Humor is Essential for February

Humor is Essential for February

February is the shortest month with the longest days
the temperature plummets along with my mood
dark like the dirty snow collected everywhere
in crusty, unsightly lumps waiting for the sun of spring
to finally emerge from its endless slumber
and bring life back to this depressing tundra
and my cold, listless bones

Driving to the grocery store
my son yammering away in the back seat
about sour gumballs and Spiderman
I make an emergency stop
on the bumpy, brown-snow shoulder
and promptly vomit down the front of my wool coat
while soaking my jeans with pee
my post-baby bladder no match
for the icky undulations of my diaphragm

Oh February!  Month of romantic disappointment and winter illness
with my birthday thrown in for good measure
I sit here soaking urine and acid-drenched carrot mush
into my Golf’s black upholstery
and I can’t help but laugh
as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band twangs
“keep on the sunny side of life”
out my crappy, warbling speakers

Chin up, young one
you have a long way to go yet

© Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not reproduce without permission from the author.

Pulling.my.plug

Pulling.my.plug

When the black tidal wave crashes night on my skinny heart strings
And I’m sure they’ll snap with the gallows
I slap-dash round the bathtub searching for driftwood
Cursing at anchors and rough granite and grout

Breath
Find the breath

Can’t sink with lungs filled with air
Can’t drown on dry land

© Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not quote or reproduce this work without permission from the author.

Out.running.storms

Out.running.storms

Crouched like kerosene lamps
in a rainstorm
eyes flickering while we squat
naked on the plastic shower floor

I rock, knees at my chest
you, contorting to meet me
thin lips form soft kisses that
make their way to full cursive tumblings
locked fingers, drunk tongues

Black dirt thoughts
gong my eardrums
escape me, my demons
run home, run away
be anywhere but here

Your devil-hearts like icicles
tug on my fear-hairs
shivering, I’m thunder skies
waiting for the light

To be caught in the downpour
leaves me raw, drenched and vulnerable
seeking cover from storm clouds
under clean nights

© Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not quote or reproduce this work without permission from the author.

Needs.nettled

Needs.nettled

The tourist rolled up two American dollar bills
tight like a secret
placed them in my hand
not a bribe, she said
but to buy school supplies for my kids

My blind aunt sent over a box filled with frozen turkey
potatoes and canned beans
her Christmas feast from the food bank
not a handout, she said
but things I needed more than her

Poor, it appears, is relative
generosity too

©Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not quote or reproduce this work without permission from the author.

Winter.West Side

Winter. West side

There are two belly-heavy men
working on a van
that’s been jacked up in the driveway
three days now

A child plays underfoot
his red mittens hanging on a string
fingers stiff and frostbitten
they slide his tiny body under the chassis
getting grease on his dingy blue parka

A big brown cat prowls the front yard
picking its way over plastic trucks
rusted shovels, crusts of leftover snow
a fat cheetah chasing prey in a wasteland

The men will stop their work
to drink beer
yell at the dog
say fuck you or hello to passing ramshackle cars

The child cries from cold and boredom
great rivers of snot flooding red cheeks
and a woman occasionally peers out
through the cracked window pane
aware of her son’s fate
cigarette dangling from her warm fingertips

©Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not quote or reproduce this work without permission of the author.

Meuble.immeuble

Abu Ghraib Coffee Table by Philip Toledano

Meuble. immeuble

You love me
care for me
like a piece of furniture
polished and ready to display for company
should there ever actually be any

Just the right addition
to your impeccable condo and collections
I have a few nicks that can be hidden
a few smudges that are glossed over
and invisible in the precision of track lighting
I was a bargain
my flaws a fair trade-off
for the void I filled in your master floor plan

You would never abuse my silky finish
or leave me messy, dusty, and dented
in fact
you are most happy to keep a great distance
walking around me in wide angles
throwing over occasional glances of pride
the living room showpiece
the good deal you had been waiting for

It’s not a bad life
for an inanimate object
to be neglected out of love

But being a breathing, heaving, needing creature
of desire and depth and opinion and form
I fear exposure to that kind of affection
will turn me into your coffee table
wooden, hard, hushed
contented with the loving caress of a dry cloth
admired and looked at, but never really seen

It’s not a bad death
for an animate object
to be neglected out of love

©Jenn Carson 2012

Please do not reproduce or quote this work without permission of the author.