
In the beginning …
Life began in the 1960s
There’s more to the story …
My parents helped make me …
In the beginning …
There’s more to the story …
My parents helped make me …
Autobiographies
I drank coffee over bacon and cheese
writing autobiography,
as easy to swallow as Rapunzel and Guinness.
The woman in a cream suit
shook gold earrings and munched
waffles from Idaho
soaked in organic maple syrup
with her mouth open
reminded me of my mother,
Paul, close your mouth when you’re eating.
I read the wine list
in the mirror
behind my back.
That was as difficult to do
as swallowing cod liver oil neat.
How many autobiographies live unwritten
within this life,
under the surface,
scratching for release
from Purgatory?
Am I lost in Dante’s wood,
or sunshine?
Is this Idaho real,
or escaping on the page,
a fleeting fairy tale?
I couldn’t catch her name.
I used to be nice
Years ago
I composed this wish
Never noticed the clichés
I meant no vice:
may you go from strength to strength
may you soar over every sapping strain
may you float on the cushion of your dreams
until your sun sleeps and acorns reach maturity.
_________________
Note:
On 24th December 2005 – I self-published that bold stanza on my blog. Spot the phrase that doesn’t feel like a cliché to you …