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ali

sagging chain link
rusted auto shells
the valley of feral cats

afternoons of haze
climbing hills scorched
into orange
foliage and dry winds
palms sailing tethered
to the curb

ventures to the sea
to bath cavort and
frolic free
carefree ribbed
skinny knees
who cared about
the darkness creeping
like vines
stubble of the cell tower
over view of the glow
blotting out the stars
and the rumble of the
thousand cars

leaning in the all night
wait for the sunrise
behind us
salt breeze pacifics
edge
teetering on madness's
ledge
our eyes bleached to cold
rimmed numbness
our dark drawn cheeks
filled with smiles
of dumbness

loved it best when it rained
swept away the grit of
that lonely pain
washing hair and bodies
pure and sweet
waking up to puddles
and drying concrete

...

Editing stage: 

Comments

There is a place in my mind that your writing about. And a time. I was a kid there. The more I read this the more I’m convinced it’s the same place. I wonder if your poem is changing my memory. I feel like I’m there when I read this. It’s just vague enough that I can substitute my own meaning in places I need to. Am I supposed to be doing that? Maybe that is the hallmark of good poetry….leaving room for interpretation, some space between the lines. I like that anyway. Or maybe I’m just too dumb to get the exact literal interpretation. Haha! Either way, I think this is great. Can I ask about ali?

Thanks!
K

I AM FROM heriditary chief of reserve on Georgian Bay..the last...
there were three boys from his daughter..and she is was kick ass..
she died....my mother was very beautiful...had us boys in her
mid teens...ran from St Catherings..Niagra Falls in sixties
Hamilton....cape croker.....years later i visited her
went to her house..i was allowed to live in the last shotgun style
house in maples.had a spring well...vintage..we had coal oil lamps
I built a table with oil skin....the old people said...this is creepy
same year they had Poundmaker on the posters from band office
and I was skinny and many said I looked like him..we had a fire
outside to make tea and cook Kraft dinner and looked after
the children of the band office who worked from twelve to four
they were nice kids....we had the old yard....I had a brilliant
sicilian italian old lady from a bad assed big family.....she
loves people like I do.....we served tea...which I had brewing
on a fire I kept going..had the oldsmobile..top line parked
alongside house and we drove people to medical appointments
or beach down at landing....or we made sandwhichs kraft
dinner to kids...along with my old ladies two boys..both alphas
..today they are work for top kick ass responder companies..

I GOT grey eyes......grey.....they are spooky..north euro eyes
bits of green and brown bits but not much...asian female doc
at hospital one admittance said...Your eyes are beautiful..
not You have beautiful eyes...context is everthing...i am
completely business and politics were dominant in my life
with my family as a child and still...

storey telling is to draw you in to the element of the
atmosphere..like a play movie
its left open to let you move on and fathom its work
importance....

when I do the meetings....like today for instance
I JUST took it over..
for fifteen minutes no one spoke
i had my eyes closed....i was breathing
heavy.....I know they follow me
I am dominant
fifteen twenty others..
at the end they said
it was like therapy and it was..

i hated to lead..an aireobatics
team followed their lead
and he made an error
and seven people
just plowed into the ground
all those wives..mothers fathers
children..brothers....
a horrible responsibility

but...got to thinking
if you talked to your team
they would
say...hey boss
cap..names they call me
a ground loop is safe
at fifteen hundred feet
and I would say..yah
man.your right
what do YOU think Loyd
at the back newbie
and loyd would say
well....I WOULD want
to run five hundred
about that...they had
a flame out with a team
here...but got the engine
going there...

input is everything

yah..i give a shit......

would love to move to
desert too retire
but im canadian
got status
can move to states
but not to retire\

love desert though.

thank U Captian
of my time here you
are the most honest
of all..
I knew the real people
would show up post
2007,,,,,,,
mr Esker

author comment

thanks! thats a lot to take in! Man, You have lived quite a life. Thanks for sharing some of the details. Fascinating words. Story telling...drawing someone into the atmosphere! indeed. The desert is great, yes, especially after freezing for a couple decades. love it hear. my story is not as interesting as yours, but i'm working on it.
Thanks amigo!
K

who is that Ali anyway? What about that character? Is it a he or she that cavorts along splendid beaches dodging coconuts and the human kind?
All said, Wolf, yours is one heck of a poem about Ali who sounds like a real fortune cookie....
Nicely done poem. And now I'll wash all that grit from my ancient body's cracks, crevices and gnarls. Ciao, Wolf,
Ali Z.

is the trickester..
the dream threshold...i have met them in the deep stark hot of summer reality
in city crowd...ten second in passing meeting
eye contact..words....it seems like a dream
but it was not...
in the winter..they picked me up
almost like they knew
and I had the key puxxle peice for them
happy when we did the gift exchange
of clues...then on to the next thing
I got the name from a band
called Ravenoettes..not sure if they
are danish..think they are
ali is soul....female..male..
the one who points the way
the one who takes the burden
nods...knows....
sets you on the way

my face is both white...grey eyes
but mostly native

but the mix makes me look like
a neanderthal..red hair..
or the chinese mummies
the forehead

danish..sicilian....etc.....
usually people say I look
like their dead brother..freind
who is european
I never laugh nor scoff
they have found the link
the dead talk through the living
my grandfather had the gift
I saw things as a child
my child has the same gift
..
the use of the word
cavort is important
this has shown up in my life
in less then two months
a very intelligent man
whom my friend and I put
in his dock with hip waders
used that word
super briliant
man of few words
much cash....
few he trusts
and then
young girl hurting at
gatherings..meetings
name is Athena
showed me how to cry
lost her ex boyfreind
then I lost my dog
fell through the cracks
both of them...
happens...
Old lady got on the blower
and got a new dog...
puppy..boxer...beautiful
I respect my puppy gone
RIP lilly..but this one needs
love too..
the scars are healed
healing..
but I have never had
athenia in my entire
life.....fifty five years
and then bam bam
less then a month
I TAKE it as a sign

athena from the meeting
is forming up with nice
military man..young man
he helped me pick up
leaves..garbage in front
of church..ladies were
working..he brought
athena the young girl
cake when she was
crying...askedme
how it felt to lose someone
and I said it hurt
she cried for next two
meetings...
but I got an old lady

I am alpha..
its in me

and I LOVE MY pack
here....out there..
and family..
kick their ass
here and there
but I do give a shit

but my poems..
I had to think fast on my feet
some hairy predicaments
and it was break the ice
tension that bad
...worked out

thank U..

author comment
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