Panhandling in the suburbs
Squinting at
the sunlight
and smoothing
back her dirty- blonde
hair,
She’s thinking
about her
mojo-man.
She waltzes
towards the median
as the morning traffic
performs its best
version of
Swan Lake
The glittered
world rubs it’s
eyes & she sips
her coffee,
watching
as the red light
turns green.
- Melanie Browne
(added 11.09.09)
The Call of the Wild
I hear the call of the wild
In the morning,
right after I get
the kids off to
school and feed the dogs,
but before I surf the net.
I hear the call of the wild
after I load the dishwasher
but before I call my mom
to tell her about the dream
I had, the one about Jude Law
I hear the call of the wild
right after the kids
get home from school,
and sometimes after Oprah
I hear the call of the wild
between the time that
Bill O’Reilly starts
and the kids are getting
ready for bed
I hear the call of the wild
sometime After the
kids fall asleep
but before David Letterman
signs off
I heed the call of the wild,
I practice nashing my teeth
I growl at My Shih-tzu
but he doesn’t growl back
- Melanie Browne
(featured in the poetry forum 11.09.09)
Life on Mars and Mimosas
Many people
often ponder the
question “Is there
life on Mars?”
And indeed,
that sort of question
can keep you
awake at night
scared that alien life forms
might be watching us
as we eat giant
spoonfuls of peanut
butter and watch
our HBO or Netflix
The greater question
"is there life on
Mars and do
these life forms enjoy
a good Mimosa
on Sunday morning?"
or Does the thought
of smoked salmon
turn their stomachs?
do they get stressed
out when someone
spells their name
wrong at the DMV?
as long
as they don’t go ‘postal’
they are fine with me
- Melanie Browne
(featured in the poetry forum 05.08.09)
(From Melanie Browne's latest book Heaven is a Giant Pawn Shop by Erbacce Press)
Waiting
I often
find myself waking
up at the same time
every night
2:37 am
I read that
waking up at
the same time
every night
might indicate
that you have
been abducted
by aliens
at some point
I tried to recall
if that was the
case
checked my body
for strange marks
I watched
Close Encounters
of the Third Kind
to see if it led to
traumatic feelings,
or Intense anxiety
I think they may be
coming back for
me next week
so I bought some
new blue eye-shadow
and a flirty new skirt
- Melanie Browne
(added 05.08.09)
Lucy's love
Schroeder
Bring your
Toy piano
And play
Me a song
And I will
Lie in the grass
And stare at
The stars
And later
When our
Parents
Call us in
For the night
Each note
You played
Will echo
In my
Selfish
Black heart
- Melanie Browne
(featured in the poetry forum 10.25.08)
Robots
In the other room
My three year old is
sitting on a red chair
Growling nonsensically
I ask him why and
He said he is
"talking like a robot"
It's probably a
good skill to
know
nowadays
- Melanie Browne
(added 10.25.08)
An American prayer and mozzarella cheese
"Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders as smooth as ravens claws" - Jim Morrison (An American Prayer)
I passed you walking out of
the grocery store on
Saturday night
I was buying mozzarella cheese
Because I have been
Craving that lately
Anyway, I was walking
Behind you with my
mozzarella cheese
and to be honest
some cookies
even though I was
supposed to be buying
things that were
healthy because
we are trying to
watch our cholesterol
I was walking behind
and noticed you
had fairy wing tattoos
where you once had shoulders
and I wondered if you had
ever heard
an American prayer
and if you like mozzarella cheese
- Melanie Browne
(featured in the poetry forum 08.11.08)
To the writers who smoke
To the writers who smoke
how do you hold your hands?
And then it's the simultaneous
Crack of the lighter and the
snap of your thumb
or do you use matches
when you have neither
maybe you rub
two sticks
together
To the writers who smoke
I find you a bit fascinating
- Melanie Browne
(featured in the poetry forum 07.20.08)
modern children are so boring
my ancestor's
children
played with
Black hawk's
children
giving each other
Indian rub
burns
on
mosquito bit
arms
or climbing
dangerously
high
trees
doing some
serious
swapping
and playing
I'll show you
mine
if you show me
yours
- Melanie Browne
(added 07.20.08)
I’m ok you’re crap
When we were
Kids and fighting
With each other
All the time
At each others
throats
My mom made us
Look at each
Other and say
"I'm OK, you're OK"
Even as kids
we knew that
Was a joke
And the minute she
Was out of sight
We started
Laughing &
pummeling
Each other
- Melanie Browne
(added 07.20.08) |
