Human Nature Poem

Jeering Path

Your cats are driving me up the wall
Once I held the floorboards
But day by day. No second
By exaggerated millisecond
I’m headed up the wall.

And I notice the stains
Brown and black blotches –
Moldy spots overlaying the wall
Making it slippery and mushy
To grip onto and I might fall.

I’ll parachute to the bookshelf and hover
Between Hemingway and Fitzgerald
On the top shelf. Ill observe Zelda
As she charms the two – and
I’ll take notes.

I’ll stroll over to Poe and I’ll listen -
An innocent admirer, as he whispers
Sweet nothings to Annabelle Lee –
Ignoring the tuberculosis running
Rampant around.

Awfully high, I’ll bungee to the next
Shelf down and I’ll ballroom
Dance in the excitable lyrics
Of Keats – him serenading
My lone party.

As I notice the sun setting out our
Large balcony window I’ll retreat
A shelf. I’ll break into History -
An intruder; imposter;
Fraud – gallivanting.

Captain Smith welcomes me aboard and I
Stroll the boat deck. I relax on the
Great stairway: elbows and feet
Outstretched – waiting for
1st class supper.

Slushy snow carousels out the window;
I stealthily tiptoe to the Boston
Harbor and I hang my feet
Over the edge; my toes
Dipping like tea bags.

I’ll crouch beside Michelangelo’s
Lion and watch Adam and eve
Toss around the apple like
It’s a hot potato – juggled
Like clumsy children.

I’ll watch Charon row his ferry
And I’ll merely glance into
Hell: uncommitted souls
Lollygagging – Dante
Observing, too.

I’ll fight alongside King Arthur
Chivalrous and noble
Merlin will assist.
I’ll disappear
With him.

I’ll watch Jesus carry the
Cross and I’ll pull
Him aside and
Say thank
You.


As Ma returns home from Sunday church I
Will climb down – the cats still whine and
Meow – and she whines with them.
And I look at the still wall, my path
To the bookshelf, derisive. 

 © April 2012