Ernest Hemingway Is on My Mind
©2005 Ann Menebroker
Ernest Hemingway is on my mind.
I think he was a big man
and pretty good at writing.
I think he lived as big as he was
because if he slowed down
he might have run over himself.
I think he turned around only once.
John
©2005 Ann Menebroker
was going to be a priest.
He also taught history and he
loved philosophy, especially
Heidegger.
John fell in love and chased her
from east to west coast.
Married and divorced. No kids.
Did handyman chores. Owned a
restaurant with a partner.
It went bankrupt.
Ran away a lot.
Worked in the mountains.
Came back to this small river town
where he now stays in a tiny
cabin and is a garbage collector.
He still reads Heidegger.
He drinks dry martinis.
He once gave me an identification
bracelet without a name on it.
That is the real story
of John.
Deadly Cure
©2005 Ann Menebroker
why do you deny yourself
being alive?
the steady drone of bees
spills out of your eyes
you are a worker
educated to caution
conservative as a bow-tie
who has told you
this is the way of the world?
wo has drawn the map?
nightly I dream of magic
and its invasion
only to find the world
has discovered another vaccine
Focus
©2005 Ann Menebroker
the scene is the ocean
and a wave of it
slapping against a small boat
knocking out a father
and his two children
curtain down
green and green and green
the performers
will not come up
for a curtain call
[click to view introduction]