POEM FOR EX-WIFE #3

I knew a girl who sang the blues,
I married her at length --
We lived one summer till I fled,
I didn't have the strength --

Five feet tall one hundred pounds,
I'd loved her 14 years --
I've never drunk the way I did
That season lost to beers --

She calls me now from time to time,
I listen to her keen --
My life's gone boring nowadays
Far from my drama queen.

JACKET BLURB FOR "HOW TO PICK UP WOMEN IN BARS AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES" BY DR. LOOMIS BURKHEAD, ED.D.

"Contains more than 1,500 weird, controversial,
unconventional, arrogant, & outright strange opening
strategies. From their tricky tactical surprises to
their bizarre names, these openings fly in the face of
tradition. You'll meet such openings as The Orangutan,
The Raptor Variation, The Hallowe'en Gambit, Double
Duck, The Frankenstein-Dracula Variations, & even The
Drunken King. These openings are a sexy & exotic way
to spice up a game & a great weapon to spring on
unsuspecting & often unprepared opponents."

HEARTBREAK WITH A HAMMER

death is a rough ship
rudderless on black water,
a big cold moon
that takes up the sky
and blots out the stars,
and maybe they become
how you must be
too soon, too soon--
ah, desolation

BENEATH THE BIG BRIDGE

The swallows swirl
Beneath the bridge
In chaos, patternless
To the eye, their mud
Nests projects off
the Iron beam above --
I am looking for their
Pattern, where is it?

They are like us,
Making mudpies in the sky,
Purposeful I guess
Beyond the naked eye.