Divergent

A young man is running back and forth

Growling 

Grrrrr Grrrrr Grrrrr

Tense and intense but happy

Grrrrr Grrrrr Grrrrr 

His mother stands nearby

Watchful, giving him room

ready to respond 

in case another shopper needs the space he's occupying

As his father pays for the groceries

I'm placing in a brown paper bag 

I don't want to acknowledge that he's

likely neurodivergent

clearly neurodivergent

I don't want to offend

But part of me very much wants to say,

wants to hollar

"I see you neurodivergent brother!

We are mighty! 

We are strong!

Grrrrr Grrrrr Grrrrr litter brother!

Grrrrr Grrrrr Grrrrr!"

Instead I look at his father

his face unsure as I ask

"That your boy?"

He says "Yes." Softly

"Just the one?" I ask

"Just the one." He replies

And I pause in my chore 

Look him in the eye

"Me too."

Dancer

A ballet dancer with vertigo

Jumps up and the room drops

Body spins 

the room spins opposite

cold sweat pushes out 

soaks forehead

stomach want to empty 

it's already empty 

Dancer is praised 

praised 

for appearing to be

always on the edge

teetering

barely staying up

yet almost floating away

And so they are invited to dance again

Ode to a boot licker

It’s said you lick the boot
dreaming it’ll one day house your foot
But I think this is not it
I believe you like the hoof and soot
I think you love the boot
an honor to be amongst the horde
keeping the leather polished

You may dream of being the strongman
even cosplaying, practicing his walk,
the boisterous way he talks
but you’re satisfied
to be under such a foot
to hold up daddy
to serve

This association seems enough for you
seems it’s love to you
licking this mighty boot
is better than the humiliation
of being an equal
to those who are so pathetic as to be equals
to one who is sadly, inexcusably, merely you

Ice

Ice killed someone again today

I’m bagging groceries when a customer

stops to say

Ice shot someone

again

today

He was a US citizen

a nurse

he had a gun

Details trickle in

Ice shot him

dead in the street

I place the glass jars in the bag

Then the eggs

leafy greens

and potato chips on top

We live our lives

Wanting to do more

than just wait for it to stop

Masked thugs killed a poet

They killed a nurse

I take my break

and wait

I wait

For it go on

To get worse

I wait

for Ice killed someone again today

to become just another thing we say

How about that fog

Did you catch the big game

Looks like another school shooting

And Ice

Killed

Someone

Again

Today

Giving Up

 I've given up on my country

And, honestly, also on my life, yeah

But I'll keep punching, kicking, swinging blind

Just because I know what's right, yeah

And whether we, and I, pull out o' this spiral 

or crash and burn at last, yeah

I'll never let it be said that I didn't stand and

 put up a fucking fight, yeah

Old

It's not that I mind getting older

It's just I wasn't finished being young 

I don't want to live forever

Just long enough to get it right

Resoltion

 I'll read Burns this year

And celebrate his birth 

To stay connected to my mother

Whose father, My grandfather

Was a Scott

I'll make vegan haggis

Eat neep and tatties

While listening to the pipes

Remembering I'm the grandson

of a Coyle

Recipe

 Books of poetry 

Collections of verse

Gathered like ingredients 

Inspirational seasoning

In hopes of creating

A flavor never yet tasted