by Eric Nixon
By the pressure washer-like spray
Ow!
As the water thundered
I nakedly considered
How the head wasn't adjustable
What a situation to be in
Since most hotels have
Such lousy pressure
And here I faced
Having my face
Blasted off by the torrent
Braved up by thinking
How silly I was being
So I made the plunge
And stepped into the back
Where the jet pummeled
The tub wall like a boxer
Hell-bent on victory
Reached out - ouch!
Screw it, I needed a shower
And put my shoulder to the stream
Gritting my teeth to the pain
Sharp continuous lancing stab
Digging into my arm
I winced and shielded
My more sensitive parts
As I hurried fast to end it
And swung the silver arm around
To cut off the flow
And provide relief
To my aching body.
All of this time I'd been focused
On the blasting jet of water
And not on the poorly installed
Curved shower curtain
Drooping down just enough
To cause the curtain
To shrink from the sides
Coating the entire bathroom
With a layer of beaded moisture
The spray sent airborne and ejected
From its violent collision
Making the floor slippery
And the countertop wet
As I wiped up the water
And contemplated my impending
Three-night stay.
I knew this experience,
Normally so forgettable,
Mundane and uneventful
Would stay with me
For quite some time
August 23, 2012
Bar Harbor, Maine
The shower in room 17 of the Days Inn in Bar Harbor is certainly not lacking in water pressure. No, siree.
Whoopie Pie
Whoopie pie
Like a sandwich
Or a burger
But made of cake and cream
Tastes like a dream
But when I'm done
Wow, way too filling
August 25, 2012
Portland, Maine
Driving down the coast of Maine today from Mount Desert Island to Portland, we stopped for lunch at Moody’s in Waldoboro, Maine. Stuffed from our food, I got a whoopie pie to go and had it after dinner. It was really good.
Toast Ghost
I thought I pulled the loaf
From the fridge
I remember setting the oven
To preheat
I knew I got the grape jelly
And a knife
But as I look around
I realize I had done these things
In my head
And nowhere else
I'm hungry
So I start the process again
August 25, 2012
Portland, Maine
Sometimes we spend so much time thinking and planning, we forget the actual doing.
That Is Enough
The light from the lamp
Shining onto the hotel desk chair
Is perfect and exquisite
But the subject
Is boring and uninteresting
And I can't be bothered
To take a picture as
No one will ever look at
I appreciate it here, in the moment
And that is enough
August 25, 2012
Portland, Maine
At the Embassy Suites and the very cool, modern, comfortable desk chair looked amazing in the light of the desk lamp - so much so that I almost took a picture…and then I couldn’t really be bothered.
Sleep Please Take
Sleep please take
And overtake me
And make me
Fall asleep
August 26, 2012
Portland, Maine
I was asleep and woke up in the middle of the night with these lines on my mind. I don’t know why since I never have a problem falling asleep. Anyway, I wrote it down and then conked out again.
Wading Through The Nonsense
Sitting by her side
Holding her hand
Hoping for lucidity
Waiting patiently
Wading through the nonsense
Hanging on for a coherent thought
Something to show she still knows
Anything; a look, smile, or a glance
Nothing
Visiting hours over
Leaving for the night
Remembering the love she gave
Returning tomorrow to try again
August 27, 2012
Benson, Vermont
My wife’s grandmother is in a nearby nursing home with Alzheimer’s.
Flip The Switch Of Autumn
One
Two
Nights in a row
Cold
Colder
Temperatures
It makes me wonder
Can two nights
In the forties
Flip the switch of Autumn
Override the hold of Summer
Give it a pushing nudge
To tell
To move
To convince it
To move along?
The fading greens
The spreading yellows
The fringing oranges
Chorus up and say yes
August 27, 2012
Benson, Vermont
Last week we had a couple of cold nights and I wondered if it was enough to start autumn. Even though scientifically, I’m probably wrong to think this way, I’m going to go ahead and say yes.
The Unkind Of Person
There is the unkind of person
Who will think nothing of
Blocking someone's driveway
And say that if they need to, they'll just move it.
Then, there is the kind of person
Who has the foresight and common courtesy
To park further down the street
And not inconvenience others to begin with.
The latter of us are in a dwindling majority
August 27, 2012
Benson, Vermont
We had a yard sale a few weeks ago and it was amazing how many people would just block the driveway…so many that we had to put up a sign.
Defined By The Decade
Like a hamster in it’s cage
Running on its wheel
Stuck in an infinite loop
Time spins on by
But nothing will change
Same goes for musicians
For the time period
They had their hit or two
It doesn’t matter what they do
New songs, new material
It doesn’t matter
A jury of their fans
Has pounded the gavel
And declared them
Guilty by association
And be sentenced
To be forevermore
Defined by the decade
August 31, 2012
Benson, Vermont
I got to thinking about how, with a few notable exceptions, most every band is permanently defined by the decade they were first known in. It’s unfortunate since almost all of them have been making music all along, but they’re classified as a “90s band” (for example).
Watched A Windy Gust
Walking the dogs in the backyard
On a beautiful late summer day
When a breeze whipped on by
And I watched a windy gust
Threading through a nearby tree
Weari
ng ninety percent green
And the remainder in yellow
The pilfery puff excited them all
But only those who had turned
Heeded the enticing call,
Detached from their source of life,
Bounded into the cool air,
Waived goodbye to the others,
And let themselves be carried
Out and off their forever home
Tumbling along joyful
And carefree from the tree
Dancing, spinning, laughing,
Loving their final burst of glory
Skimming along the grass
And into the neighbor’s yard
Out of sight
But not
Out of mind
August 31, 2012
Benson, Vermont
This was pretty cool. The very few yellow leaves in this one small tree seemed to jump ship, twist through the air, land, and run away in a rambunctious line.
SEPTEMBER
Enlightenment
The other day, while getting in the shower
It came to me and I realized with perfect clarity
How everything fits together
When I say clarity, I mean periphery
As the answer is too big to envision all at once
It is both equally
Complex beyond measure
And infinitesimally simple
Could I explain it to you?
I’m sorry, but no
It’s just something that needs to click
And when it does, you’ll feel it too.
It was an odd moment
A peculiar time
And a strange place
To achieve enlightenment
But these things aren’t planned
Something about stepping over the tub wall
Seemed to trigger the understanding
And life’s meaning became apparent
With the universe making perfect sense
And I knew my purpose and place
Amidst the whole of everything
September 1, 2012
Benson, Vermont
This happened last week and it gives me goosebumps, and a full-body chill, every time I think about it.
Cool, Green, And Blue
Late summer day
Cool, green, and blue.
The trees haven't changed much
(Yet)
And they’re still green
But have definitely
Lost their luster.
Maybe they're just tired of the summer.
I don’t know if I am or not
Probably because it passed by
Like a laugh at a carnival
Free, easy, and plentiful
And gone much too soon.
September 1, 2012
Benson, Vermont
I seem to remember the leaves already having started their colorific change by now, but almost everything is still green. Who knows? (Not I.)
Polarized
One party made of loudmouth bullies
One party made of pushover wimps
Both spending hundreds of millions
To influence your way of thinking.
The only thing they both agree on
Is to never compromise
On anything ever.
They’re deadlocked
More than unlocked
And they’re too blinded by
Their causes du jour,
Their spinned half-truths,
And the corporate money
Lining their coffers
To see they’re not doing their jobs
To see they’re hurting America
And are responsible
For it’s rapid decline
Since they’re so polarized
I would like to suggest
That each and every one of them
Be rounded up, put on a ship,
And sent up to the Arctic.
Let them balance on
A melting piece of ice
And not let them off
Until they’ve solved
All of our problems.
I am willing to wager
To save their own skins
They will settle their issues
Fast and quick
So maybe, we can get
This country moving again
September 2, 2012
Benson, Vermont
Seriously. Both sides spend so much time pointing their fingers at each other and doing whatever they can to thwart and block the other, nothing ever gets done. They should all be fired and the citizens of this country can vote anything that needs to be voted on. We have the technology to vote this way, so why not eliminate the corrupt middlemen and let us vote directly on our country’s matters. As a side note, thank God I don’t have cable, otherwise I’d be inundated with political crap 24/7.
Jump In A Lake
Spring and fall
Are wonderful
So is the first half of winter
Summer, however,
Can jump in a lake
September 3, 2012
Benson, Vermont
I love, love, love spring and fall. They are amazing. I also like the first half of winter when the snow is starting and everything seems so wintery fresh. The second half of winter is just too bitter cold. Summer…I’ve never cared for it. Too hot, too many bugs, and there’s rarely a normally nice day to be found.
I hereby approve of 2.5 seasons.
Who We Are
Who we are
What we are worth
And how we measure up
Is all too often defined
By the twin measures of modern lives:
Our geographical location and
Our primary occupation.
With those in hand
The asker applies it
To their personally-established biases
And judges you accordingly.
September 4, 2012
Benson, Vermont
Pulled Into Infinity
“She was a nutcase,
I had to work with her every day,”
Said the nutcase
I have to work with every day.
It’s like the meta monster
Looked too deeply
Into the salonist’s
Mirror-facing-mirror
And was pulled into infinity.
September 7, 2012
Benson, Vermont
Doodles And The Everworse
A local stray cat always runs away
Whenever someone approaches
I think the deep-seated reason
Is that a neighbor named her
“Doodles.”
Call me crazy
But I understand the cat’s position
And I would run away too
From nutty people naming me
Lest I be re-named something everworse
September 7, 2012
Benson, Vermont
True story.
Our Emotional Selves
First time in a while
And the separation
Has given me pause
Has given me perspective
And now I know why
Bottles are tipped to fill
Glasses open and awaiting.
It’s not so much the escaping
But rather the deep-seated wanting
To feel
Emotion
To experience
Freedom
To liberate
Yourself
From the clamps
From the labels
From the oppressions
That society dictates
We wear over
To cover and tamp down
Our emotional selves
September 7, 2012
Benson, Vermont
Kari said we needed room in the fridge, so I needed to finish this half-full bottle of wine w
e got on our trip to Maine two weeks ago. While working on her project, I finally figured out the allure of it all.
Meaning Beyond The Mundane
Recently I became aware of
The grand futility of
The bulk of humanity's preoccupations.
The kinds of things that everyone does
But never really matters.
Well, sure they do
In the moment
And what is life,
But a series of moments
Strung together
But in the end
When faced with the life-altering nothing
All of that time
All of those moments
All of those things you did
That felt important
That felt necessary
Were nothing more than
Delayers and time wasters.
You have a limited number of seconds
Each one that blips by
Is one you’ll never experience again
So, my God, use them
Each and every one
LIVE your life
Like it has
Meaning beyond the mundane
LIVE your life
And do something
That makes you happy
That uses your creativity
And makes you, YOU
September 7, 2012
Benson, Vermont
A few weeks ago I was in the shower (where I do my best thinking) and the line, “The grand futility of the bulk of humanity’s preoccupations,” came to me. I loved it (despite it being an awkward mouthful), and finally did something with it tonight.
Rural Ballet
Looked across the street
To the town library
That’s only open six hours a week
And saw poetry in motion
As a father-son team
Tamed that lawn
And Deere’d it down
With matching ride-ons
When the son turned a corner
The father trimmed it closer
And round and round they went
Dancing in progressively smaller circles
Turning tighter in tandem until the two
Had finished their weekly chore
And mowed their way home
September 7, 2012
Benson, Vermont
True stories abound tonight. It was neat to see two green ride-on lawn mowers turning and moving in tandem until it was mowed. The interesting thing about this area is that I see more 4-wheelers and ride-on lawn mowers on the road than cars. The title isn’t meant to be confused with the Whately Ballet, which was the euphemism in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts for the strip club in Whately, MA.