Farmers Market

Come up to an intersection
from down below where
the river walk branches out
to the northeast, concrete
stairway, fresh goods above.

The streets and parking lot
are busy with hustlers and
consumers, lovers and
the lonely, but the sound of

the river now flows silent
like the breath of a drowned
child in the current’s grip.

At the southwest entrance/exits
boxes of puppies and kittens
are hocked cheaply, no papers
to fill out or background checks
needed during operating hours.

Inside, the medium coffee that
was purchased is way too hot
to drink and almost impossible
to hold without switching hands
every two or three minutes or so.

A flower lady has bouquets set
up everywhere, Chinese toys
are still sold by a World War II
vet and the coffee is still too hot.

The fruits and vegetables are
carefully stacked, the many
cheeses have many buyers,
the meat is hanging or splayed
and the coffee can now be sipped.

Back outside the puppies bark,
the kittens meow, the streets and
parking lot is starting to die down
as the concrete directs to the river
and the coffee can now be enjoyed.

Generic Political Poem

Freedom of speech?
What does that exactly mean?

When one speaks out, gives
an opinion (educated or not),
they might be told,
“Enough. Stop.
Who or what gives you the right?
Where did God say that?
Don’t tell me that pop music sucks!”

Now, some would argue that
those people are trying to crush

free speech.

But this really means nothing.

It only means that something or
someone will stand in the way of
one’s right to speak and/or publish,
peaceably assemble,

petition for change.

The Ugliest Man

Like doing long division
on a soggy napkin or,
perhaps, an old dog that
waits for a belly rub,

the ugliest man kept up
a scavenger hunt that
ended many years ago.

Unlike the others, he
started from the bottom,
tried to work his way up.

The list ended at twenty.
The ugliest man hit sixteen.
No one else really kept track.

Like waiting for a red-eye
on a four day drunkard or,
perhaps, someone similar

to all of us on the inside.