ ~ ~
Gummy gummy gummy
I got glow in my tummy
helping head and body painS
Used to use Head & Shoulders
but now that I’m older
I shave my head to plain
Which is better
for you and me brother
other than sister or two
But apple was bit
by human with clit
so whatcha gonna do
Though to be upfront
be better planet
had females had the rule
Cuz gotta be honest
planet wouldn’t be hottest
if men didn’t doo-doo do
Not pointing fingers
cuz damage long lingers
no matter who got us here
Take ticket for trip
to garbage pit
and loop of starting over
Who knows how it’ll go
as you compost and grow
at least you’re part of the future
~ ~ ~
Feline dies of bird flu
the old go-around goes around
on karma carousel
~ ~ ~
Pale violet on horizon
of rising sun
Is earth angry?
or sad?
Or both?
~ ~ ~
Can’t kill myself
my younger brother already did
and I don’t do 2nd acts
Have to hang on anyway
there might be a blooper reel
after the credits
~ ~ ~
No wise no wisdom lotta woes
that’s the way the world grows
should I eat you?
should I greet you?
maybe beat you to a pulp?
treat you to a gulp?
what’re the rules?
who’re the fools?
I ask in call
mirror mirror on the wall
there’s a lot of hope
it’s all a joke
but life
is strife
eat eaten
rent bent
and yet all this while
a smile is still a smile
a hand grand
as is understand
so my aim
beat reality at its own game
~ ~ ~
Tried for the big time
but couldn’t get a ticket
so now I fix it
by going small
little
brief
cull
relief
all
a slice of sun
the red of watermelon
the come hither slither of lilac
the heart’s “What’s that!?”
huckleberry howdy
sky uncloudy
fruit bats
not being rude
but to put it crude
I praise the pearls in the pus
the sparkle in the dark of us
no front or back
no fare unfair
on or off the omnibus
pretty happy going slow
no road high but don’t feel low
in wonder why
woe go now knot know
~ ~ ~
Each night I take myself apart
put ears in charger
teeth in water
brain in the compost
Morning comes
charged ears back in head
cleaned teeth in mouth
where’s my brain?
~ ~ ~