July 2021
About Poemography
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of my Poem-A-Day Project, I am reprising my daily poetry challenge in 2021.
Every day this year—from January 1st until the 31st of December—I will create a new poem inspired by whatever moves me at the moment I sit down to compose that day's poem, publishing them here with subscription-free access for all.
Every Tuesday throughout the year, I will write and publish one bonus poem that will be available exclusively to my Patrons on Patreon.
In 2022, I will publish a book of my complete poems, spanning more than 40 years of poetry writing. The complete collection of poems will be published in a limited edition hardbound book available for purchase. As an added feature, I'm considering releasing some of the poems in this collection as spoken word recordings by a variety of special guest readers. Enjoy the year!
31JUL21
Anthony, Javy & Kris
The stuff legends are made of;
Fields of dreams and sunny
Afternoons in the friendly
Confines of Wrigley
You beat the odds
A survivor and a hero's
Hero; everyman, a heart of
Gold and warm infectious smile
"El Mago" slight of hand, a most
Agile prestidigitator; his Gold
Glove moves, Silver Slugger
Grooves second to none
The consummate athlete
Quintessential team player
MVP in the infield, outfield, behind
Home plate; the very spirit of baseball
30JUL21
Regrets (I've Had a Few)
How many times have I stood at a
Fork in the road taking the high
Or the low wondering how the
Other might have turned out
There was a time in my life
When I would tell people I had
No regrets; and I think that was a
Pretty honest assessment at the time
But the older I've become, it seems
Regrets keep piling up and poor
Decisions and bad judgement
Nullify a once keen intuition
I always go back to that one
Moment in time I'm convinced
Changed everything and wonder
How that choice altered my entire life
29JUL21
Breaking Point
The calm before the storm
When the skies are their bluest
The winds are warm and settling
The waves in compassionate repose
I am falling out of love with life and
All the people, places and things I
Once cherished and held so dear
That nourished my very being
But I am slowly beginning to
Discover that oftentimes the more
You lose, the more you gain; the result
Is I'm beginning to love myself even more;
The breaking point is now a turning point;
A moment of redemption when that
Which seemed most out of reach
Mercifully kisses your soul
28JUL21
Napping
I'm going to take a nap
To give my tired mind
And weary body
A little rest
Maybe I'll
Dream about
You or wake up
In some other life
My imagination is
A splendid place for
Visualizing how things
Could be if I so desired
But desire is no friend of
Reality and reality sets
The boundaries of
My dreams
27JUL21
The Fifth Wave
It's upon us
The fifth wave
Heavy warm air
Fills our lungs with
Death droplets and
A massive viral
Load of toxic
Brown slime
Sunny days
Mean salvation;
Pack the trams and
Head for Scheveningen
But don't forget a mask
Worn below your
Nose; tempting
Fate is folly
26JUL21
Olfactory Memory
The smell of the outdoors
After freshly fallen rain
Triggers recollections
Pleasing and fond
Summerime and
The fragrant flowers
And plants take me back
To camp and Los Angeles
But there is one aroma that
Has eluded me for years;
The scent of Zaphrine I
Dreamed in a dream
Musky and warm her
Corporal perfume both
Pungent and sweet like a
Spiced melon in a ray of sun
25JUL21
Amalfi
There is a silence I have
Never before encountered;
An eerie, soothing tranquility
That has always caused unease
But seas and skies so very blue
Air as crisp and clean, dilute
My apprehensions while
I come alive renewed
Distant church bells
Ring out in unison, their
Echoing songs resonate in
Waves of hypnotic symphonies
Walking barefoot along narrow
Cobblestone streets stopping
To watch the sun as it melts
Into the shimmering sea
24JUL21
My Rerun Life
They say there is a difference
Between living in the past and
Thinking about the past; for me
Both of these concepts prevail
On the one hand, I often listen
To the same songs and watch
The same films over and over
Never tiring of the repetition
On the other hand, I often
Reminisce about the past in TV
Rerun bursts of the same vignettes,
Indulgently, time and time again;
The past, for me, is a constant
Reminder of every memory and
Experience that has enriched my life
Teaching me its most valuable lessons
23JUL21
On Not Being Missed
It was more than 35 years ago
I unintentionally eavesdropped
On a telephone conversation my
Long-time girlfriend was having
With her mother; I was sitting on
The floor outside the bathroom on
The white carpeting as I listened to
Her saying how when she was back
Home in Chicago visiting family she
Didn't miss or even think about me;
Hearing those words was devastating
And still resonate today decades later
But in a strange way, I am resigned
To being someone who has been so
Often discarded and seldom missed;
There is little mystery to my melancholy
22JUL21
The Poison Mouth (Part 2)
I was asked to come back inside
And returned to the examination
Room downstairs where the two
So-called dentists were spraying
Foamy water into a plastic cup
While looking dumbfounded by
What they were seeing; but all
I wanted was to see the bottle
Of disinfectant so I could tell my
GP what I had ingested that was
Now making my lips, tongue and
Throat burn and my eyes watery;
They refused to show me the bottle
So I stormed out again and rode
My bike to my doctor's office where
She told me I probably wouldn't die
21JUL21
The Poison Mouth (Part 1)
It was a routine dental checkup
My first visit at a new practice;
The clinic was a shithole with
Dilapidated seating, cracked
Paint and a general air of not
Being well looked after; I was
Attended to by a young Persian
Woman who asked me a few
Questions before she went on to
Insert a suction tube and began
Cleaning with a water spray with
An unusual industrial taste; I knew
Something was wrong and asked
Her to stop; I argued with her boss
Who kept telling me to calm down
So I immediately left the building
20JUL21
Purgatory
It's a gray place
Even on the sunniest
Of days; there is a haze
That lingers over the cityscape
Dismal and lifeless where the
Dregs of society drift from
Place to place sedated
By smoke and fumes
Streets filled with men
In blue suits, shiny brown
Shoes and windblown hair
Zombies for our modern times
Hypnotized masses yearning
For nothing, settling for the little
They expect and spending every
Waking moment in profuse mediocrity
19JUL21
A Reasonable Degree of Certainty
I can say with a
Reasonable degree of
Certainty that once the initial
Revelation of my departure sinks in
It will only be a matter of time before
My actions are understood and
Accepted for what they are
By those who will soon
Forget how their acts
Of heartlessness were the
Catalysts that encouraged me
To take the measures I felt necessary
To heal the gaping wounds my soul
Has endured for years; years of
Indifference, emotional neglect
And being taken for granted
18JUL21
A Moment in Time
I used to think people changed in an instant
A moment in time when some intrinsic
Phenomenon took place transforming
What was one thing into another
The moment when our child's
Heart becomes hardened and
Indifferent; the instant our youth
Is lost to the first drag on a cigarette
And once the inner child within us is
Gone, it can never again be reclaimed;
One cannot simply turn back time and go
Back to whence they came in the blink of an eye
But I do reserve an ounce of hope that one day
My fellow man will eventually come to see the
Error of his ways and rise to the greatness
Each of us has been endowed with
17JUL21
The Bandwagon
It's taken me nearly a lifetime
To finally realize that jumping
Off the bandwagon is easier
Than jumping on; jumping off
Is liberating, it frees the spirit
And soothes the mind; it takes
You to a place of contentment,
Providence and creates a path
Leading to enlightenment and
Greater opportunities; though
Jumping on the bandwagon is
Seemingly convenient, the truth
Is that it is merely conformity in
The most conventional, colorless
And uninspiring way; now, all
That remains is metamorphosis
16JUL21
Amnesia
I would take a pill to
Forget every moment
Of my life and then I
Would go to southern
France or Italy where
I could walk alone in
Sun-kissed air where
No one knew me and
The cobblestone streets
Would guide me to the
Sea; you waiting there
With a seductive smile
Wearing a small locket
On a silver chain whose
Contents revealed a photo
Of everything I'd ever seen
15JUL21
Dumbing Down
We don't read books anymore
Or purposefully listen to music;
We don't go to the theater or to
The ballet, opera or concert hall
We rarely pick up a newspaper
Or magazine; many have never
Known the delight of flipping a
Page or dog-earing a corner
But we make decisions about our
Health and wellbeing from online
Experts who heard it from the guy
Who won't don a mask or get a jab
This is where we are; how far we
Have evolved as a civilization of
People who no longer possess the
Ability of thinking for themsleves
14JUL21
Babysitters
I had a few babysitters as a child;
Pauline, who lived with Mrs. Hart
Downstairs on Maplewood; white-
Haired, short and portly, she used
To let me run around the basement
Pauline moved to Miami and once
In a while I would stay at Dolores
And Kurt Hoffman's house on the
Second floor and eat chocolates
Kurt gave me a little red chair he
Kept in the kitchen near the stove
He moved to San Francisco and
Became a homosexual and died
Then there was the young woman
Who cared for me in her mother's
House near Howard and Western;
She had an attic and Beatles records
13JUL21
Love Letters
I've been rummaging through old boxes
Sifting through memories and rediscovering
Parts of my life I barely remember even existed
And then I came upon the stack of your love letters
So, I dusted off an old chair and sat in the dank of
My basement on that rainy summer's day, the din
Of raindrops dancing on the window provided a
Melancholy soundtrack as I began reading
One by one I gently removed each letter as if
They were historical documents stored in a
Museum vault for centuries; bestowing a
Gentle touch upon the yellowing paper
The recollection of their contents was
Like hearing a song you hadn't heard in
Forty years but still remembered every lyric;
Love and happiness in each melodic sentiment
12JUL21
Time Travel
It's easy to transform my thoughts
Creating moments from lost moments
In time; but that only brings back subtle
Recollections from lives I lived so long ago
I sat in a place yesterday, nondescript and
Uninspiring, observing the street outside
Thinking I could be in this other place
And how completely different it was
It could have been a similar place,
A similar street, similar surroundings,
People, smells, light; but it wasn't and it
Never could be because those days are gone
But what if I returned to that place, could I not
Relive or recreate or even begin again where
I left off all those years ago in one seamless,
Linear transition of space, time and energy
11JUL21
The Patissier
I am beginning to encounter delight
In doing nothing and taking pleasure
In silence and learning to see equally as
Well in the darkness as in the light of day
I spend quite a bit of my time daydreaming
About cream-filled cakes, airy pastries and
Soft cookies; it's not so much the sweetness
I desire, but all of their delectable memories
And I can stare out of the window all day
Looking at nothing and everything while
Enjoying the birds, trees, leaves and sky;
I revel in the secret language of the clouds
But the days always end in the same doleful
Loneliness; my mind unsettled and disquieted
By unstoppable images and recollections of
Days that would be better left unremembered
10JUL21
Turning Pages
I'm grateful for all I've had;
The life I've lived, experiences,
People who have come and gone,
My family, friends, fellows and foes
But there comes a time when the page
Turns and the story ends, when the
Book must be closed and returned
To its place on the bookshelf
And there it stays collecting
Dust, its pages begin to yellow
And the words lose their meaning;
Poetry languishes and the ink fades away
There is little else to say, to feel or desire;
When the train arrives at the station
All that remains is to get off and
Revel in the world around you
09JUL21
Syncopation
Marching to the beat
Of a different drum
The only one who
Replied to my ad
Rainy winter night
In Scottsdale, I met
Her at the front gate
In a red pick-up truck
I played a few songs
On my Hamer and
She said I found
My drummer
You had only
Started playing
Drums to impress a
Girl you had a crush on
08JUL21
Attachment to the Bad Object
I suppose we're all bound
Sooner or later to manifest
The dysfunctions of our youth
Giving form to the internalized
Seeing tears streaming from her
Eyes and hearing the sadness in
Her voice is both unbearable
And utterly heartbreaking
And in the season of my
Discontent I am reminded how
The summer always seems to bring
Bad tidings and a desire for departure
But we tend to cling to the nearest thing
Whether it brings pleasure or pain
Guilt or grace or the unforgiving
Misfortune of attachment
07JUL21
Another Vera Langdon Dream
It's been nearly ten years
Since I first dreamed about
Vera Langdon, an American
Actress that never really existed
She was a contract player at one
Of the big Hollywood studios but her
Untimely death at a young age robbed
The world of her beauty and immense talent
She always materializes while I'm sitting at a
Soda fountain counter in some delicatessen
in Los Angeles; I'm sipping on a chocolate
Malt while she walks by and smiles at me
The dreams are short and insignificant
But she always looks the same in a
Simple beige dress and her hair
Done up just like Jane Powell
06JUL21
Your Name (In the Wind)
I keep hearing your name in the wind
I stop to listen ever so attentively
Trying (in vain) to convince
Myself it's only a dream
But I know better; that it's
An apparition, a haunting like
You said it would be the day we
Met at that sidewalk café in Valencia
You told me it could never work, that
You were sick and would never
Be well; the ladies at the next
Table told you to tell me so
And there were the flies,
The gray pigeons and the
Voices that became a part of
What we were never to become
05JUL21
For Want of a Better Word
So much about that day remains a blur
I can hardly remember the drive down
To Alicante that warm Sunday morning
More than a dozen long summers ago
I wasn't certain I'd remember how to get
To your parent's house but I did recall the
Train tracks and once I crossed them, the
Memory of destination had firmly returned
I sat in my car out front of your house for
More than an hour, not knowing whether I
Should just ring the doorbell or call first;
I sat and waited and waited some more
But there would be no last goodbyes as
My phone finally rang and the voice at
The other end was long gone and farther
Away than I could have ever imagined
04JUL21
Independence
There is always a price to pay for freedom
Some have given their lives, others have
Sold their souls to liberate themselves
From oppression and hardship
But there is a certain bondage
That one cannot flee; afflictions of
The spirit, damnation of the mind that
Overrun the senses and cripple our being
We are free to the bounds of our existence
Captive within the walls of our fears
Paralyzed by nightmares and the
Relentless bane of darkness
To witness resilience in the
Human condition in times of strife
Is to celebrate the best of who we are
Soaring to the heights of eagles and beyond
03JUL21
The Re-Awakening
I was starting to lose hope
In myself and the world
Around me; but the
Cycles of rebirth
Are not limited
Only to the spring
When leaves renew
And rains cleanse the
Remains of the winter;
And like a swelling
Wave that rushes
The shore, I have
Experienced this
Re-awakening of my
Senses by the breath
Of some magical life form
02JUL21
The Untethering
There is Italy;
Rome and Naples
Sprawling countrysides
Sun and the Amalfi Coast
So many ports of call await
Misty cool northern Spain
The southern mountains
And endless plains
It's not that I long
For adventure; those
Days are far removed
But ingrained deep within
What I most desire is to free
Myself from the relentless
Torment of my current
State of reality
01JUL21
Our Daily Bread
Sliced white bread
Soft white buns
Flour tortillas
Croissants
Cookies
Candy bars
Chocolate cakes
Fruit and custard pies
Pancakes and waffles
Cinnamon rolls
Frozen pizza
Turnovers
We give
Thanks for our
Daily bread that
Is slowly killing us