My friend asks
me where I get
the fodder for
writing my poems.
I tell him, life.
He says that\'s too
simple.
He isn\'t satisfied.
I tell him that
sometimes, I sit at
my desk and open
the window above the
litterbox, and look
outside at the
orange daylilies and
wait.
He says he writes
from a small place above
his left ear.
It tickles at times, but
often it\'s painful.
I nod and make a
note to call my
doctor about the
headaches I\'ve been having.
He reads his posey at
the coffee shops while
drinking espresso and
chatting with the other
young poets in sweaters.
I tell him that I used
to live under a bridge,
I read my poems to the
savage river and the
Mallard ducks, and the
drunk friends that
wandered in for a drink of
vodka or a beer.
He says the little place above
his left ear is beginning to
hurt.
I walk him to the door and
tell him goodbye.
He asks if I will come
to the coffee shop to
hear him read his poetry.
\"Sure\", I say, smiling blankly.
After closing the door,
I sit and smile at the view from
my window.
I can smell the freshly cut
grass, and hear the
grinding wine of the
lawnmower.
A woman across
the street is lying in
the sun.
She\'s wearing a turquoise
bikini and big sunglasses.
Just then, a slight hint
of coconut wafts into my room.
I get hard and pick up the pen.