LOVE POEM FOR YOU SHOPLIFTING AT WHOLE FOODS

i do have some relevant 
experience 
stealing tips, switching tags
cheating on tests and 
semi boyfriends always 
partial just a few of the questions
just a few hours
too long too together 
legacy of a pet monkey 
charming shop owner’s for candy
thin chains snaked into
easy pockets the 
square kind
do you want to get married,
do you want to make a plan,
that is not a reaction or curse
but the risk of a dream?
i’ve tried before/ no success
but maybe i’m ready
i have some relevant
experiences 
really strong soup and a knack
for making matches 
that lead to reward 
and I'm coming to know
what only sickness teaches
that things happen most
from the side
never shine like a prize, but
the scrounging builds
strength

Not Today

I'm my dad's Stepford wife

as soon as he wants to talk,

shifting through the glib

gears into a banality

of evil he doesn't

understand

where I go or

what I was once I went.

He cornered me once,

on a car ride to Cardiff,

kept going on about the

family curse:

someone had said 

something bad,

or had wronged somebody,

(when?)

someone else ended up

with a cousin with autism.

I said could

that dark cloud have been

er you know the 

Japanese occupation?

I do admit, it was hard

to see him clanking

like that 

like some computer

with valves,

talking in circles for

two hours

round something

I toyed with

and left by his door,

softly bitten

mouse of despair.

How I Do It

How I Do It 

On the wall beside me, the Jungian circle

of characters masking-taped 

so when I'm in the midst 

of a poem 

confused,

a pinch 

panicked 

as I am now

I have a wheel

with names

of who might be 

taking center stage: sage

jester     hero innocent lover     everyman

To myself I say, who is this speaking? Are you

an outlaw craving an upset 

because of too much stillness? Well I can 

add a wind

to burn the skin of a man 

in a snow storm aching 

to be free of his crackle parents 

who have asked him

to have kids. Get off my back!

he screams and runs into the sun

grasping the hand of his woman 

who is less sure than he 

and glances over 

her shoulder 

seeking the parents' 

eyes to make sure they know she knows

she’s sorry