Rental Car
Got the keys? I asked Chuck
I locked my door in France
Got the keys? I repeated
I pressed the knob in Andorra
Got the keys? I chanted
I checked the handle in Spain
It's Sunday
The Pyrenees live 60 kilometers
from anyplace
I forget to ask
The keys sway in the ignition
from the noose of a chain
half a meter
behind tempered glass
My Swiss Army knife learns
how sturdy Peugeots are made
Two Frenchmen
leave their picnic, wine and women
They cram two screwdrivers
above the window
Pulling down
my fingers are in
Pulling down
my hand is in
Pulling down
my elbow is in
Pulling down
the window leaps the track
thunks into the door
'Voila' they smile
It's summer
Snow flavors the wind
We have no window
'I got the keys'
Chuck says
from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture'
c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe
------------------------
bad hair day for hitler
a jew beat you hitler
in the war
you started
einstein
(you missed this one)
finished it
your mustache was precise
his hair misbehaved
but all the aryan brains
wouldn't divulge
his secret to you
so adolph
who turned out
to be the putz?
from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture'
c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe
------------------------
Eve in Fall
Maples blush
apples blush
your cheeks blush
Bite the fruit Eve
Then share it
The drip is cold on my chin
The serpent lives
in the track of juice
and in the hiss of the fireplace
that will get too warm
for these sweaters
from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture'
c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe
------------------------
A 2-Year-Old's Advice to a 23-Month-Old
Ask for more
when your plate is still full
and you're done eating
Keep a pocketful of dirt
After they wash you
wipe your face with it
They'll never get
your magic trick
Hold your plate upside down
If food falls off
gravity still works
and the world is safe
so smile
Ask why? until they shout
'just because!'
Checkmate
The moment the macaroni
hits the disposal
scream
you want it back
Don't say you need
to go to the bathroom
or ask 'are we there yet?'
They're copyright
by three-year-olds
Smear dinner on your face
to cool it
so it doesn't burn your tongue
Then lick it off
If your eyes get
big enough around puppies
they let you pull ears
Fill your mouth with food
slowly dribble it down your chin
It takes practice
from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture'
c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe
------------------------
The Teaman Appears
On any Himalaya
Mr. Chetri claps twice
and a teaman appears
In his paws a rack of glasses
(wiped not washed)
and a Chinese Thermos
green with red flowers
For a rupee he pours cha
Darjeeling steams
with crude sugar
half milk
spiced with smoke
from the mystic wood
it's steeped over
The test of tenure
is to scald fingers
and not
set the glass down
You learn to honor the taste
of cremated trees
In these mountains
all wood is rare wood
from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture'
c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe
------------------------
All poems from 'The Year of Purple Lawn Furniture' (c2001 by J. Kevin Wolfe), afree ebook of poems in various reader formats.
http://home.att.net/~jkevinwolfe/index.html
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