Midnight at Starbucks (poem)

The road is bare except for a lonely white van,
the paneled kind,
slowly creaking down the street.
As it passes, the metro north
comes ramming through from grand central
and halts abruptly at the platform.
Doors open with a pleasant chime
and the words
"Please mind then gap."
And my foot...my foot starts to tap
on the zig zag red bricks
alone at the Starbucks patio.
Heel-toe
Heel-toe
Heel-toe...and the familiar creak,
a harpee in the night--the white van
passing again.
Heel-toe on my red brick patio.
Heel-toe checking time on my phone.
Heel-toe the flood lights under the rooftop gutters
of Starbucks wont let me go.

The Mood (poem)

Sliding my soles on this sandy road
I am the only sound
except for the shuffling of waves.
With delicate pops they mold tiny mountains
in the coastline.

The water
never betraying
always disappointing
but nobody blames the water.
A harsh response in nature is acceptable...

Tempting me to test the tidal force of my hand,
but I hesitate
and know that nobody would blame me.
However, my hands keep to my pockets
lonely on either side,
clasping nothing except my keys
and a quarter or two.

The creature within myself
feels only this suppressing force...
of vulnerability, assuredness, and cowardice.
And as high tide rolls in
I'm aware only that these suppressions
are unnatural.

Just a Scratch (poem)

Have fun with this one :)


Outside the bagel shop where I sit every day
I saw a black lab tied to the post of a parking meter
Tongue unfurled
Brown eyes open wide
Back legs folded under
He must've been young still
Maybe just a few months still
Because his big black paws were too big for his legs
And because he just couldn't sit still
With his leash knotted to that steel post
At the bottom of a meter now expired
Only moments after the navigator received a gift
Pink and yellow pieces of paper stashed behind a wiper
What wonderful fall colors
And afterwards the parking attendant reached down
Bending towards the black lab
His back arched further and further
And as he did the dog rolled
In time with his outstretched arm
On his back now
Exposing his stomach now
And his tongue hung to his cheek
As he received his gift now

Changed Philosophy (poem)

I'm not sure I'm in love with the title...any ideas would be great!


The streets are paved in grey
with cracks splitting the earth
potholes cracking cars that bottom out
and crushed, crease-hearted souls navigating
hurriedly to their destinations

The streets are paved in grey
I follow them obediently
bleakly onward in a shirt with a bird on the chest
surely you've seen a version of it on 100 others
and assuredly I have five more

The streets are paved in grey
you skip on the cracks
a slow navigation is a memorable one
and sure as I am always
about a routine
and my grey path
my eyes turn to you

Decade Down (Poem)

I wrote this around 4am yesterday morning after driving back to Bronxville from Queens.


Snap snap snap...
My knuckles hang low,
and they crack
in unison.
That only started as I got older.
Minutes pass
and I'm able to recreate the sound
firecrackers
in my bones.
That only started as I got older.

Click, pop...whoosh
I slide into my car
slouch over
and throw my bag in the passenger's seat.
Slam.
And I'm ready to leave.
But not before one last glance
my bag, folded open
I used to have no room for it
up here.

Snap snap snap...
As my fingers clutch
around the wheel.
That only started as I got older.
It's dark outside.
The sky was a shroud
like when you pull a blanket over your head at night:
You can't see it
but it's there
because you can't see anything else.
I press the top edge of my palm
against the wheel
bending my fingers once again.
That only started as I got older.

Pop, whip...smack.
Fuck.
There goes my hubcap.
A lot comes crashing down
in a decade.
And I wonder where it went...
and why.
Click click.
Mother fucker!
I wail under a red light.
Now passing under the Triboro.
Dammit--R.F. Kennedy I mean.

As I peered into my rearview mirror
I spotted two paralyzing pillars,
pumping light into a sea
of hungry clouds.