Quid Pro Tau

The Pledge Brother Series -- Nine = ONE

2010-03-20T17:20:00.000-04:00

Run faster, farther

We'll tear you down--build you up

Make you One of us

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Poet

2010-03-18T19:58:00.000-04:00

He says he Loves them

But they say he talks too much

So he writes haikus

<3

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Dancer

2010-03-18T19:55:00.002-04:00

Legs strong enough to

Carry his grandmother too--

Together, they dance

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Stone

2010-03-18T19:48:00.003-04:00

He's immovable--

It's known a stone can withstand

All kinds of pressure

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Real Troy Bolton

2010-03-08T03:27:00.001-05:00

Some may disagree

But Zac Efron is weak sauce

In comparison

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Radio Man

2010-03-08T03:16:00.001-05:00

His walk is humble,

His words given in service,

His voice: prophetic.

The Pledge Brother Series -- The Star

2010-03-08T03:08:00.001-05:00

Mechanic of sorts

For once the light's behind him

He shouts one line: "Hey!"

The Pledge Brother Series - Hero

2010-03-06T03:28:00.004-05:00

Rain--but he looks up

Just to wish upon a star

Buoyant in the storm

The Pledge Brother Series - The Vagrant

2010-03-06T01:20:00.001-05:00

Three hundred dollars

All in the glove compartment

But the journey's free

The Pledge Brother Series - The Magician

2010-03-06T00:53:00.001-05:00

He taught me magic

A leader wields many spells--

Love, Heat--abstract things.

The Pledge Brother Series - The Artist

2010-03-06T00:50:00.004-05:00

Let's make a painting

Carnations, orange, sky blue

On fire hydrants

Haiku/Senryu -- Dawning

2010-02-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Waking up alone

I yawn as I remember

Loneliness was here

Haiku/Senryu -- Laugh It Off

2010-02-20T10:22:00.001-05:00

It's rather painful

Walking into glass windows

The shame hurts the most

Haiku/Senryu -- Walk, Walk, Fashion, Baby

2010-02-18T19:49:00.009-05:00

'Fierce' is so '08

Now we are Little Monsters

Gaga Ooh La La

Haiku/Senryu -- Cold Hard Lesson

2010-02-18T04:24:00.002-05:00

One lesson I've learned:

Never answer booty calls

When it's snowing out

Haiku/Senryu -- Elusive Fox

2010-02-17T02:13:00.002-05:00

Anderson Cooper

Is just too hot for Twitter

Or this dumb poem

The Man Not Taken

2010-02-15T02:28:00.002-05:00

Two men I met the other night

(And flirting is not my department)

Posed to me the guilty task

Of saying yes if either asked

To spend the night at his apartment.

But I took the other of the pair

Whom I guess had me better hooked,

Because he had shaggy unkempt hair

With a wide and rugged jaw so square

And was unaware how good he looked.

The one not taken, to my dismay

Had looks that were a tad too bland;

I just did not see him that way

(And the shaggy one was a better lay),

So I took the other by the hand.

And I shall be telling this little lie

With no intent to cause offense:

Two paths diverged that night, and I—

I took the less attractive guy;

And he made all the difference.

-------------------------------------------

[- Inspired by, and somewhat parodying The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. -]

A Second Grader's Love Poem

2010-02-07T14:24:00.003-05:00

We’re only allowed to give out Valentines

If we have enough for everyone.

But I promise this one is special.

When Mommy noticed

I made a spelling mistake,

I didn’t just cross it out

And write the right spelling next to it--

I threw it out and started writing it all over.

I purposely kept it

In my right hand

The whole time while handing out the others.

I made sure to hold it softly

So it wouldn’t get all soggy

With my sweaty hands.

And I made sure to wash my hands

When I came back from recess

Before handing it to you.

So please take it.

Don’t let it get

crumpled,

or sweaty,

or ripped.

It looks like all the others,

But I promise:

this one

Special.

Marilyn Monroe Speaks of Magic

2010-02-05T18:25:00.001-05:00

I am the witch that they hunted--

I speak to every woman

who was burned alive for witchcraft

after me.

Every woman who has ever

been wronged, or set ablaze

at the stake for their

Magic.

You see your name in lights--

It is the signature

your

~ soul

on a contract

to the World.

Magic is not

something that comes

from within.

It is cast upon you--

Powder and Power,

Film screens and silk seams,

Camera flashes and sashes of cashmere.

Lashes and Fashion,

Blond curls and unfurled bows,

Rouge like blood and smudged lip balm,

Pomp and Pretense.

My daughters,

I promise you this:

You can burn at the stake.

But Magic

not only

makes us

~~immoral~~;

makes us

~~Immortal.~~

This is what dreams are supposed to be like--

2010-01-24T21:41:00.007-05:00

This is what dreams are supposed to be like--

Running with war-paint on your face,

And even though it's on your cheeks and forehead

You can see it.

The jungle roars past you as you

glide

through

it.

But you don't step on the wrong

Spiky fallen branch, or

Trip

On the ubiquitous gnarled roots.

And then you

leap

Into the pond, and

You can breathe

Water.

And you're surprised for only a moment

That you can breathe water

And accept it

Soon enough.

Because that's what dreams are all about--

Surrender.

Legends of the Cliché Temple

2009-11-19T16:54:00.001-05:00

So I’m in this ancient temple, and I can tell you

that it looks exactly like what you picture in your head,

because ancient temples are so typical.

There are things I can’t read written on the walls,

but of course, if I were in a movie,

there would be someone with me

who somehow does know how to read this obscure text.

They would translate by moving

the flaming torch slowly along the walls

as the enigmatic carvings tell of something truly ominous

(because ancient temples always have

ominous things on their walls).

Anyways,

let’s say I manage to unlock a secret chamber

in this already secret temple

by putting together

the Shrine of the Silver Monkey

(which,

for having only three parts,

is so much harder than it looks,

and I regret yelling at those kids on TV

for not being able to do it faster),

and in this chamber there is

a jewel-encrusted box.

Well, one would hope that this box contains

the Crystal Skull or magic lamp or whatever,

but deep inside I have this nagging fear that

the jewel-encrusted box does not contain what I seek—

that it will instead hold a riddle or clue as to the real location

of whatever wonderful artifact I am questing for,

because ancient temples are disappointing in that way.

And it’s probably laden with traps

and this temple is probably going to implode

as soon as I open the box,

because

temples are made by really sadistic assholes

who seem to get a real kick out of knowing

that thousands of years later,

they’re gonna squish some unfortunate adventurer

by dropping boulders on him

something.

So why am I even here? Why am I buying into this cliché?

Ever seen Indiana Jones?

He didn’t give a shit

about rationality or survival.

He just went with it.

And if a boulder came rolling his way,

he ran.

I wanna live like that.

I want to suspend disbelief

like the hopeful rope

that suspends an unlucky explorer

over

a pit of snakes

lava.

I want to live like that.

God Shatters Grandmother's Fingers

2009-09-17T02:43:00.001-04:00

Hands so brittle I fear they'll shatter when they squeeze my own,

Fervently thumbing through prayer beads
Hundreds and hundreds of times,

Racing like rickshaws through Bangladesh...

"Do your bones ever crack?"

"Only when God wants them to."

I wish I could be like the men of Legends--

2009-09-04T03:24:00.001-04:00

I wish I could be like the men of Legends--

Unbreakable flesh and bone,
Muscles of marble stone,
A statue with a leaf
Between my legs for modesty--

be Strong, I mean--

and

Have admirers at my beck and call,
Looks to make Adonis pall,
Hair of curly naïveté
Crowned with the laurels of wisemen--

be Beautiful, you see--

and

Known on Olympus and far beyond,
Kept in memories ever fond,
Referenced in stone tablet texts
And scrolls found lifetimes after--

be Remembered, really--

but,

above all,

Keep the Fates and Muses at odds

With wit enough to unmake gods.

Tell me, sweet---

2009-09-02T04:00:00.001-04:00

Tell me, sweet--
What will you eat
When I am old and dry?

Won't cook, or bake
Your carrot cake
When I'm no longer spry.

Tell me, honey--
How will money
The march of time deny?

I'll hack and wheeze,
And wobble my knees,
Knit sweaters on my thigh.

Tell me, dear--
Why do you fear
The fact we all will die?

My bones will crack,
I'll break my back,
And beside you I will lie.