Milk and Drool

My friend and fellow ex-editor of the Bulldog Weekly and wonderful poet Sara Adams, challenged me to write a poem that ends with "I try not to drool/and take my seat." Here's what my efforts produced:

In the morning,

I eat my cheerios

and watch the sun

rise --

Milk spilling out

of my mouth,

I try not to drool

and take my seat.

A Brand New Day

As the sun rises I eat

Cheerios by the window,

and next door the neighbor arrives

home from the night shift, working

as a nurse at the hospital

in the neonatal ward.

Raleigh, NC

2-6-2012

Time Fare for the Common Man

What can I say?
I work nights

and don't get home
until early morning

to sleep and dream of
driving into the desert,

chasing a rising sun,
not stopping until America

has turned green again, for
a pack of cigarettes

and Saint Louis beer.
And then I wake up and eat

breakfast burritos
in the early afternoon.

Riverside, CA
9/29/10