Poems not involving bodily vulgarities

Since apparently I post too many vulgar poems,

here are some uploads of poems I've done that aren't outright base. 

This first one is based off of Charles Beaudelaire's charming poem titled "Get Drunk". 

Make Love!

Always make love. 
That’s it! 
The great impetus! 
In order to not hear the shrieks  
of lovers past and pharaohs 
grinding  into oblivion, 
make love and make it last. 
To whom? 
To winter, volcanoes, nectarines, whatever, 
just make love and keep it made. 
And if you sometimes happen to awake 
strewn naked across gray sheets and glitter, 
tangled in the strings of deflating balloons 
barely breathing in the dark of whosoever’s closet, 
fading in the shadow of God, 
ask the winnow, 
the babe, 
the jurors, 
the mannequins, 
ask everything that flees, 
everything that groans, 
or rolls, 
or sings, 
everything that speaks, 
ask how any trace of day lives on: 
and the winnow, 
the babe, 
the jurors, 
the mannequins 
will all answer you: 
“By making love!  
Make love and make life breathe! 
Don’t be a prisoner of your own ghost. 
Make love! 
Stay loved! 

On winter, volcanoes, nectarines, whatever!”   

03/30/10

*******

Recipe for Breakfast

First, you must drain the Pacific Ocean.

Then, pelt a few pinecones 
and knock the stars down, 
every single one.

Collect the stars before they are stale 

and drop them into the Mariana Trench. 

Then, make the moon cry. 

It won’t be too hard— 
the stars are already dead.

Now chill her tears in Siberia, 
and then pour them into the Pacific Crater.

Watch the stars float to the top. 

Next, uproot a sycamore tree, and use it  
to gently stir the bowl.

Before you can eat, you must pick a hemlock needle  

and climb Mount Sinai.

Convince the sun to wake up. 

It won’t be too hard— 
you’ve already made him cereal. 

While balanced on the horizon, half-asleep, 

leap up and puncture his golden skin,

then slurp the yolk.

11/07/09

*******

Alternate Recipe for Breakfast

First, you must take your shirt off.

Then, find a marker

and draw a dotted line

across your chest.

Follow the line carefully with a sharp kitchen knife.

Before continuing, wash your hands clean.

Reach inside the cut

and gently remove your heart.

It should resemble a bagel.

Do not worry—the hole is natural.

It has always been there.

Next, clean your hands again

and reach back inside.

This time, locate your lungs.

Spread your fingers around the membrane,

and then take a deep breath.

Gradually apply pressure

until the sacs are compressed.

Collect your breath on a small serving plate.

Do not worry—that’s natural.

The essence is something soft and cold.

Finally, knife in hand,

carefully bisect the bagel longwise

and split the halves apart.

Spongy side up, stuff your heart with soft, cold cheese.

11/08/09 

3:14 AM-June 13, 2010