Dan's Bait & Tackle

Aftermath

Empty bottles clink
but never spill their secrets.
What happened last night?

Welcome to Arizona: Outpost of Contradictions

They come from
Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila.
They pound
nails, sling
hash, scrub
toilets. They
risk their lives,
desperately searching
a better life in the
Land of Opportunity.

I know I’d do the same.

My great-grandparents came from
Ireland, Italy, and Hungary.
They dug
coal, stoked
furnaces, poured
drinks. They
risked their lives,
desperately searching
a better life in the
Land of Opportunity.

I know I’d do the same.

Coffee Shop, Mid-day Wednesday

Fake stone hearth,
gas-log firebox,
pre-distressed leather chairs,
wooden posts and beams
that hold nothing up.
They hang in midair, questioning:
why am I here?

Static-cling window decals:
HOLD HANDS NOT GRUDGES.
LAUGH SO HARD YOU CRY.
DONATE BLOOD you have plenty.
sing out loud.

Solitary hipsters in skinny jeans and flat caps
tweeting Deep Thoughts on iPhones,
Realtors with sellers but no buyers
popping outside to talk on Blackberries, and
wives in yoga pants
complaining their nannies aren’t focused on the children.

I fit right in.

Silly Acrostic #1: Recovering Nicely, Thanks

Don’t
Really
Understand the concept of drinking but
Not getting
Knockered

Lauds-Prime-Terce

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Some promises are too public to break.
I’d rather not go,
but my son is twelve, and
I must take him hunting.
The killers awake before dawn, and yes,
we put our boots on.
I double-tie Daniel’s laces, zip
his coat, and help him
force his uncooperative fingers
into gloves. Like two drunken
sailors, his wheels leave careening trails
across the frosted forest floor.

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.

Once, I quickened at the rush,
older and more human than language.
I’ve evolved, I practice, I see.

Dawn’s frost dissolves in morning rain.
We wait, wet and sleepy.
The morning is gray, the forest is brown, and
our vestments are blaze orange.

“You know why that side of the vee’s longer?
Cause there’re more geese on that side.”
“Dad! That’s stupid!”

Shots echo. They are not ours.

Fifty yards away,
a stone’s throw,
two deer cross the path.
My breath catches.
Daniel doesn’t see them.

Fill us with your kindness in the morning, O Lord.

Bless the Lord, all the earth,
praise and exalt him for ever.

Farewell, my friends. God go with you.

In manus tuas, Domine.

Booze Anecdote #37 and Booze Anecdotes #38 & #39 were published today in Issue Twenty of Short, Fast, and Deadly. Check them out, along with the great (and brief!) work of fellow contributors.

Love You, Too

After twenty years–
lots of worse, some better;
three kids, six dogs;
one gall bladder, three c-sections;
rehab, relapse, and rehab;
Four Seasons, Motel 6;
exactly half of our lives (thus far) together–
Sometimes the reply
is all that’s needed.

Posting a rough first go at this one.  It needs – and deserves – polishing.

What a Piece of Work is Man

Spina Bifida: L1.
Hydrocephalus: VP shunt.
Arnold Chiari Syndrome.
Neurogenic bowel and bladder: daily enema, straight cath q.i.d.
G-tube feedings.
OT. PT.
And on, and on, and on.
A real piece of work.

Weird prompt today…

The Lizard King Shares

“Hi, I’m Jim M, and I’m an alcoholic.  I’m the Lizard King.  I can do anything!”

Hi, Jim!

“I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown.”

Thanks, Jim!

“I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.”

You’re in the right place, Jim!

“Drugs are a bet with your mind.”

Thanks for sharing, Jim!

“It’s like gambling somehow. You go out for a night of drinking and you don’t know where you’re going to end up the next day. It could work out good or it could be disastrous. It’s like the throw of the dice.”

OK, Jim, we’ve got other people who want to share…

“I mean if you can get a whole room full of drunk, stoned people to actually wake up and think, you’re doing something.”

We gotcha, Jim, now, moving on–

“The time to hesitate is through.”

Exactly, Jim. Now, please sit down.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.”

And Jim, believe me, what you are right now is done. Sit down. Yes, just– careful! Janis, can you help Jim find a chair? Yes, good, right there. Thank you. Thanks, Jim. Keep coming back! Now, who’s next? Jimi?

Credit to Jim Morrison for the quotes.

What Do You Call A Group of Crows?

Fierce (men) who kill without flinching
reverberate with (a segment of the population).
Tendrils wind their way onto
buttons, bumper stickers, and t-shirts.
Viva la Emporium!
Your (icon) shot my Grandpa in the head.