dream

by corinne delmonico

i had a dream last night the party was over the other guests had all gone home the host had retired to his study i went for a walk in the garden under a full moon the garden was filled with statues there was a statue of alexander the great weeping at the river weeping at the river forever there was a statue of pharoah’s daughter discovering little moses discovering little moses forever and joshua blowing his trumpet fighting the battle of jericho with the walls tumbling down forever and lincoln in his top hat freeing the slaves freeing the slaves forever it started to rain so i stopped looking at the statues and went inside the house was filled with corridors long corridors long corridors lined with pictures there was a picture of jesse james getting shot in the back by bob ford getting shot in the back by that dirty little coward forever and edmond dantes diving under the water finding the treasure finding endless wealth forever and orville wright flying the first plane at kitty hawk flying through the foggy air forever and delilah cutting samson’s hair while the poor boy slept like a baby slept like a baby forever and robert e lee at appomatox surrendering to grant handing his sword to grant forever and dracula outside the window looking in at lucy looking in at sweet lucy with his glowing eyes forever and teddy roosevelt at san juan hill charging up san juan hill charging up the hill forever and lindbergh riding down broadway in an open limousine being cheered by the crowd being cheered by the crowd on broadway forever and anne frank in her attic writing in her diary writing in her diary forever and oswald getting shot getting shot by jack ruby getting shot by jack ruby forever all these people with their stories doing things in their stories doing them forever everybody doing things forever living forever doing their things forever everybody except me because i am going to die some day sad!

102

by corinne delmonico

nobody knows my name and rules the world they rule the world because they know my name but i have no name orangutans live in the trees they have long arms that hang down sadly sadly among the disappearing leaves pomegranates are referenced in poems but nobody really eats them have you ever eaten a pomegranate? at night the earth is quiet but not as quiet as it used to be before you all came along robin hood robbed the rich to give to the poor but kept a little for himself because he had to eat samson was big and strong and loved delilah he loved delilah because he was big and strong but no good came of it turtles live a long time longer than mosquitoes or tigers or humans but they don’t go anywhere much uncle john kept his pants up with a suspender a single suspender held on with a button i swear he did the possums came out at night in old virginia by the light of the moon in old virginia and ate the watermelons woodrow wilson wore a top hat he wore a top hat because he was woodrow wilson when he took it off he was not woodrow wilson any more expect the best and you will get nothing expect nothing and you will get something your mother expects you for dinner a lonely youth sits in a lonely room he is lonely because he is a youth and his true love is only a dream zebras share the earth with humans but do not really care much for them and wish they would go back to their own planet

101

by corinne delmonico

ali is a muslim and plants bombs in cars he plants bombs in cars because he is a muslim all muslims plant bombs in cars bud is an african american man and holds up liquor stores he holds up liquor stores because he is an african american man all african american men hold up liquor stores hillary clinton was a woman and ran for president she ran for president because she was a woman all women run for president donald trump is a white man and was elected president he was elected president because he is a white man all white men are elected president einstein was a scientist and smoked a pipe he smoked a pipe because he was a scientist all scientists smoke pipes frank sinatra was italian and sold a lot of records he sold a lot of records because he was italian all italians sell a lot of records gorgeous george had long blond curls and everybody hated him everybody hated him because he had long blond curls george thought of himself as a pretty nice guy hitler was a bad person and had a little mustache he kept it neatly trimmed all the time but sometimes his hair fell down over his forehead i am a nice person i wish people liked me more i wish people liked me more because i am a nice person joe dimaggio was a strange man and played baseball he played baseball because he was a strange man all strange men play baseball jack kerouac had a cool name and went on the road he went on the road because he had a cool name he didn’t care if it rained or snowed leonardo da vinci was a genius and lived a long time ago he lived a long time ago because he was a genius all people who lived a long time ago were geniuses marilyn monroe was a human female and a sex goddess she was a sex goddess because she was a human female all human females are sex goddesses

rabbit

by corinne delmonico

i am a citizen of the new world i get junk mail including lots of calendars i got a calendar about saving animals there were pictures of cute cats and dogs and pigs and whales and chimps and gorillas and a lemur with big sad eyes looking into the depths of your soul and … a rabbit and my first thought was a rabbit! a flipping rabbit! rabbits are not exactly an endangered species! “The world's domesticated rabbit population is estimated at 709 million. however, there are many different species of wild rabbits that live throughout the world. since rabbits have been introduced to many habitats to which they are not native, it would be very difficult, to estimate the wild population. “ i guess! but then i thought what difference does it make? a rabbit is just a living creature that wants to live does a rabbit know that there are a trilion other rabbits in the world? as opposed to an albigensian lemur of which there are only 15 left in the forest in madagascar? maybe it does maybe a rabbit knows it can find fellow bunnies wherever it goes in the world whereas the albigensian lemur knows it better not go very far or it will never find a friend but again, maybe not does a rabbit know it is a “rabbit”? do cats and dogs know they are “cats” and “dogs” ? as opposed to just being creatures that you might hang with or ignore or fight or eat as the situation calls for? do humans know they are “humans”? a human can have a dog for his best friend and happily kill other humans, no? but humans love the idea of different creatures getting along make a video or a gif of a cat getting along with a monkey, or an octopus being pals with a porcupine, or an elephant snuggling with a piranha, and put it on line and you will get 10 or 20 million likes as opposed to a poem which might get 1 or 2 likes from your mom or your best friend if you are lucky don’t forget, september 23 is international rabbit day just some thoughts on a gray morning

free

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

i never cared for high society and only wanted to be free give me a pad with a thousand square feet a mile above the busy street filled with the treasures of the orient for 20 dollars a month rent and endless supplies of grass and opium and i would be a blissful bum such dreams may seem uncouth but encapsulated my youth of course they never came true but what are you going to do? i have no regrets although i lost all my bets let fate and the world laugh at me i still want to be free

i should get out more

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

i should get out more instead of sitting in my lonely head dreaming of days gone by that never existed gypsy dave and sunshine are gone so are winston churchill and jerry garcia we don’t have nixon to kick around any more nobody even remembers walter winchell o j is back in the news for a few hours rush limbaugh is disappearing over the horizon it is raining in butte montana but the sun is shining in sarajevo i should get out in the street in the world that has left me behind and just look around but would anybody notice me? i thought the streets would be empty but they are actually filled with people all looking at their smart phones and not at the sky or each other the streets used to be filled with clocks but now everybody knows what time it is they all beat to one heart the heart of the floating world the world that is floating away from the dreams of peace and love and ham and eggs words that were only words like “adumbration” or :defenestration” or “vladivostok”

golden gate park blues

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

say goodbye to gypsy dave long since sunk beneath the wave as time’s pitiless rush turns everything to mush sunshine - white rabbit - blue star - who knows where they are? enlightenment they craved but they could not be saved brad with his encyclopedia of drugs and mary with her indiscriminate hugs albert with his cut down bike and rudy who nobody really liked terry who sold flowers in the mission and leroy who studied the human condition and jenny with the bracelets on her arms who was always talking about starting a farm they came and went so fast because life is not built to last and all blur into each other that’s just how it is, brother memories get twisted so maybe they never all really existed but as my brain cells drift away i see them all as bright as day