Erren Kelly
Page 2

Birch Trees…
after  the painting by Donna Matthieu

 

Never swung on birch trees

as a boy

my wildlife was dodging

cars out in the streets

the only black bears   i saw

were the ones at the zoo

or on television

on nature shows

at 31, i went to maine

for the first time

and stood next to a birch tree

that was also the first time

wicked cold touched my

body like a razor

 

i also touched a woman's breast

for the first time. It was as

white as a birch tree

i expected the experience

to be magical

i swung around the birch tree

making time rewind

back to when i was a boy

an old sage my mama 

told me about when i was

a kid said it best

 

" one could do worst than be

a swinger of birches..." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird Nest..
After  The Photograph By Alexis Doshas

 

 

Summers,  I spent riding

The roller coaster at funtown in saco, maine

It was all wood, the last of its kind

I had my first lobster as well

Summer of 98, I took to new england

Like a foreign country

My first time far away from home

I joked you could walk the streets

For days before you saw another

Black face

You had only seen black people on tv

But we walked the streets 

Like everyone else

Bottles of wine illuminated our moments

you said you didn't care what people

Did, as long as it wasn't in your bed

I didn't think girls stood as tall as you

You lay like an artist's model

On the couch, on summer days

With nothing on but the radio

I spent all winter lifting weights,

It was worth it, just to pick you up

Like raggedy ann and carry you

Across the threshhold

At a barn in Farmington

You showed me a bird's nest

The eggs were dappled like

Mosaics

I stuck my fingers inside you

You tasted like  copper pennies

I held in my mouth a long time or

Like rainwater

All summer , I spent stroking your

Hair like a tune

 

 

 

 

  

Danica Patrick

 

 

beautiful women
are a dime a dozen
i'd rather have the
candy apple red '67
mustang she is leaning
against
its rear  end
shiny and inviting as ripe
fruit
 
a good car is hard to find