The Trees Above

The trees above
the sidewalk outside
Amanouz at night -
protecting me from
the infinite universe beyond.

Aug 30, 2014

O firefly

O firefly
where have you gone?
The world is dark
without you.

Light up, firefly, light up!
Make the world
magical again.


-Jim DuBois
April 5, 2012

I caught a firefly tonight

I caught a firefly tonight
and it reminded me of you
then it climbed out of my hands
and flew away into the darkness


-Jim DuBois
June 28 2012

The Night

The night
is warm again

The world
looks inviting

This is probably
about me


Welcome home!


-Jim DuBois
April 12, 2013

Late Night Pondering

I'm wondering
whether or not
I can do without
one or two
of those extra jars
from my cupboard.
I've been wondering
for a week or two
now,
and I think
I've decided I can.

Next on the agenda:
the old rice
  (20 lbs)
I am hoarding
in case of
the apocalypse.


-Jim DuBois
Sep 18, 2012

Noticing

Late at night,
the clean sink,
the dream catcher,
memories of clear light
in the afternoon.


-Jim DuBois
April 12, 2011

The World Didn't Stop Turning

The world didn't stop turning --
    the moon rose,
        the stars shifted --

but we were safe,
    drifting through time
        on our raft
            of that long embrace,

for a while
    really living,

just being there
    at the center of things

caught up
    in the trees and water around us

caught up
    in the only moment there was.


-Jim DuBois
Sept 21, 2000

Upon Opening My Kitchen Door

Upon opening my kitchen door
I see a strange chair
which startles me for a moment
and then I remember
in a rush
how we stole that chair
last night
on a date.


-Jim DuBois
July 15, 2007

The Economy of Memory

I'm watching a sea of static on TV
    late at night

I'm talking to my girlfriend on the phone

I'm writing a poem
    and finishing it later

I'm living in a tent behind Hampshire College

I'm going nowhere

I'm standing on the balcony of F2,
    going nowhere

I'm living on Bridge Street in Northampton

I'm thinking about thinking

I'm thinking about memory

I'm taking off my shirt

I'm looking at the clock

I'm wondering how it will end
    and when it began

I'm floating, a tiny black-eyed fetus
    in amniotic fluid

I'm making notes for a future poem

I'm learning to write the alphabet
    by tracing sandpaper letters

I'm writing a story for the first time
    in my life

I am six

I am twenty-five

I am thirty-four

I'm telling her about myself

I'm using her attention
    to search through my memory,
    to reconstruct myself
    from different angles

I'm telling you about telling her

I'm remembering remembering



-Jim DuBois
Dec 13, 2003

I've Lost Track of Time

I've lost track of time
I've lost track of day and night
I've come to the edge of town
to sit and think
and apparently write some poems

I've lost track of what little ambition I had
I've lost track of my desire
I'm enjoying the sun and day downtown


-Jim DuBois
March 14, 2009

Transformations (Dec 15, 2008)

The wolf and the crow
    visited me one winter night,
    whispering,
            "Your true self is waiting,
             Your true self is waiting,"
and I snuck out
    into the cold and dark
where I ate wild grubs
    of the present moment
and foraged for bark
    from the tree of life
until my clothes turned
    brown and grey and green,
    the colors of the woodsfolk,
and I could run one hundred miles
    without stopping
and my wings finally regrew
    and I disappeared into the sky.


-Jim DuBois

Obsessing about my pants at 1:45 am (Oct 18, 2006)

Obsessing
about my pants
at 1:45 am

Obsessing
about my only sweater
at 1:55

Should I keep them?
Should I get rid of them?

Keep?
Get rid of?

Over and over

                (return to top of poem)



            - Jim DuBois

The night cousin Ed met Genghis Khan (May 14, 2006)

The night cousin Ed
met Genghis Khan
at the edge
of the Gobi desert
and they raced
stolen tractors til dawn
while drunk on plum-blossom wine
stolen from the forbidden city.

Actually, plundered.
Plundered is a better word for it.
Plundered plum wine
and stolen tractors.

Good old cousin Ed
and crazy Genghis Khan,
lord of the mongol hordes.
What an unlikely friendship.
Wow!
But they’ve been pen-pals
ever since.



     -Jim

Nowhere to go at 11:42 pm (June 14 2006)

Nowhere to go
at 11:42 pm.

Walking through an empty
Smith campus,
I pretend that
because there is
a locked room
where I keep all my stuff
my life is under control
and held in check.

What if all meaning
is artificially constructed?

I head out
towards Stop & Shop
to get some
cinnamon gum.

     -Jim

Rollerblading around at night (June 28, 2007)

I felt pretty cool
rollerblading around
at night

until I skated
through a huge nasty
dog turd

but didn't find out
til later
when I took my skates off

and grabbed them
by the bottom
and said,

"What's that?
It looks like...
oh, shit!"

I was at Stop & Shop
and wanted to buy
some fruit

but decided
to wash my hands
first

only,
the water pressure
in the bathroom sucked.

I also thought
I might wipe off
my rollerblades

but the bathroom
only had an air dryer
and no paper towels.

"I think
this is one of those times
the Buddha talked about

where you think
one thing will happen
but it never does

and you end up
pissed off
because you wished it would have,

and if you could only
get over that expectation
you'd be fine."

And Jesus would probably say,
"Skate through a turd
with your other skate."

or: "Blessed are those
that step in shit
and don't complain."

Well, I don't want to make
those guys
look like assholes,

so I'll do my best
to shrug it off
and forget about it.

But it still sucks
to have dogshit
on your skates.



    -Jim