Simple Things/ Lang Kenneth Haynes
Poetry for you
Poetry for you
The Promise
I asked my kids to never
Become mimes or water aerobics
instructors
Other than that it’s all open
How wonderful of me
To leave their possibilities
Relatively unfettered
Which, of course
Accentuates interest
In the forbidden areas
Which strengthens the propensity
For secrecy
I have unknowingly
Pushed them to become
CIA agents
Good thing there is a long delay
Between what I say and
What they hear
Except when they hear what I’m
going to say
Before I say it
We are all complicit
In this odd thing
Called life
We all inhale wind
From the ant that farted
At the base of the Great Pyramid
Before it was built
Before it was thought of
I guess I’ll mow the grass now
Or ride my motorcycle
Or write a poem that follows some
form
Nah
I’ll ride my motorcycle
The tank is full
For now
******
I asked my kids to never
Become mimes or water aerobics
instructors
Other than that it’s all open
How wonderful of me
To leave their possibilities
Relatively unfettered
Which, of course
Accentuates interest
In the forbidden areas
Which strengthens the propensity
For secrecy
I have unknowingly
Pushed them to become
CIA agents
Good thing there is a long delay
Between what I say and
What they hear
Except when they hear what I’m
going to say
Before I say it
We are all complicit
In this odd thing
Called life
We all inhale wind
From the ant that farted
At the base of the Great Pyramid
Before it was built
Before it was thought of
I guess I’ll mow the grass now
Or ride my motorcycle
Or write a poem that follows some
form
Nah
I’ll ride my motorcycle
The tank is full
For now
******
Ode to Arrogance
You said whatever you wanted to
say
Did whatever you wanted to do
Since you set foot on stolen land
Way back before you could
remember
In the way people usually think
about remembering
Impunity was your birthright
Violence will reap even more
money and power
Consequences for you are different
than pay-back for me
But a tamper-proof reckoning is
imminent
In fact, it has already happened
Just waiting for you to see it
In non-linear time
I no longer want to stand near you
The whirlpool you have created
Is gaining strength and urgency
I don’t want it to mistake me for
you
I’ll watch from shore
Enjoy the depths of your creation
******
You said whatever you wanted to
say
Did whatever you wanted to do
Since you set foot on stolen land
Way back before you could
remember
In the way people usually think
about remembering
Impunity was your birthright
Violence will reap even more
money and power
Consequences for you are different
than pay-back for me
But a tamper-proof reckoning is
imminent
In fact, it has already happened
Just waiting for you to see it
In non-linear time
I no longer want to stand near you
The whirlpool you have created
Is gaining strength and urgency
I don’t want it to mistake me for
you
I’ll watch from shore
Enjoy the depths of your creation
******
Lookey Here
He looked at me as if he knew me
Or thought he did
Then thought the better of it
When he realized that
I was probably someone else
Who looked like the bus driver
Or hospital CNA
Or sanitation engineer
Or the new science teacher
At his daughter’s school
Who had a darker complexion
Than most of the other teachers
Especially the ones who taught
Science and math
Or maybe I was the guy who had
Moved across the street from his
family
Last year
The one he never made eye contact
with
For fear that his face would freeze
and fall off
Like his mother – God rest her soul
– had told him
In the old days in the old
neighborhood
The day he told her that he was
bringing
A colored friend home for dinner
Or maybe he still believed he’d turn
into a pillar of salt and
Get licked to death by salt-depraved
deer
That had moved to the suburbs
Their salt blocks removed by the
DNR
To stem the tide of Chronic Wasting
Disease
Even though the venison was still
probably good enough
To give to poor people
Nah
He didn’t want to take the chance
of maybe knowing me
That’s a start
At least it shows he no longer
believes we are all
One and the same
BOO!
Just joking
You can change your pants now
******
He looked at me as if he knew me
Or thought he did
Then thought the better of it
When he realized that
I was probably someone else
Who looked like the bus driver
Or hospital CNA
Or sanitation engineer
Or the new science teacher
At his daughter’s school
Who had a darker complexion
Than most of the other teachers
Especially the ones who taught
Science and math
Or maybe I was the guy who had
Moved across the street from his
family
Last year
The one he never made eye contact
with
For fear that his face would freeze
and fall off
Like his mother – God rest her soul
– had told him
In the old days in the old
neighborhood
The day he told her that he was
bringing
A colored friend home for dinner
Or maybe he still believed he’d turn
into a pillar of salt and
Get licked to death by salt-depraved
deer
That had moved to the suburbs
Their salt blocks removed by the
DNR
To stem the tide of Chronic Wasting
Disease
Even though the venison was still
probably good enough
To give to poor people
Nah
He didn’t want to take the chance
of maybe knowing me
That’s a start
At least it shows he no longer
believes we are all
One and the same
BOO!
Just joking
You can change your pants now
******