Take It Easy

the plan Sunday was take it easy
1 drink at the new brewery

instead we ran into 2 friends
then drank in the sunlight
among dogs on the patio

we walked five miles
through a cemetery
through the city
to another brewery

got drunk
on automated ordering
tech for our fast times

we packed Spider-Man 2 cards
we thought we would play

instead we drank with 2 friends
in 90 degree heat
taking it easy

(originally published in A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Winter 2023)

The 2 A.M. Pacific Retreat

nights cold near the ocean
whispers reclusive invitations

       Chautauqua, Chautauqua

Andrew Bird’s Q-tip acoustic fills the ears
the long voice pizzicato plucks cluck pluck
scratching, say, the sand munching feet,

the seashells and their blue-moon breath
breathe into your ears the eternal secret
of the ocean, quiet all these sleepy years

How do you leave the wet sand after that?

 

(originally published in Loveliest – Issue #1)