a taxi for tony

by bofa xesjum

ralph and tony had been roommates for three hundred years. a taxi was waiting downstairs to take tony away. tony had waited until the last the last minute to pack his suitcase. that was the way he was, it was just his way. he couldn’t find his navy blue socks, the ones with the little yellow buddhas on them. they have to be here somewhere! he shouted. ralph helped him as best he could. they looked in the corners, under the mattresses and the sagging sofa, behind the television set, they emptied all the drawers in the dresser, the closet, the cupboards, the wastebaskets, the refrigerator, the umbrella stand, they just could not find tony’s navy blue socks with the little yellow buddhas on them. the taxi’s meter was running and finally ralph paid it off and it left without tony. ralph and tony lived together for another four hundred years.

oh yes i remember now

by bofa xesjum

when i was just a little flower my mama took me to the see the most famous man in the world he was short lived we had grape juice and corn flakes i was a little surprised as she always put him down she put me in a bag and we went down to main street there he was they all look alike, mama said he is responsible for all the evil in the world he looked like just a man to me when he dies they will pave the streets with tears before him there was reagan and nixon and hitler will always be with us look what the dirty rats have done through the ages war is for lovers all the immune systems in the world will not save you, brother

today's special - lasagna

by bofa xesjum

the anondyne belligerence of the comatose dissolves the ecstatic fulminations of the growing boy in hot tears here is insolence indeed just when your best friend is crowned king the laughing mastodons of necessity overwhelm the posturing quoters of regulations sad, but totally understandable very well, then, order the expenses to be approved but do it yesterday in the best traditions of the department the time honored traditions of expedient delivery what? did i hear you correctly? there is no more vanilla extract in the medicine cabinet? i have always known you hated me it all goes back to the summer day when we first met at jerry’s thin crust pizza in detroit michigan which no longer exists except in a faded photograph in the wind, and the sad rain

romain rolland: a dream

by bofa xesjum

i dreamed i was woodrow wilson with a top hat full of mice i asked d’annunzio for a sandwich but i had to ask him twice when mata hari saw my sandwich she demanded one of her own lloyd george tapped on the window but he was only skin and bone i asked sir edward grey for a pumpkin and up popped stefan zweig he offered me a crumpet and a shoelace and i had no place to hide what is this strange creature playing solitaire in the sand? i thought of asking for a ticket to cairo and it replied: romain rolland the waiter hovering in the shadows looked like babe ruth he asked if i would sign his treaty but i was afraid to tell the truth don’t cry for me, tanganyika on your carefully worded knees but bring me the price of raisins and walk in the rain, if you please

poem written on the back of a flyer for a lost cat torn off a telephone pole in oroville california

by bofa xesjum

i am special not like you the universe would fly apart if i were not the glue the universal cosmos protects you every minute the only reason that it does is because i am in it i walk the streets unnoticed unheralded and alone but if i only wished to i could turn you all to stone someday it will be raining i will sit down by the road and all of you will disappear when i lay down my load

poem written on a computer in the kearney nebraska public library

by bofa xesjum

i write this poem and since i want it to be true i write it for myself and not for you i never liked flowers i never liked birds peace and love and happiness are just words all i ever wanted was to rule the earth but everybody laughs at me because i am truly cursed i am just a lonely zombie walking in the night you think that i am nobody and you are right

we, the obsolete

by bofa xesjum

all the apologies in the world can not save you because the bureau of sadness has been shut down the connoisseurs have cashed in their chips and the dinosaurs have been denied deregulation you think you know where i am going but you are sadly mistaken the old man feeding the ducks is not who you think he is and the eremites have betrayed the constitution the beautiful constitution! which poor faquhar labored over for thirty-two years - it was he, not the crown prince who deserved the empire’s thanks but what is the use of debating these things in a world without decent silverware where coffee is served in paper cups paper cups! i say no more nonetheless, i would offer you a paper cup of coffee even a cream tart wrapped in aluminum foil if you could only give me news of m________ the incomparable m—————— ! it was not yesterday that i first encountered her nor even the day before yesterday i prefer to think of it as happening in the future in a galaxy not yet formed

twilight

by bofa xesjum

the crepuscular animadversions of the departing acolytes float like deflated stars over the darkening river thousands of cartons of green beans wait patiently in the harbor no one is to blame and yet all are to blame you read that in a book somewhere but, trust me, jerry won’t stand for it he is old school he will tell you what to do with your crepuscular animadversions and your departing acolytes and you will wake up on sunday but you won’t read the funnies

spring

by bofa xesjum

the infinite emolumentalism of the catatonic seeps through the spring day.. the butterfly wants to go home to its castle in the messier 82 galaxy where did it go wrong? even as you or i i remember when letters written in purple ink on pale blue stationery blew through the park like autumn leaves now there are only the silent clicks of phones distant as the crickets on the moons of jupiter… there... that was not so difficult, was it?