Once there was a boy and a house
the boy asked the house,
"am I happy?"
and the house said, "no"
the next day the boy played guitar
inside the house and asked the house,
"am I happy?"
and the house said, "no"
the next day the boy invited
his friends over to play
music in the house
then the boy asked the house,
"am I happy?"
and the house said, "no"
many days later the boy asked the house,
"does anyone live here?"
and the house said nothing.

to contention (be content)
with what you have
build a home
with what you have

to precede (be preceding)
complication
merging present
and future

to examine (be examining)
predictions
and past

to clarify (be clarifying)
new information
with yourself as
an example

for Richard Brautigan

sometimes
i think about fucking you
and sometimes
it won't go away until i'm
fucking you

in the heat of the house
you'll always be a mouse
out in the fire of the sun
we are always on the run

to make everyone happy
with numbers on the floor
and shoes untied
they will all leave today
and go away or stay
to tell the moon
to make the flowers bloom

on the west creek

glad you're mad
i didn't call you
aboard a kayak
fighting off spiders
with a paddle

to know you
waited, thinking
through murky
parkway tunnels
under fallen trees

on beautiful days
deep in the forest
I'm thinking about
the same things
and vice versa

you miss your mornings
this is just something that I know
under covers
with no happiness under the bed

Listen to fan sounds
this is your reward
for science
you left the party

Sleep it all under the rug
don't feel important
to talk to everyone you know
about your problems

Don't wanna function
with no happiness in your head
to find the answers
for science

does she seem as she seems
are we a part of me
i mean a lot of things
a dream wish art dream
expressing harmony
every thought a leaf
what you think
what you wanna be
it's important
simply expanding
we don't know how to
express ourselves
without water or nutrients
and all the benefits
of a modern society
but we're just
climbing trees

first words with the morning water

fans
dots
oscillators
points
places you want
to be filled
with what i have
beautiful eyes and
beautiful everythings
your basement has a
comfortable couch
first words with the morning water

in cursive

dinosaurs are fuel
you think you're cool
driving in to school

six haikus

 1.

a poem for the pines
to me everything was there
Godfrey's bridge campground

2.

I drive by the beach
pepperoni pie for you
thank you for the tip

3.

small poems in my head
come out onto the page now
my hand writes "goodbye"

4.

one hundred degrees
tomorrow we start early
it will suck so bad

5.

my groin hurts to move
skimboarding is for pussyslut
the sun burned my back

6.

hourly rate low
off by eight seven cents
pay me by friday

beach haiku

the water was cold
the air was so very hot
the beach was perfect

short critiques

"the face of the clock was clean
as the numbers bled to the floor
and onto my guilty hands...
I killed time."
-Amy Sarisky, Sayreville War Memorial H.S. Grade 12

I want to kill time too
not like
kill time as in pass the time,
kill as in the numbers
bleed to the floor.

"Como esta usted?
Spanish test--now I'm dead"
-Dan Dougherty, Grade 10

I want to rhyme Spanish words with English words.

"I am snow, yet I am beginning to melt."
last line of "Angela Abstinence" by Carmen Cisco

I have melted, but I would like to turn back into snow.

"I am blue - bold as the night
I am as brave as the open sea
I am blue and I am a beautiful sight"
-Amy Rastiello, Grade 8

I believe alliteration of the letter B is beautiful.

"I could go on and on
with things that rhyme with day
But I won't because
That'll take all day"
-Troy Youhas, Grade 8

I wish I could rhyme day with day in such a clever way.

"If I could do anything
I would not change anything"
-Ivellise Acevedo, Grade 9

Maybe if I couldn't do anything, I would change everything.

"Happiness is a light pink sea shell
That crawls on the bottom of the ocean
And takes the sadness out of you"
-"Happines" by Mike Brown, Grade 6

I wish I wrote like Mike Brown did when I was in 6th grade.

"The Pilgrims Sailed the Seas" by Mia Sapienza

I wonder what Mia Sapienza is up to these days.

but boy was I

and I wrote nonsense notebooks
but boy was I wrong
and I tried to set myself free
but boy was I wrong
and I felt better as the words left me
to sit there on that page!
but boy was I wrong
and I thought that I was worthless
but boy was I wrong
and I thought that I was a genius
but boy was I wrong
and I thought that I'd find my way
but boy was I wrong
and I thought I'd be lost forever
but boy was I wrong
and I thought that I was right
but boy was I wrong
and I thought that I was wrong
but boy was I wrong

I will with you

I will die with you
when I hear that you've died
but I'll go on living
as a cloud in your sky

I will cry with you
forever after you've died
and my tears will fill the ocean
as a cloud in your sky

I will die with you
when you die and I
will fill the ocean with tears
as a cloud in the sky

I will cry with you
when you cry and I
will fill the ocean with tears
as a cloud in the sky

I will fly with you
when you fly and I
will float over your waves
as a bird on your shore

Our drug

Our drug
has been approved by the FDA
So that means it's ok.
ok?
ok,
it's ok!
and you'll be ok
as long as someone pays

in a non-monetary way
you'll pay

the medium is the message

stoplight haiku

my stoplight haiku
I couldn't finish writing
the light turned green fast

the Philadelphia Art Museum

While browsing
through the gun exhibit,
I saw Silent Jay in his parachute pants
long blond hair, and
was that some sort of beenie?

I forgot what his girlfriend looked like.

for B (ode to Cobain)

I'm not your hero
I'm not brilliant
you're an idiot
(you don't
know why
you like
them, but
you do)
she's the one
she likes all my pretty poems
and she likes to read along
and she likes to
paint her nails.