To have a religious experience
Requires nothing
You need not nail your foot in the ground
And spin until you see
You don’t need to sit
Until you forget everything
Even the self
We can use the thurible, the censer
And fill any space we want with the sweet aroma
There is no requirement
Of you
You see, I learned from Frank O’Hara not to write love poems
I just use the telephone
Our days are numbered
And if you love me, let me know
Say what I have to say
And do what I have to do
I don’t waste time erecting churches
For worship
Because I know worship takes place
Everywhere
There is no will to obscure anything
Only to make it more plain.
Clearer. See through, and usable.
I don’t care about the chalice, I need water
There is a picture of my dog, drinking from a hose
And me trying to distract it, so that I could have some too.
Because this isn’t an aphorism
I don’t implore you
I will not proselytize you
I am a low dog who wants his kibbles
In all things
I will eat from the floor.
I will eat your gourmet carrot, covered in coconut curry and cashews
I will eat your soft can food, your hard bits
I will eat your idea about what makes anything possible
You’ll say
The dog ate my belief system
And now, I don’t care what the chapel looks like
Where it is
Are the people there?
Can they sing loudly?
Is it effective?
“Place of public amusement” means a place of public accommodation that offers
indoor services or facilities, or outdoor services or facilities involving close
contact of persons, for amusement or other recreational or entertainment
purposes. A place of public amusement includes an amusement park, arcade,
bingo hall, bowling alley, indoor climbing facility, skating rink, trampoline park,
and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities.”
But what about feeding the ducks
What about meeting my lover in tryst
I saw the moon so low and red once that I shivered
I’ve never read a book in my whole life
Never seen a film
Have learned every dance move from intuition
The only mountain climbed is
A hill of laughter
Shrieking in the grocery aisle
Wiping my dirty boots off on bus stop benches
Taking apart a glass eye in front of children
Who have been dropped off at the vfw
Protesting at church
Placing stickers all around town
Being negligent of measurements in recipes
Blowing a cloud of smoke out with a poof
Smelling lavender
I watch KLF light money on fire
Telling someone off but only to their shadow
Never making eye contact
Haven’t seen the shape of my mother in two weeks
Who knows what is a good thing to eat
I eat the same thing every week
Evangelical fraud peddling cures
Amuse me.
Amuse me. Me.
There is no easy undertaking
We go out and cut at the vines
Cut and cut at them
Wipe our brow.
It feels good to hack
Cut a clearing in the land
But it feels best to be tired after a
Hard day of work
Or a hard day of suckering
People on the internet
Writing tireless emails
Come to me
Come to me
Oh places of amusement
The way in which I live my whole life
Blowing out hot smoke
Like I am a human censer
Here to make the world that much more holy
Ready for you to worship inside
It’s too cold for love
Be weary
People just need a warm body.
I was on the phone with my mother
She finished the conversation with
I love you
But i was at the window,
Like a detective in a noir film.
It was snowing.
I said, “I bet you do.”
Because people are needy.
We can’t be alone.
With our thoughts, or our words.
I typed this quietly, so nobody could hear me.
It’s been so cold out,
That at the drive through,
The clerks eyes lingered on me too long.
Searched me for love and meaning.
I didn’t even stay for my change.
The windchill was negative for two straight weeks!
On the news, the weatherman was pointing
Around the green screen
Then he would about face and clasp his hands together
Down around his belt and say,
“ i love you”
A small tear in his eye.
The camera moved to the beautiful blonde anchor
She said I love you.
Her eyes trained on the camera.
Looking right into me.
It was so cold out. That everyone was reaching
A bait shop opened up nearby.
Men in bibs and mickey mouse boots were in and out all day
Fish guts began to appear all around the block.
The eyeballs the same dead or alive.
The same eyes on the ice fisherman
I scooped up a filetted carcass that landed near my parking spot
a little blood that hadn’t drained was frozen
I squeezed it and made it’s mouth move
Like that gift your uncle got you for christmas
That fish that sings over your mantle
I squeezed that dead fish and made it’s little eyes bulge
I love you, it mouthed
Let me tell you, it was freezing outside.