the plate is broken

cringe inducing sty burnt steel ran into
tripod offering mixed with myrtle blossoms
blushing as noodle lilies blinding stick figure art
flowing potato bent under lie swatters
left behind twisted logic patterns stolen
hid underground with bathroom counters posing as easter eggs
wandering tulip fields scattering fireflies for bombastitty
between nickel dime hiding scruple twisting hammers
loading cool aide stands robbing bike sandwiches
reading romaine leaves melting tuna trains
bred before bridge altars flexing bible blossoms
sticking filo behind ticket counters wandering pesky traffic jams
searching for travel halters trying to dish
sand into ant hills washing cash and trading lies
daughters peel orange rhymes drinking tomorrow
brandy hidden in coffee stands next to
cyborg creameries twisted in lime
beyond the counterfeit pie.

denis streeter    5/24/18

divisionary

it was a cold weather toupee posing as a hat
the white sideburns gave him away
height weight proportionate/contortionist
a hint of belly hidden above his waist
compression is the sign of age
six foot two six one half
brown flecked white eyebrows highlighting the sides
eyes behind glasses said to be kind
deep
he was not larry david's stunt double
he gives me the dangerous job, being myself
messer of my domain
it's a german thing
goerte does not rhyme with goth
clove cigarettes the old orange
another missing rhyme
waiting for goliath
casting stones in glass houses
tarpelaine blue and sunny grey
sidewalk clippings read aloud
the smart phony crisis
the squares are the new rectangles
unlimited data
hexagonal logic
occult blood stool samples
adding by subtraction
divisionaries mold the answers


denis streeter   4/29/18

a little rotty

underwater mantelled
flittering constables out of control
desking bloated chapels
busket vegetables apple cores litter door jambs
knobble bobble savors spoons
beach bag boots temper temples
bedraggled courtyard prude
under writ soles
its converse true
shod the template
baffled two toes
yes those
big and slow
contemplate reversals
ponder ponticates
desk drools
petered postulates
pesky pampered prose
a little rotty

denis streeter    4/18/18

waste not want lox

the block was special but the wine was weak
treading different directions
landfull and raised till tomorrow
alabaster tile and windswept couplings
married coal to steel
oxen to yolk
stone shadowed equation
counting toes disrupted pi
round it goes equestrian fool
waste not want loxs
curling notes belie the nose
same as smelt in loxs
behind their shore comings
weebles wobble but they don't fall down
wandering between sandscrit
snoring pools
poof they're gone
the industrial distance
scabbed their fore finger
to dress in place
scabbard in hand, dress in pocket
catching hoorays rainbow bottoms
pinafores enlighten underpools wake
sound buildings cry
ring around the rosey
pocket full of posey
gentry gently
we all fall down

denis streeter   4.8.18

letters to papa

the patterns were enough to snow
but i didn't know
which way the castle run
or why it was dying
i didn't ask any questions
just lay down in the snow
preceded drying
applesauce and the moon
some peanut butter off chord
dust from the mantle in stone
crossed eyes with a t
nothing to do with me
the travel's over
the driving done
whirlwinds but that's your shelter
wait until it's done
fine tune your comb
its' needle in a haystack
cross the cushions
cream the wine
there's someone to show you
make it up.  you'll get by
but follow carefully
then juice the spinner
testing for gold, expecting silver
nowhere to go
your time is up
down in the well
go get some flowers
it's cool, they're expressionless
first it was pie then the moon
couldn't make a choice
the lesson wasn't frivel
one got caught
the other let off with a warning

denis streeter    3/22/18

how it's made

the bathroom door hides mirrors
deep in snow unkind
lakes like snowmen steeples
hot on top, slow below
even the showers were null
dressing inside the box
their gravity clear
short between sentences
0 to 20 the court ordered
but it was wrong
shadows grew in ugly faces
filling in fire
perhaps the stores were dying
they didn't have much, the hives were gone 
centuries slide, school dies recovers
sentences without commas trout
flauting their flaut and flaunting about
discovery a poor trainer
didn't know better
sentences snore without meaning
travelling in pairs where pathos hide
groans the dinner bell someone phones
someone answers.  it got the job done
it wasn't poetic, the neighbors know
it's soft as curtains swallowing fleas
sorting vegetables in short white sleeves
ketchup flows
sand showing ears in opening doors
close
you can lock up the hammer fly the flea
the bathrooms wise
leaking what's left behind
watering each hose tight
close when the talking begins
dissolving fixtures icing hot 
turn the corner you're one behind
more waiting in your cup
drowning in sorrow the hammer fly flea
left the doors open
it's time to go
let them out
the hemmings free

denis streeter   3/1/18

what are the reasons

in the beginning there was chaos
it was without form and void
and then there was eden
and then there was chaos
and then there was
that theory that revolutions are
figments of our mind
useless machinations
filled with telephone poles in drifting skies
all the laughter was true
but it was meant to confuse
dwindling between safe and catastrophic
a dingle here a dingle there and the faith bump rises
but what kind of faith
is it based on fear, a sense of being threatened by others
all this meant to confuse and cloud judgment
and in the confusion you follow like minded leaders
ready to prop up your beliefs
but what if they need to be sanded
they're not quite your own
what is liberal and conservative
what is all of us
we'll never learn to understand another person's situation
it's much too complex
but there's empathy.  you got to try to understand something
where's the compassion
i don't know the way, but i stumble and try
i guess this lent i want to give up complacency
it's easy to give up pot and television
it's hard to get involved
with some sort of political action
it seems like gun violence would be a good place to start...
in middle school there was a guy who threatened to blow my brains out
each day during recess
i ignored it, gave a nervous laugh, and didn't respond
i always thought
that since i didn't react
he lost interest
but then there was my dad
my mentally ill dad
crossed the border bought a gun
who did succeed in blowing his brains out
so i guess i do know something about gun violence
at some point in my 20's
i shifted from being republican to democrat
the reasons don't matter right now
when mother died, my sister and i
made a decision to give up our family guns
we sold them all
about 10 guns
only 3 of them worked
gun practice had lost my interest
hunting was never an interest
and we sold
an entire briefcase of ammunition
estate sale gave us $1,000
and now
i am glad it is gone
no amount of ancestral heritage
would want me to continue with that baggage
and now
it's been one school tragedy after another
sometimes it hits home

denis streeter   2/25/18