history of the mind

 

to pull a pick

to pick a pack

you don't want this

you just want that

a bathroom tore

a flood of time

a stick of wool

to prick a rhyme

a tinker ship

to troll the wool

a winding whip

to tame it full

to add a job

you don't ask why

you do not add

you nair apply

ice cream for plot

but don't know why

the dream's upset

the need not cry

the creature said

just go to bed

or fish instead

inside your head   

you wake before

the raven's crow

just say no more

defer to poe

you want some time

a little more

to eat a rhyme

you can't ignore         

i bid farewell

two lines are left

i know you won't

be much bereft

denis streeter    11/21/20

a walking

a bucket
a man
a riddle a plan
ride the barrel
round the block
where the fillings are fat
the chicken  slow
the pitter  pat
the fox you know

denis streeter    11/22/20

one fine day

two pots and a kettle
somebody left the whiskey on
it was dry as a bear and stiff as a creek
drinking leaves and tilling glasses
what the cats dragged in dogs shatter
gathering trees to milk their glasses
as the sun poured in
the ground began to flower
parched and wet and rye
still streams begin to dry
and bees begin to laugh
starched out of their minds
and labs flow and collies laugh
two doors begin to snow
and there was evening
next day
the crick began to fall, the ovens lit open
the time to tame the beast was done
it was tender and well baked 
and the cornbread was wise as it was tall
a sickle creams
a donkey braise
doors gulp and gasp
and jesus sighed

denis streeter   11/11/20

a joke

sometimes delves right in heart of the matter

and doesn't even know it

a fly, a pence fly

and one of my earliest pieces

polka dotted horseflies

i do not ask them why

all i do is duck my head

and hope they pass me by

i can recite it without thinking

without thinking

some might turn and frown

you know that polka dotted horsefly you think is funny

was infected by the corona virus

my best friend was infected by the virus

and you have to talk about disease

and i find myself saying

that's not what i meant!

but it's too late now

the idea is stuck in their head

i find no words

no jokes

after all

covid is a serious matter

denis streeter    10/9/20

pence fly

i saw it land on pence's head
at first i didn't believe it
i thought it was a glitch of the tv set
but i kept watching
the pictures changed, but the fly remained the same
it was not something i could scrape off
did the fly like his ointment?
at least for 2 minutes?
it was a change of pace
and i thought to myself
how could he not notice?
is he that unflappable?
but then I heard
hillary clinton had that same fly issue
could they be related?
not clinton and pence
i mean the fly

denis streeter    10/7/20

when doors undermine

peanuts were happy 

eating pears beyond repair

and apples too

what else would they do

eating junkets of wine

cereal runneth over

before milking's done

when laughter is sound

there's no more in mix

and cows to go

when whips too quick

mixing dough with hide

caps ring shores

wringing in hide

one pick at a time

restless off

with forgone conclusions

a mickey gets wet

a slobber of joy

mixes with lather

in shades of green and blue

and apocryphal red

tunics and sleeves 

slide up to show

in stocks and irons and ladders and dough

the restless sleep and sew

drinking lather from rock 

altars bad from good

when you add them up

dress them in high tops and flowers

doors hanging straight yet crooked

houses undecided

which barns to burn and lather

latter boards and springs

dress doors for hunting

when mice oven in

doors for links of grass

together a grass rope

tied by fairies injun doors

slab peanuts to faces

speaking between lines

in droves of pretending ways

the altar boys went silent

not knowing what to do 

skins ripen unfriendly

wandering woodgrain baths

cleaning tubs restless

there's doors between

and ladders for climbing

denis streeter   9/23/20

journey

it was all in it was all out
those contradictions; absurdities
all those aspects of the human heart
those colors of the sun that fill out
beneath the earth is coal compressed light
bodies drained of meaning
except in the mind
where life goes on
creating what it will and won't
through all its passages

denis streeter    9/20/20