CAConrad – Two Poems


CAConrad

Two Poems

Signal and Sway


everything
             vibrates
            and we
          get to
           feel

                  con
                  cen
             tration has
          the Love even
       saying Magic with
         embarrassment

                                 i fail the
                                 end of
                              suffering
                      with you

          boots
bought 10 years
   ago by
     younger man
     same name

                       every
            vibrating
                 thing

            bared
      teeth ahead
                 visible
                    for
                  some
                   time

an invitation
                    to the fist

            so adorable
                      trembling
                                  for
                      predators

             excuse me
              i meant to
            say fuck you

                      knives coming
                            down
                                      trying
                                 to eat it

                  is it the
emotional distance
of the waitress
you come for?

            aria of snail
              ticking smaller
                in the sound
       breathing louder
in the light

how long
can we believe
        this world
            belongs to us?

                  is it a
                toilet or
             grave being
                 made?

he answers
  by asking
           is it a cartoon
              or fiction?


Amber Zoom Lens
There Is (There
Is Not) Confusion

if i
die old
they can’t
say God
punished me

or is Hell
the punishment?
hard to keep
the threats straight

tomorrow i’ll
climb into
the cellar of the
burned down house
there’s always one
more thing
shiny
buried
deep
inside

today being angry
my tax dollars
purchased bullets
not books

we
reach the trains
pushing and
running
to find
plenty of seats
plenty of time

when my friends
are in pain
i cry with them
but not
with strangers

are there not
enough tears?

it’s
exhausting
imagining
tears refusing
the job

what was the
song my father
hummed to save
his mind in the
cardboard
box factory?

no
let’s not remember

so much to forget
to relax
to sleep better

you want to forget
what you did
to me
go ahead i understand
i will want to forget
what i will do
to you one day

after a
little while
nothing’s as clean
as new

crying with friends
is clean
ignoring strangers is
nothing but
layers of
stain

did your hamburger
have feelings?

does my question
annoy you?

well here’s another

do you always
embrace torture
and murder with
pickles and sauce?

“it”s better
than nothing” is
no comfort with
nothing
close
at hand

the house is
emptied by
fire one
night

the train still
takes you there
dinner
cocktails
hungry and
thirsty it’s
strange what
we expect
from no
one home

every morning
is not like
every morning

this morning
as much
light as
possible
sitting
right
in
it

return to SHAMPOO 32