Posts Tagged ‘travel’

time to leave

staring at my shoe tops
letting my jaw hang
patting all my pockets
flipping through my brain
don’t want to depart here
with something undone
was that faucet dripping?
is the oven on?
did i leave my wallet?
is the cat unfed?
do i have that envelope
that i needed to send?
just can’t shake this feeling
uneasiness and doubt
wonder if i might’ve left
the onion bagels out…




14

12 2009

no vacancy

opening the drawer to find
nothing
but a bible-shaped absence
of dust,
i consider commandment
number 8

though not exactly eye for eye,
i offer
my only onion bagel meal,
sacrificing
my fullness for that of this
motel room desk




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03

10 2009

Olde Town

I dropped my bag upon the cobblestone,
And all my cherished things were strewn about:
My phone and wallet, sunglasses and keys,
A tin of breath mints I’d not opened yet,
Some tokens for the bus I had to take,
And flowers for the girl I’d ride it to,
A nearly finished thesis manuscript,
My passport, birth certificate, false teeth,
(Some real teeth and a couple fingertips)
And several handfuls of pure gold doubloons.

Though this did not upset me much at all,
I wept to see my onion bagel fall.




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17

09 2009

Haiku #10

Packing dilemma:
Carry-on onion bagels
Or risk checking them?




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13

09 2009

Dirty Work – or – Don’t Even Ask What Happened in Rockford

Yanking on my bulbs
Yanking on my bulbs
I’ve got to get this batch of onions shipped off to DeKalb
Call the master freighter
Call the master freighter
He knows how to fill those boxes heading to Decatur
Oiling up my dough
Oiling up my dough
These rings of bread are due tomorrow up in Oswego
Fingering my holes
Fingering my holes
These bagels taste way better than the ones you get in Hull
Sucking cigarettes
Sucking cigarettes
My post-meal bliss should last me all the way to Joliet




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24

08 2009

bagel lag

slow toaster
staying in the toaster
staying light for so long

brown up those onions
and kiss me already

daddy’s got a plane to catch




04

08 2009

convenience, man, convenience

I’m traveling, man
I’m a
t r a v e l i n g  m a n
and I eat and I drink
what e v e r  I can
No liquids a l l o w e d
past the x-ray machine
No food to be bought
without  s p e n d i n g
some  g r e e n

Don’t have much cash
and it’s time to board
Give my coins
to  t h e  m a n
for the  o n e  t h i n g
I’ll afford

It’s a plain bagel
a  p l a n e  bagel
and it ain’t no
n o t h i n g t o w r i t e h o m e a b o u t
bagel
‘Cause back home
that  r i c h  o n i o n  c r u n c h
can’t be beat

But  t h i s  i s
a buzzkill
at  3 0 , 0 0 0  feet




31

07 2009

Sweet, Sweet Onion Bagel Memories (Are All That I Have Left)

My first bite of bagel burnt the tip of my tongue,
so to cool it I blew all the air from my lung.

The next bite was so hot it scalded my lip,
so I sent it to Iceland on a simmer-down trip.

The steam from bite three felt like fire on my face,
so I built it a rocket and launched it through space.

Now my wounds have healed and my bagel’s no more,
yet I find myself longing for bite number four.




19

07 2009

A classically comedic misunderstanding from which hilarity ensues

The room key isn’t working,
so down the hall I’m lurking,
I tell the front desk lady but all that she is is smirking

So now I get hostile,
and tell her to go dial,
Her manager should hear of this but all she does is smile

About that time I see,
between teeth two and three,
A freshly chewed up remnant of onion bagel debris

It all was misconstrued,
she wasn’t being rude,
It’s just that a bread ring has got her in a real good mood

So I forgive that gaffe,
embrace the hotel staff,
And in the lobby we’ll share both a bagel and a laugh




28

06 2009

slow train to reno

yessir, this train is headed west, it is
but don’t think it’ll make it there today
i hear new fangled engines, they just whiz
but this one’s like the ones from yesterday

there’s men who poke the fires with a mace
and carry heavy loads across their back
they bake and boil at a steady pace
and shovel ‘til their fingernails turn black

and when our speed picks up it sure don’t last
‘cuz there’s too many stops along the line
compared to this you’d think that it was fast
to go watch onions ripen on the vine

now don’t go conversatin’ that i’m lyin’
‘cuz some book told you onions grow in dirt
i seen ‘em fall from trees ready fer fryin’
as sure as i am wearin’ this here shirt

you kids today think nothin’s left to learn
from folks like me who’ve fully aged and grown
you just don’t seem to even give a durn
‘bout letting us talk circles all alone

to speak of circles you should oughtta’ know
around this turn you’ll wanna’ peel yer eye
this train we’re on it goes so very slow
you’ll see the onion bagels tumblin’ by




27

06 2009