Monday, June 17, 2024

#111

My brain, 


is a three on the tree.



A six banger with a thrown rod.



My thoughts, 


vacuum based


speed up and slow down as my foot


plays with the accelerator.



There’s no lead in my gas anymore…



No seatbelt to tuck me in and never was.



Double clutching my way down this old hill


is my only option.



If this keeps up


I may have to thumb it


back to the garage…





Wednesday, February 28, 2024

#110



Elvis called today

He said he saw me at the window

watching the clouds in the desert.

I was dreaming and he was driving


when Joseph Stalin went floating by…

Elvis slammed on the brakes 

and the motorhome skidded to a stop

at the corner of disappointment and vine


where Larry Geller’s jaw dropped

and the motor-home motored on

while Uncle Joe transfigurated 

into Jesus on a lollipop…


and Elvis, like a puppet on a string

finally saw the face of God.



Mark W. Ó Brien

28February2024

Thursday, January 11, 2024

#109

 


May the Psychopomps find you on the bedpost before you lose your flavor:


Oh my dearest Elvis, 


Keeper of my youthful hopes…


       Conductor of my forefather’s souls…


I am sore and these are my afflictions:


for I have become derelict of dialect 


and feral of barrels…


I struggle to understand 


and my heart remains elusive in it’s searching…


Oh Nightjar! Oh Goat sucker! Oh New world whip-poor-will!


I can’t help it Elvis you know I can’t…


You tell can me it’s a shame how much 


pleasure I take from baseball but 


I gotta find solace somewhere…




©️Mark W. Ó Brien 

10January2024

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

#108

 An email from you so long ago

One year to the day before you died


“Your email is too long.” you said


Years now I come across this


It’s been too long since we spoke 


I transport back


Once I hiked a mountain in the snow


24 hours after I’d gotten sunburn on the beach


The wind-   The snow-   …biting my cheeks


Distances…


…between 


I miss you tonight 


Send me a long email


Please? 



~

05December2023

Markle-


Tuesday, July 25, 2023

#107

#107




The wind blows away.


and an umbrella lasts according to its quality.


Down the street an organ grinds away melodiously


as Jackdaw Pete marries Freelove Jones.


What is the answer to the third question?


Is it destined to take the place of kluge in your mythology?


If only by way of information 


I’m at a loss for words the typesetter said.


The irony of a piece of the floor where Jesse James was shot


winding up in the dead letter file is lost in transliteration.


The way of the wine is a path to follow.


The way of the outlaw is a way to a dead end road.


The way to sleep they say is to think of nothing.


What are you thinking of now?


~


©️Mark W. Ó Brien 

25July2023

Friday, May 12, 2023

Trolley Dodger.

My Nana was withered at the end.

A fragment of crêpe paper caught in the wind.


My mother, much the same at that age

had been the picture of strength in her youth.


I recall Nana wrapping me up in her rollie-pollie arms;

smothering me in talcum powder and kisses.


It was a shock the way Nana transformed after Grandpa died;

as if all of her being had already gone after him ahead of her.


Mom, even in her grief, even in her sickness, was strong.

Don’t get me wrong, Nana could be a tough cookie.


She had to be, she was married to my Grandfather.

But Nana had a weakness. A laceration of sorts.


Nana never got over the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn.

Mom on the other hand, like Grandpa, was a Yankee fan.





©️Mark W. Ó Brien

11May2023

Thursday, May 4, 2023

The need for friction:

Survivors of the next apocalypse


Will be free of social media addictions


Thankfully, the next millennia will be devoid of


Boomers who thrived on self aggrandizement


And life among the masses who do not care


If their condo slides into the sea ten years from


The moment she looked into his eyes


Across the dance floor at the villages meet and greet 


Why should I worry, I heard her say


I don’t even have a grandchild to


Show you pictures of-


Welcome to Florida


They’re playing our song


Stock photos and images are available at cost.






©️Mark W. Ó Brien

03May2023