Don't push me. I have other options, see?
There's gold and silver orange lined with black
And tortoise shell and mau and balinese.
My options are terrific in the sack

That you tossed off the bridge. They're best onstage,
My sweet aristocratic felines. Pets
Are easy to acquire. Stay in range,
I'll call you when it's time to pay the bet.

I've got a fence to keep the ladies in,
And several favorite means to keep them there.
A cattle prod, a whip, a sated grin.
The lion begs to stand atop the chair.

Don't tell me you're too good to go to town.
I've got my own connections at the pound.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

I am your shambling one. I long to kiss
Your hair and what's beneath it. Day and night
I stumble after you. Must you resist?
It only makes it harder. Let's not fight.

Don't run away. Just trust me. You will find
My heart is golden, and my skin is green,
And I have weighty matters on my mind:
Grey matter. The delicious stuff of dreams

Is poetry. The sufferings of Job
Cannot compare. My darling, hear my plea:
I long to lick your tangy frontal lobes.
Medulla oblongata, tea and thee!

Put down the shotgun. Let me ease your pains.
You must believe I love you for your brains.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets, zombies

I think it would be swell if you were tall
And I could surf and fight and levitate
And there were robot servants in the mall.
Don't talk to me about the steps we'll take,

Let's just get on the same last page for now.
I'd like a pony, and you'd like a car
That runs on bonhomie. Don't ask me how
We'll get there. 2050 is so far

Away! We all have idle fantasies
(And as we idle, our engines pollute).
Bring on the astronauts, bring back the bees!
I have a hybrid SUV. It's cute.

We'll drive the devil now, and pay him then,
In Bangalore and Detroit and Shenzhen.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

I had to taste the competition's wares
(Electric bicycles surround the hill)
They specialize in presentation there
(A half-assed charge, a triumph of the will)

And no one violates the hipster code
(It's an aristocratic sacrifice)
They just watch as their business plan implodes
(When you buy local, someone thanks you twice).

In Chestnut Hill the eco-shops advance
(Made lovingly by mothers far away)
And no one gives the cheesesteak half a chance.
The healthy babes sip lattes every day,

Recycling dollar bills on Google Wave.
I'll wear my moral purchase to the grave.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

If you could pencil in another date
I might suggest the tenth the twelfth the first?
I know you have the city on your plate.
I understand. Since Mondays are the worst

And Tuesdays are reserved, and Wednesdays bold,
And Thursdays are a whirlwind of feet
And Friday night is scheduled to be cold
And Saturday is always a complete

Insanity, and Sunday's bad for me,
We need a time when nothing interferes.
From midnight until dawn I think I'm free
Tonight, tomorrow, every night my dear—

(In fact from now until the planets touch—
And I don't think we'll notice very much—)

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

The cello's arc. The slide of the trombone.
Violas gliding like a fleet of ships
Toward paradise. A bari saxophone
Describing the intentions of your hips

In stealthy tones beneath the clarinet.
The strings are not enough. We need the horns
To do your virtues justice. Beading sweat
On the conductor's brow. You have been warned:

Two hands are not enough. To orchestrate
The piece I'll need a hundred eager pairs.
But have no doubt: you'll keep your proper place.
I tell you this: I promise you first chair

And solos leading into tympani
In this and every secret symphony.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

Just put up. Grab a shovel and begin.
I'm sure you have a chisel or an axe
Or just a properly proportioned chin.
Whatever, man. I'm counting on impact,

Or influence. At least comic relief.
You can't compile? Sweep the fucking store.
Supply the pretzel bags. Supply the grease.
Your services are needed at the forge,

Whatever instrument you bring to bear.
Design it out, or build it, or intone
The words that animate this science fair.
Volcanoes aren't tough. Just sculpt the cone

And I'll supply the soda and the wine.
Stand back and watch the elements combine.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

Take all of me. Why not take all of me?
Take all of me: eight score, and several more,
And change (a pound or two, or 50p).
Pick up the hoop. It's time to work the core.

I stumble as I walk. I'm slightly flush
And everything is spinning like a top.
A pot of creme, a reverential hush
From end to end throughout the pastry shop

Until I've found perfection in a cup
And matched you ounce for ounce (and several pints).
We'll stuff their gobs and shut the bastards up.
Our challenges are similar in kind.

Propel the melody. It's time to dance.
Eight weeks from now, I'll fit into my pants.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

Go. Light a candle. Solemnly proceed
Along the aisle. Sweet prometheus
Stole just a bauble. Later came the seed,
And liberation. Ride the abacus

Down Chestnut Street to Main and come to State,
And plant yourself behind the oaken bar.
Employment is an article of faith
In images. We haven't starved so far.

That might be just an aberration. Taste
The fruits that others gather while ye may.
Debug. Refactor. Analyze and trace
And watch the portrait. Witness Seymour Cray

Grown old in spite of Dijkstra, Knuth and Moore.
There's room for doubt. Enjoy your perfect pour.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets

I toldja I was trouble. 9am
Keeps sliding by the wayside. Keep your job,
We'll need it for the cover charges. When
And what and where... consume it to the cob

And let the others snuffle after that.
They get the fallen tassels. You get this.
You take el luchador down to the mat.
There's photographic evidence. You sit

Where no one else can ride. Do not disturb
Until the second workshop. Keep their hands
Where you can see them. Out here in the burbs
We don't leave the hotel. I give commands

And, answering, you chuckle to yourself.
You share the interest. But you keep the wealth.

Tags: monday fourteen, poetry, sonnets