Park Hill Cemetery

I don’t know how to tell you this but

I haven’t forgotten about the azaleas

We’re all getting a little bit too old

To carry on this way – we keep getting older, see.

Better-looking than normal, I daresay –

I told someone that I barely remembered it but of course

That wasn’t true and it’s easier to see that from here. I think

I’d like to give you a call and pretend to be someone with an investment in

Material wealth because we’re sure that would be beneficial. You’d have to bite your tongue.

We’re developing liver spots on our hands. Our ears keep growing.

Eat your heart out, Amy Adams –

You’re much too generic for the coming attraction,

Which features 8.4 million women sans padded bras.

I like people who like to talk about ducks, naturally. One of the women

Has a few things to say about prohibition but the men are mostly concerned about how

One day they look quite normal-sized and the next they’re old,

And somewhat small –

Do you know what they’re talking about?

Our ears just keep growing, don’t they. Well of course we could

Drop by the hospital if you’re worried about being alone but the staff

Should know what to look for. Thank God there isn’t anything to

See here at Pebble Beach, what with the lights-camera-action atmosphere and

All the women in their bras. 

I have a story or two that needs to be written down but I can’t make you

Responsible for that because you’ve got January and February, you know,

To catch a glimpse of the androgynous boy down the street.

George

When I was younger I

had a lot of things to say

about laws concerning cigarette smoke

even though yesterday, I saw a pregnant

lady smoking a cigarette or maybe she

was just sort of fat, I don’t know but I saw her

and I laughed my ass off, I really did. People are so stupid

but I can’t say much, I forgot to

call my mother today and she’s going deaf and all.

Her dog is deaf too

I should call her more often

even though I hate repeating myself. My neighbor George

is always watering his grass – I can’t imagine

his grass needs all that much water.

One time, George got stung by

a bee and went into anaphylactic shock and I saved his life

but no one made a big damn deal

about it or anything. The next day, I met

an old boyfriend for a drink just to see

if he still blinks the whole time you’re talking to him. 

Wallace Rd

The children in the neighborhood

Rarely see each other. They are

Picked up at the buses

And they play inside. In the pond, some of the fish

Have died – it was too hot. 3204 Wallace Rd watches

Their white, swollen bodies bob  listlessly

In the green water

Because his grandmother has forgotten his name.

He still reminds her but soon he will stop. 3211 watches him

Watch the fish and imagines taking him a folding chair but she doesn’t.

She hates death and it doesn’t grow on you

Like Carole King does –

It’s ugly and it’s never not ugly. She will go

To school tomorrow with new, unwelcome realities:

Her parents naked,

Too loud,

And a boy who is not quite young enough anymore

To roll with the punches.