infected by old ee

At your house
while you're
away:

porchpieeating
hammockreading
sidewalkchalkdrawing

infected by
old

e
e


-Jim DuBois

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 Feast

A blackout poem.

-Jim DuBois

Some Days

Some days
all you need are
some friends
and some ocean waves
to jump in

-Jim DuBois
June 30, 2012

Twins

I.

The day those twins
were born,
I walked up to the hospital
to greet them.

It would have been easy,
in one way,
to do nothing,
but I saw this chance
to do good
and I took it.

Many hours later
I walked home
having greeted the newborns
and been kind to the new parents.


II.

1/2 hour walk to get there
2 couples, 2 sets of twins
4 parents, 4 newborns
4 parents, friends of mine
4 newborns, new friends
1/2 hour walk back home


III.

I spent about twenty hours
that week in the hospital,
sometimes til 2 in the morning,
helping do something important
but undervalued
in the world.


I remember holding
one twin in the solarium
while the other 3 were
being held by other
friends and family
so the parents
could get some sleep.

Mostly I just gazed down
at the little one
sleeping in my arms,
and absorbed and radiated
serenity,
but sometimes
I would glance up
and catch the eye
of my friend
holding the other twin
and connect
with big smiles.

It was one of the
most peaceful times
I have ever had.


Also, one night
I got to help
feed some twins
supplemental milk
so they would gain weight.

If you have never
had to have a friend
gently open a newborn's mouth
so you could slowly drop in some milk,
you have missed
one of the greatest events
that occurred on the planet.


During that week I was
my most true self
that I have been
in a long time.


-Jim DuBois
March 1, 2012

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice, June 2011.
A cricket?
That little fucker's early!


-Jim DuBois
June, 2011

Epic Tag-Sale Poem *

1.

Jenny, you're away
but tag-sale season started today.
I did what I had to do:
I went without you.

I didn't get as far
as we would've with your car.
I got some books and some games
but by myself it just wasn't the same.


2.

I remember --
last summer --
driving around to tag-sales
with you
hunting for bargains
and perfect satisfaction.

Now, even though
I've almost finished
the toothpaste
and gotten rid of
the weird literary magazines,
I think our hunt
succeeded.


3.

Coming back to town
late Saturday afternoon
I saw many signs
for huge tag-sales
with great bargains.

Neither you nor I
could go to them
since we were
separately
out-of-town.


-Jim DuBois
Pt 1 - April 29, 2006,
Pt 2 & 3 - June 19, 2006

---

* A Tag Sale means a Yard Sale or Garage Sale, which is where people put things they want to sell out in their yard or garage. I picked up the term "Tag Sale" from living in Western MA, and have not heard it elsewhere.

Summer, anyway

Bird, hopping on a gravestone

Bird perched on a tomb

The green green grass

Sweat standing on my neck



-Jim DuBois
July 20, 2003

Summer Musings

I. The Mountain

On the trip up the mountain,
I think about how, in life,
as opposed to in stories,
there are a lot of loose ends
and characters you meet briefly
that seem interesting
but play no further part.

I wonder about the people I met today.
Do they figure prominently?
Are they major or minor figures
in this mini-drama?


II. Skinny-Dipping

Sometimes, seeing girls naked is relaxing
because there are no longer any secret hidden mysteries
that they might have.
They are just people with bodies.
And boobs become just,
well, boobs.


III. The Neighborhood

Walking around the neighborhood,
I am amazed by the community and closeness
people could have, but don't.
There is so much quietness and distance
packed into a small area.
It's as if everyone is holed-up
in their own castle,
waiting out the siege.


-Jim DuBois
June, 2007

Haircut

Haircut haircut haircut

sittin' at Tracey's wedding
thinkin' 'bout my haircut
it didn't come out how I wanted
but things don't always, anyways

I forgot a belt today,
and the flute playing didn't go how I thought -
which is neither good or bad,
just how it is

I thought I was losing hearing in one ear,
and worried about it a little,
but watched this little girl
bopping a balloon into the air
with her head
and she really wasn't worried,
just energetically bopping the balloon,
and it reminded me of this little dog
I saw once that ran all around energetically,
and maybe a little oddly,
and I didn't find out 'til later
that the dog was totally blind

The funny thing was it almost seemed to not know it was blind,
and it definitely didn't care
or get held back in any way about it
and I thought,
it's ok that I forgot that belt,
and I can live with this haircut,
'cuz hair keeps growing and changing anyways

And what is hair?
The beautiful uncut grass of heads...


-JIM DuBois
Aug 16, 2009

Jenny It's Friday (Dec 15, 2006)

Jenny,
it's friday
and I want a hamburger,
and if it was summer
we could walk down
to Serio's
and get some,
so where the heck are you?
And where has summer gone?


-Jim