8-word poem

The Stones
Said a mouthful:
"You Gotta Move."

8-word poem

How to stop
The KKK
Or Tigers—
Discuss.

8-word poem

Buddhists applaud:
Carried on
The river
Of dreams.

8-word poem

I need
The willingness
To carry
The message.

8-word poem

When the going
Gets going,
Get ye gone.

8-word poem: THE ROGUE HELICOPTER PILOT STORY

Between
The magnolia tree
And
The property line.

8-word poem

Uh oh:
Caught without
A long sleeve
Shirt.

8-word poem

Fluorescent
Subway lighting:
Even the smallest
Scars emerge.

8-word poem

Stage direction:

(Rock on
With your
Bad self.)

8-word poem

Lady in the Water—
Move over,
Ed Wood.

Boulder, Colorado: Home of Celestial Seasonings

Celestial Seasonings takes their tea seriously. Hence the hair - and beard! - net during a tour of their facilities, which was really fun and informative.

Did you know that most Celestial Seasonings products aren't actually teas? An herbal tea must have tea in it to be considered a proper tea. Most of the items in the Celestial Seasonings pantheon are actually composed of herbs and roots, and are known as tisanes.

As per Dictionary.com: "ti·sane (t-zn, -zän) n. An herbal infusion or similar preparation drunk as a beverage or for its mildly medicinal effect."

Who knew?!



Note how enjoying the healthful mojo of the Celestial Seasonings gift shop turns a serious expression into one of utter glee!

(Photo by MsAPhillips)

iTuneage - recent baker's dozen

1. "Nights on Broadway" - The Bee Gees
2. "Half a Loaf" - Mick Jagger
3. "Cradle of Love" - Billy Idol
4. "White Lady White Powder" - Elton John
5. "Louder Than Love" - TKA
6. "Something For the Girl With Everything" - Sparks
7. "Kisses on the Wind" - Neneh Cherry
8. "Hocus Pocus" - Focus
9. "I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance" - T-Bone Burnett
10. "We Almost Got it Together" - Tanita Tikaram
11. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" - Billy Joel
12. "I'll Cry Tomorrow" - Nils Lofgren
13. "Slip Inside This House" - Primal Scream

8-word poems: THE SUN VALLEY MOTEL VARIATIONS

What's this place
Called?
Distinct lack
Of stationery.

* * *

Charles Bukowski
Wiped his ass
With this room.

* * *

Instead of
A Bible,
A note:
"Fuck you."

* * *

I hope
I don't
Accidentally
Drop dead
Tonight.

* * *

They didn't
Film Cops
Here—
But they
Will.

* * *

Shirtless, handcuffed,
Face down:
Slept
Like a baby.

* * *

For $40, we rented a "room" at the Sun Valley Motel in Cañon City, Colorado. Pictures may follow eventually, though they don't do justice to the establishment. In lieu of them I humbly offer the above poems.

Friends are for lists!

Courtesy of Eek!

For Steve:

1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
In eight words or less? Steve knows a lot about the short-form poem, especially the haiku.

2. I’ll challenge you to try something.
I challenge you to write a long poem! At least one page.

3. I’ll pick a color that I associate with you.
Black - coffee, leather jacket, humor, the color paint you go for when you see a red door…

4. I’ll tell you something I like about you.
I really like your It Will Be a Train collection, but especially the title. I don’t know why, but the certainty of it is comforting. Also, I find myself thinking it when waiting on a subway/metro platform. Quite soothing.

5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
Actually, my first memory of you is in absentia - Alisha read some of your poems at InKY’s open mic, and I cracked up over the teapot serial killer piece.

6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of.
If you were to voice a Pixar animated character, it would probably be a cynical, wisecracking armadillo. Mostly ’cause I don’t think we’ve had an armadillo yet. You could work it.

7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wanted to ask you.
There are a great many things I have yet to ask you. I suppose if I pick only one, hm. How about “Jonathan Safran Foer - dude or dud?”

8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours.
Go forth!

8-word poem

There's nothing
To worry
About.
End of
Story.

8-word poem

There there—
There is no
Is there, no.

8-word poem

Telling the story
Eight words
At a time.

Got Oxygen?

Is the question one of the snappier tourist t-shirts here asks. So far, no ill effects from being exactly one mile (5,280 feet!) above sea level.

I'm drinking tons of liquids, however, to counteract the insidiously sneaky hot-but-not-humid weather. At least when experiencing a downtown Saigon sweat-fest one is aware of impending dehydration; not so in Denver.

Traveled out here on Jet Blue, my first excursion on one of their planes. They really have taken the pain out of air travel. The boarding pass experience was a revelation, with free-standing 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired kiosks replacing irritable humans. And no wailing infants or misbehaving tykes kicking the back of my seat for the entire flight, either.

On in-flight television I watched a rerun of ESPN's coverage of Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest from Coney Island. Which made me misty-eyed for New York as I sped away from it, but also had me thinking about Steakbellie, blogdom's own competitive eater.

I chewed my Jet Blue cashews very thoroughly in response.

8-word poem: THE DENVER STORY

Why is it
Everything here
Smells like shit?

Denver, Colorado

Landed at Denver International Airport at about 4:45 p.m. (central), my first time ever in this state. While I'm completely amazed at the wide open spaces, there is a curious Anytown, USA feel to the strip malls and residential developments.

Already spotted about a dozen cowboys.

Planning on a bit of sightseeing here in the capital for the next couple of days (the art museum has a Warhol!), then off to Cañon City to see The Royal Gorge.

8-word poem

My cynical intentions—
Where have they
Gotten me?

8-word poem: THE WORLD CUP STORY, PART II

It's finally over!
Goooaaalll!, you say?
Howzabout: booorrriiinnnggg!

8-word poem

Why do that
When you can
Do this?

8-word poem

Everything feels
Much more official
On a clipboard.

8-word poem

Why not play
A relaxing game
Of solitaire?

8-word poem

Poets:
They don't
Want me
In their
Club.

8-word poem

This is
Certainly not
Frank O'Hara's
New York.

8-word poem

Close your eyes,
See how
Dark
You are.

8-word poem

Vanishing cream
Vanish___ act
Van______ point
_________ breed

8-word poem

To be able
To say
"I'm sorry"
Honestly.

iTuneage - recent baker's dozen

1. "If You Could Read My Mind" - Gordon Lightfoot
2. "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side" - Morrissey
3. "Pay Me My Money Down" - Bruce Springsteen
4. "Loddy Lo" - Chubby Checker
5. "Rainy, Rainy Day" - Brownie McGhee
6. "You're Going to Lose That Girl" - The Beatles
7. "Rock Show" - Wings
8. "Air: Descend, Kind Pity, Heavenly Guest" - Handel (from Theodora)
9. "My Red Joystick" - Lou Reed
10. "Big Ten-Inch Record" - Aerosmith
11. "Up Around the Bend" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
12. "I Have Seen" - Zero 7
13. "Five Seconds" - Peeping Tom

8-word poem

The kind
Of people
Who expect
Nothing less.

8-word poem

The lion didn't
Sleep at all
Last night.

8-word poem

Holy water
In the foyer:
A sad priest.