WHEN I REINCARNATE

(photo from Hiren & Punkaj)


Forget this New Age princess
Shirley MacClaine stuff.

I want to come back as a biker chick,
Get passed around (at first) from guy to guy
Like a cheap bottle
That tastes better
Than it should. Let me
Get gang banged
On the green felt of
The pool table,
And leave a deep impression
Of my legendary ass. Let me
Rock the clubhouse
So they’ll all want
One more taste,
Although they never
Dreamed they would. Let me
Provide the inspiration
For knife fights
Between the Bros,
For tattoos
That immortalize me --
Till that fatal accident
Or liver failure.

I want to be the subject of
A jukebox song, one
Guys will wait in line to play.
Let me be
That mistake
That breaks up
The bland marriages
At last, and
Let me be long gone
When hubby turns around.
Let me leave behind
The mark, the sting, the scent
That sticks
Forever. Let me be like
The road
That left them
Restless.


-- © 2010 by Jack Veasey

GULLS, PIGEONS, AND HARE KRISHNAS

(photo by Alan D. Wilson, www.naturespicsonline.com, from Wikipedia)

Gulls on the wall
Watch humanity pass
With no apparent interest.
When you can fly,
What else
Grabs your attention?

A Hare Krishna told me once
Whatever fills your mind
Determines how
You’ll be reborn.
If you fixate
On sex, you’ll come back as
A pigeon. “A dirty
Bird,” he said, sounding
Like a grouch grandma.

I pointed out to him
That pigeons fly.

Flying seems
Exhilarating
When you can’t do more
Than dream about it.
And I dream about it
Often. Always have.

Hare Krishnas,
On the other hand,
I only see
If it’s a nightmare.
Those who cannot fly
Hang out in airports,
Knowing what they do
In spirit
Can’t come true.
They fixate on
The ones with lots of
Baggage who can’t
Get away so quickly.
Them, they’ll trap
And badger
With their version
Of the truth.

Gulls and pigeons
Bring
Only a song –
Gurgles of love,
Cries of release,
The language
Of the winged
Who know
Only this moment,
Who can fly
Without waiting in line
To buy a ticket,
Whose truth
Waits for them,
Somewhere,
High in blue air.


-- © 2009 by Jack Veasey


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