toast

one little skin
across the crowded floor
one little word or two
over by the door

a little bit of light
a shadow leaf of feet
a glass that you should driink
a plate that you should eat

a suit of clothes, a wall
a long dress and some light
no ifs or ands or buts
but only yes and quite

one little person
another person too
sailing their life away
with no additional crew

substitutions

i rolled myself just like a wheel
to make it up a hill
the taste of x and polka dots
disguise the bitter pill

i made my back a turtle shell
so i could cross the road
next time i'll get an umbrella
to wheel my extra load

i watched a wall of shadows
so i could see a sign
i tried to connect all the dots
but couldn't make a line

some people talk in ice cream melt
some whisper words in creek
i wait under the mailbox door
and lick the stamps to speak

1 - 4

when the first act ends, we stand up stiffly
when the second act ends, we nod our head
third act ends, we clap politely
act four over, now what was said

see the first picture, that's some lighting
second picture makes us take a glance
third picture and we yawn discretely
fourth picture won't penetrate our trance

first person met, now that's exciting
second person passes, we like the style
third person here, we still are curious
fourth one comes, they all seem vile

first day dawns, stand at attention
second day makes us sit on chairs
third day comes, we slouch a little
this day comes and no one cares

some possessions

he had a patchy coat of fog
he wore it in the morning
it rose and fell but by noon time
it had all dissipated

he had some thoughts like bits of wood
convenient for a burning
and when the sulfur match was struck
the fire would race like silence

he had eyeglasses made of stars
so he could see the furthest
he only took them off to know
the contents of his hidden heart

he squeezed a beverage from the stain
left by the tree's dark shadow
he drank it when he needed strength
and this was always

funny bone

jason had a funny bone
it came out of his nose
his sense of smell was not too well
as you would presuppose

that bone coming out of his nose
was such a sight to see
some folks would laugh and laugh
and laugh and laugh and laugh and pee

upon that bone he put a hat
a small one, no, a cap
on holidays with colored ribbon
he the bone would wrap

until the day he got it stuck
so deep inside a well
he really wanted just to know
how deep a thing could smell

his feet are all that's sticking out
of that deep well's small cone
but passersby still laugh so hard
at his big toe's funny bone
(he had one on each end, see)

sizes

when i was as big as a living room
i had my machine thoughts and ways
i carried myself with machine posture
i lived the machine style those days

when i was as big as a whole house
i lived like an insect or a rock
i'd try to make coffee out of sadness
i didn't tell time by the face of clock

i'm never satisfied by my lot in size
i could expand if i could control it
but i have to watch for cops and robbers
who come by whenever they patrol it

some day i will not even try
but i'll be as small as just a thing
i won't have room enough for eyes
but i'll still wear that old trinket ring

dinner

we went to dinner oh last night
the sky was there and thick of teeth
we found a shell as large as town
and oh what visions underneath

we walked for maybe blocks or so
the evening was spread out like rugs
we waited at the traffic stop
the air was laced with smoke and shrugs

the other night was last night too
the lights came on when dark was late
we stood exactly in the eye
we walked some more and then we ate

and when we trundled to our home
the sky as fragrant as a pin
we said goodbye to all the out
and said hello to all the in

go before start

i left before the show began
i cannot wait for everything
i left after five minutes wait
i do not like it if it's late

i left during the overture
despite ticket investiture
i made it to another show
before it started, i would go

i could not wait a moment more
waiting is not what shows are for
i do not like to wait all day
four minutes could turn my hair gray

i will not, do not, cannot wait
for any show that's starting late
i guess i really like to go
before the start of any show

crazy man

when i went on a walk
i met a crazy man
he had a crazy set of teeth
he had a crazy tan

he told me crazy things
he opened up his mouth
he told me if i wanted north
i had to go straight south

he had a crazy suit
he wore it on his head
he said he wasn't quite alive
but also wasn't dead

he told me that the sky
would not be back that day
i pointed up at some faint clouds
he said that i should stay

he had three crazy eyes
rotating all around
and when they travelled on their course
they made a crazy sound

he told me crazy things
he wasn't drinking booze
i know where i saw him before
on tv he reads news

plant party

let's have a party
but we'll just invite the plants
we can save on beer and taco chips
we won't have to wear our pants

maybe we will water them
play them a radio tune
they will not laugh at all our jokes
but won't want to leave too soon

let's have a party
for the houseplants in their pots
we won't have to serve them wine and cheese
or bowls of apricots

and when the party's over
we won't have to shush them home
we can go right to our beddy byes
and write it in a pome

cooked song

i'll cook for you a special dish
i'll make it with the heads of fish
i'll make it with the root of cow
i'll cook some up exactly now

i'll cook for you a meal or two
i'll make it out of your left shoe
i'll make it out of tiddly winks
i'll cook it done until it stinks

i'll make a meal that you can eat
i'll make it with my hands and feet
i'll stir the gravy with my hair
i'll cook it while you stand and stare

i'll make you dinner and some lunch
i'll bake stale bladders by the bunch
i'll serve it all with such elan
that you will eat it by the pan

utility song

when you feel all down and so weather and blue
there is only one thing that you really should do
you should open your mouth despite all the sores
and also in sleep you can do it in snores
and sing out the song that i will say to you
sing it ippilty oppilty moo moo moo

when far is so farther and near is so too
and there is nobody as exposed as you
when up is much higher and down is so deep
the things that you want aren't the things that you keep
sing loudly this song if you know what to do
sing out ippilty oppilty coo coo coo

if you are a bump and there is no log
if you are a freckle and there is no hog
if you are a machine and there is no cog
if your old bedroom is now part of a bog
give your nose and your ears a good talking to
tell them ippilty oppilty boo boo boo

you don't have a care or a kiddle for thee
you don't have a lock but you do have a key
you don't have a fastener to tighter your shoe
but i'm going to tell you exactly to do
just open your kneecaps and bottlecaps too
sing so ippilty oppilty noo noo noo

oral stage

there is a curtain in my mouth
a stage, a band, and some footlights
i open wide for every show
or you can watch between my bites

the chorines dance upon my tongue
the shootouts transpire by tonsils
between my teeth, soliloquies
and jugglers demonstrate their skills

with comedy my whole mouth laughs
which makes it hard to open wide
at tragedy i tend to weep
tears fall and blur the act inside

loud bands make other mouths complain
i shrug my arms to pass the blame
the last show was a bit risque
expect tonight's to be more tame

eclectic are the offerings
with shows to suit most any age
the critics notice my bad breath
so daily i must brush the stage

delivered socks

he carried socks across the earth
thru winds of steel and mirror rain
he beat back pitchmen and pitchforks
delivering despite the pain

he carried socks within his mouth
the teeth grip kept them safe and sound
despite tornado tournaments
he'd keep fresh socks flying around

sock-muffled squeak, he'd sound, you'd know
when sock delivery was in fact
he'd conk the triumph of the stairs
the slings and slingshots and their pact

between your shoe and you is he
delivered socks by way of face
thru snows of shed and lightning brats
he brings stockings to every place

garden report

pay a visit to a squash
and see what you can see
put it to words and dot the i's
and give your work to me

explore the texture of a leaf
from high atop a tree
jump down as far as all the roots
report right back to me

spelunk inside a length of bean
and in a pod of pea
make note of all obstructions
and then tell the tale to me

circle several flowers
in the fashion of a bee
record sundry impressions
and relay them all to me

sit in the garden late at night
and tiny as a flea
turn observations into pome
the paper's due at three

resort

they told me once, they told me twice
i didn't clearly hear
you fill it out, you stamp it twice
and then you put it here

you keep your papers in a row
don't put them in the slot
you count how many sides each has
and tie it in a knot

you punch your fist thru form 2B
this year they made it easy
form 2C is a vomit bag
in case you're feeling queasy

once all the paperwork is filled
stay in your island cell
you will receive a ticket home
if you treat the guards well

if you remain supremely still
they'll tell you what you've done
and if they don't, just go with it
pretend that it is fun

and if you rot for years and years
don't blame it all on you
the torturers might treat you rough
but they've got to work too

ants in the plants

there is a garden in the back
it's green and brown with several plants
but what it grows the best of all -
civilizations of small ants

the garden ants are seeking sweet
they dig the ground, they walk on air
and on each berry and each grape
you'll find an ant who's sucking there

i told them to slow down this time
i told them to leave some for me
but they march on in all their force
a long day this is going to be

a garden is a peaceful place
sit in the grass and take a breath
and where my finger meets my thumb
so many ants will meet their death

hat place

when i put my hat upon my head
i sometimes wonder what if instead
i kept on going down the hat
what would i see inside of that

inside my hat there is a place
i've heard of it, seen just a trace
i've thought it when the hat was on
i nicknamed the place avalon

if i dare and if i don't
i'll travel with a winter coat
i'll wear my telescopic eyes
i'll walk until i reach the prize

it may be hot, it may be cold
i may not reach it til i'm old
the world in there, it is not flat
that secret world inside my hat

lived by car

motorcars are everywhere
they're in your face and in your hair
they're in the way you do not walk
they're in your eyes, they're in your talk

there seems to be too many cars
they number something like the stars
they trample down the growing ground
how can we stand them all around

how can we burn all of that gas
why does a trip take so much mass
why do we need two tons of steel
to get a drive-thru every meal

some day we'll surely brush them off
and we will look back and we'll scoff
at people who lived such a lie
they lived by car and why oh why

hate me

all the folks who hate my guts
want to hit me in the putz
aim directly for my eyes
use the element of surprise

several people want me hurt
with my disaster they will flirt
they'll try to stomp me on the toe
to make their hatred really show

there are those who want to see
me writhing in some agony
they will throw bricks thru the air
and hope they tangle in my hair

all the folks who want me dead
aim directly at my head
hit me with a two by four
so i will fall down on the floor

once they've had their way with me
i will rest and sigh happy
once they've carried out that threat
hopefully they'll just forget

allergic to war

lemmy had an allergy
and i'm not understating
he'd start to sneeze and nasal drip
when somebody was hating

some violence, the threat of war
an "i will shoot you dead"
would lead him to the kleenix box
to blow his snotty head

the sneezing and the sniffing
got too much for him to stand
when his whole country was marching to
the military band

his country started up a war
to prove some pointless point
a single sneeze from lemmy
could clear an entire joint

his eyes got wet, his head got thick
snot buildup wouldn't cease
the pressure got to be so strong
he sneezed us all to peace

alice in twist

she was reading carroll's alice
he was reading oliver twist
the nightstand light off
sleep came to them
side by side
darkness, dreams, and sharing night

alice's rabbit hole dug directly
to 1830's london town
she met oliver and his boys
tried picking pockets, did not like it

fagin was played by humpty dumpty
and bill sykes was a bit of a queen
alice wanted to find a way out
the artful dodger had pinched a rocket

alice, oliver, artful and rabbit
blasted off from the street of orphans
they passed the dodo and flying jabberwock
to discover new planets of story and dream
we'll have to find them another night
intermission, last page, the eyes

socks in tea

i have something, and it is true
i really need to say to you
i don't know what you'll think of me
but i spilled my socks into your tea

i spilled my socks into your tea
and tho it's not a felony
it isn't right at any rate
and really quite unfortunate

the flavor of tea is changed, you know
the scent of ankle, that taste of toe
will easily steep into your brew
and i don't like it, nor will you

before you go off to your play
i have another thing to say
i don't want to throw you for a loop
but i lost my moustache in your soup

upside down today

i think i'll go upside down today
i'll walk on my head and there i'll stay
if someone is kind or uncouth
i'll give them a wink with my mouth
i'll tell them a story about pie
i'll talk with my left and my right eye

i think i'll reverse from noon to night
because today wrong feels slightly right
and if i forget my own name
i'll say it backwards just the same
and if i lose powers of speech
i will fake by eating a peach

some day i will return to right side up
it makes it easier to sip from a cup
but in the meantime now
i'll stub my forehead ow
and i will look you in the toe
and tell you where you might just go
my kneecaps don't know how to frown
when i live today upside down

almost impossible

eating crackers thru your nose
it's harder than you would suppose
but harder still and harder yet
is catching airplanes in a net

i have tried, a time or two
to eat a football with one chew
my mouth is not that big around
and then there is that hissing sound

i've tried, have you, to overinflate
a zeppelin with too much hate
you want to wear your nicest gown
when all that noise comes screaming down

today i try a thing or two
a bird, a brick, the ocean blue
and if i live my flirt with death
i'll tell the tale in just one breath

day of labor

work all day to buy a clock
work all day to pay off hock
work all day some kind of job
work all day like rest of mob

work all day to build a bridge
work all day to fill up fridge
work all day wearing a hat
work all day how about that

work all day, that is the news
work all day to buy some shoes
work all day for that is right
work all day to sleep the night

work all day to go to school
work all day to not be fool
work all day despite that cough
work all day to take day off

our house

our house has sixty windows
fifty doors, if i am right
it is tall as you in daytime
and a mile in height at night

the roof is made of mattress
and the walls are made of vine
you can sit inside atop a chair
or ride the laundry line

our house has all our relatives
stored in a rounded box
and despite a mighty chain of keys
we can't open the locks

our house looks best in chaos
as the universe should be
you should stop by in the evening
or the morning time for tea

bus ride to bill

we rode the bus to the top of the hill
we had to go there in search of bill
we rode it down to the bottom too
and there we found joan and her left shoe

we rode the bus all over a frog
responding to the orders of a fuzzy dog
we rode the bus to an eskimo smile
it took us mile after mile after mile

we rode the bus inside of a whale
and there we found roy and horse and dale
we rode the bus thru the eye of a pin
that's how we found the long lost twin

we rode the bus to spain and back
to deliver a message addressed to jack
we rode the bus thru a vat of glue
and that's where we ran into you

we rode the bus till our feet were sore
we rode it thru the first and second world war
we rode the bus with all our might
and so passed the day, and so passed the night

magranda!

eat a chugball
spit it out
say "magranda!"
in a shout

squash a smishy
in your pit
say "magranda!"
it's a hit

hit your head
with cindercane
say "magranda!"
for the pain

walk thru seashards
with your feet
say "magranda!"
it's so neat