call it new wave, alternative, college radio, call it teenager, ripped concert t-shirt, acid washed jeans, call it cassette tapes, call it you don’t understand what i’m feeling, call it violent femmes- they’ll hurt me bad, but i won’t mind, call it the cure- boys don’t cry, call it yaz, echo & the bunnymen, love & rockets, call it electronic keyboard, call it the smiths- it takes guts to be gentle and kind, call it whitewall shaved head, call it depeche mode- words are very unnecessary, call it joy division, they knew, love will tear us apart… again, who won the battle? i guess we all did, when michael jackson-madonna-wham pop came up short, the angst bands understood who we really were.
Tag: Love
Tiktoker Watches TikTok
stare, keeping staring, so cute, my little wiggle smile, perfect timing with that clothing/music change, they will love me, they do love me, do they? eye roll, you know, that i know, all that rizz in sixteen seconds, i’m going viral, will i go viral? do they care? wait a couple minutes, check how many likes, keep checking, i’m gonna be famous, i’m not obsessed, i’m obsessed.
Long Distance
& we think all communication is emails, text messages, phone calls, coffee dates, but then there is the metaphysical, that word, like transcendent, beyond birthday greetings, simple salutations, how are you? reflexive, i’m good, words, words, words, when really everything is energy, on the surface we call it miss you, but underneath it is love, we don’t call it at all, it visits us, whether we like it or not.
Manor Beach
Our coastal adventure has begun! We will be traveling the California Coast from Ocean Beach, San Francisco, to San Diego, exploring beaches and various places in segments, until we have driven/swam the entire coastline!
When You Left For College
at first it feels like summer camp in september, you will be back soon, but days become weeks, become more than a month & you aren’t home
at night, sometimes i think i hear your late arrival, as if you were still a high school senior, i thought those saturday nights would go on forever, they don’t, they can’t, time waits for no one, certainly not for some middle-aged man
sad in still moments, memory is love
you the dancer, the big sister, the teacher, the basketball player, the driver, the instagram addict, the celsius drinker, the friend to many
& so i just stare at this screen & wait for thanksgiving.
Alone in Winnipeg
how odd that I am here in october, scarred
scraped streets, waiting for the return of snow, searching for eleanor, a name, my mother, the one who let me go, adopted, how many times have i said the word? euphemism for unwanted, union of man & woman, for a minute? an hour? a lifetime? questions for canada, where she danced before moving to the u.s. to birth me-
alone in the archives, sifting through microfiche, obituaries, royal winnipeg ballet documents, playbills, eleanor christie, just a name, everything & nothing-
at night i dine on foie gras at resto gare in saint-boniface, flickering french lights, wine’s floating ether, who was she? who am i?-
shiver of winter air’s arrival, i tried, but you are gone.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This piece is poetic fiction. I am not adopted.
Start of School
Dear Students,
My symbol is the Redbud tree. I chose this symbol because each leaf of the tree is a heart. The Redbud tree displays these heart-shaped leaves to all people and creatures who come near. As a teacher I have been giving my heart to students for many, many years. I love the ephemeral process of spending a year of my time with young people; reading, writing, thinking, discussing, and growing with you all. The Redbud tree eventually must say goodbye to its leaves, and in June that will also happen with us. But while the tree is nurturing its leaves, beauty is abundant. I am a believer in trees, they give us oxygen, provide shade, and literally hold the earth together with their roots. Trees are also not in a hurry; they don’t have iPads, or iPhones, or email. I can imagine trees observing us and wondering why we don’t take more time to just be and listen. I try to listen and just be, like Redbud trees. I believe that all of us have inner wisdom that comes from listening to our own voice, that quiet place where we intuitively know who we really are. It is my hope that through this English class you will nurture your inner voice through writing, thinking, discussing, and sometimes, just being.
I Love Calistoga
True!
Sloane’s Last Performance At SHC High School!
She will be attending San Diego State University as a Dance Major!
Before & Now
i could try to put
all the words back together
months and years of poems
those fragments, pieces of bone
structure of love, my body
of work, endless expression
of our boundless truth
when we were both
younger, before
but now
only this
Daniel W. Polk 