my geographical plate

harsh sunlight from the northeast.

traveling northbound the sign reads:

“dead end”

southward the sign reads:

“dead end”

westward, entering the apartment

from the balcony glancing toward the south

the futon is acting as a couch collecting laundry.

glancing northward finds the music chamber

a bookcase and a table filled with disposable papers.

glancing west, certain notations and general

inquisitiveness area, concert hall and table

reserved for the execution of everything.

farther west the sink, the microwave,

salt and pepper shakers, sugar bowl,

coffee maker, cabinets holding dry goods.

a measured left turn finds the gas stove and fridge.

at west’s end the doorway leads to the grand

hallway running north to south except when

cordoned-off for waxing.

rotating eastward a walk-in closet, a doorway

deepening southward leading to sleeping quarters

and farther inward and points west, the bathroom and

soon enough a week will not go by when I don’t

lose my way navigating my geographical plate.

                      Jeanie Johnston of Del Norte, Colorado writes:

Dear William,

I saw a photo of you standing alongside

your bicycle when you were kid.

do you still have fun riding your bike?

Dear Jeanie,

no. and certainly not the bike of my youth.

but your question got me thinking

about the circumstances of bike riding.

we rode mostly out of necessity.

we had no notion of health benefits,

or pleasant rides through the countryside on summer days.

we road to the variety store to nab cigarettes for our fathers.

we rode to snag loaves of Italian bread from the bakeries.

we road with the girls side-saddled across the top tubes,

the best rides of all.

we road to the dump to secure rare items discarded by man.

we road to the park, our gloves threaded through the handlebars

ready to play the game.

we rode for the utilitarian necessity of it.

like love.

                    how it came to be.

the graphics department was consigned

to the windowless basement.

It seemed only painters needed natural light.

but outside, in back of the little

art school, the light belonged

to anyone who would see it.

I began drawing a near dead white birch tree

which in closing was by my definition, disappointing. 

the following afternoon I wandered into the light again.

there stood an old spruce tree, somewhat weathered

but majestic nonetheless.

a heavy-handed compressed charcoal stick

moved frantically over the paper hinged to its pad.

this drawing did not disappoint.

the Swainsky. the year was 1966.

 

                    old age and rare devotion

while slipping into teeshirts

screened with messages

there was never a sense of mediocrity.

the messages were the medium:

front: “Champagne don’t make me crazy

back:  "Cocaine don’t make me lazy”

“Write-in Eldridge Cleaver for president”

“Unite Ireland!”

and so on.

with an approaching birthday many years ago,

my father, the liquor salesman on the road,

sent me a teeshirt 2 times my size with a message

because he knew “I liked that sort of thing.”  It read:

“Kiss Me I'm Italian” and on the back,

voluptuous, cadmium red female lips.

now long gone.

so stupid. so typically naive. so fundamentally department store.

try as I have over the years, I can't find another one.

                     the “permission slip”

if you leave the classroom

you have to have a “permission slip”––

a pre-printed sheet of paper

which will travel with you.

for example:

“this allows (blank) permission to use the restroom.”

(blank) is filled-in with your name.

your very own, personalized “permission slip.”

there were 23 kids in the classroom.

there were 6 kids in the hallway carrying “permission slips”

and another 7 standing at the urinals.

there were 2.5 million people in the United States.

there are billions of us in the world

and near half-a-trillion stars in the home galaxy

although they told us "Andromeda" is bigger.

as a 12 year resident on Earth, I took that as an insult.

estimated wait-time for an open urinal was anybody’s guess.

also, It was required that the “permission slip”

be returned to the classroom "un-folded" which

was quite an accomplishment while standing at a urinal.

Hugo A. Dubuque School archives

                     southbound in southern Ohio / 1971-1973?-1970

the sign read:

“last stop for 20 miles”.

surely I can go

20 miles without incident.

what’s 20 miles

when you’re driving

a fast car?

after 10 miles another sign read:

“death awaits in 10 miles”.

what's the driver

of a fast car to do?

so, I traveled on fearlessly

into Kentucky.

inside, the sign

above the counter read:

“We reserve the right

to refuse service to Anyone!”

I ordered the meatloaf plate.

                     Ramblin’ Billy

I’m sleeping without dreaming and then

I’m awake and the roses smell lemony.

not like real lemons but lemon-scented.

it sprays on and leaves a film of itself

and wiped-off there’s an artificial

scent of lemons.

the wood it leaves behind has a false face.

it looks like something I’d skate upon.

but I can’t skate. I’ve never tried.

lace-up high-tops with long, looping laces

and at the bottom, fierce metal blades are attached.

who would take the time to think of such a thing?

let’s just wake the fuck-up in the morning,

drink a cup and head to the ballpark.

let’s play the game. let’s get dirty. let’s slide

into second under the tag and let’s be safe every time.

 

                    my inflatable punching gizmo

there were a few.

I don’t recall

what each represented.

maybe

a Joe Palooka lookalike

maybe

a robber with a gun

maybe

a priest.. but

what I do recall

is whenever

I punched it

it glided downward

but rose again

like the Nazarene

or pork-belly commodities or

a mid-eastern war.