Poetry books!

If you have liked reading my poems, you can get printed books of them, or ebooks, here.


Get one of these, and see more at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/excalibur2099

That story about how I only ate fruit for nine months and lived in a tent in the woods behind Hampshire College (parts I, II, II)

This is the beginning of a poem that has 22 parts and 25 photos. It is about my life from about 20 years ago. It took me that long to be able to reflect on it well.

If you want to get a full color printed copy on 8 1/2 x 11 inch pages, go here.

Or click this button:

See my other printed books for sale.

-Jim DuBois
Jan 2013

40 Short Poems - eBook

I have collected my best short poems into an eBook.

Here it is on iTunes.

Here it is for the Nook.

There is also a printed version.

Sometimes - eBook

I have a new poetry book in eBook format, available on the iTunes Bookstore for $2.99.

It is a collection of early poems by me, featuring themes of love, loneliness, space travel and spirituality.

Many of the poems have not appeared on this blog.



Get a copy.

Or view my all my books, eBook and print, as well.

Return of the Slacker - The Book!

I made another version of my blog: a printed one.

It contains all the poems on this blog, except the two right before this entry. That's over 200 poems from 4 years, all in this one book.
Click here to get a copy

Click here to get a copy.

Modern Talisman

There's a book
I keep by the side of my bed.

I got it
at the estate sale
of a woman who had lived
to be one hundred and three
(and still had all her teeth,
said the daughter).

It's called "Forever Young,"
a thin book
about
ways to stay healthy
and live longer.

I flipped through it
and noticed
starred passages
and underlining.

I purchased it
for a quarter.

On the surface,
I pretend I will read it
one day
and learn its amazing secrets.

But really,
it's a talisman
from a powerful wizard
and I'm keeping it
for its arcane
magical powers
to extend my life.


-Jim DuBois
Dec 28, 2011

Say Something!

Many years ago now,
I had this unbearable
crush on a librarian
at the Forbes library.

It was the kind of crush
that left me
unable to talk
in her presence.

I would go by
every few days
and get out books
just to see if she
was there,
and invariably,
if she was,
utter a timid thanks
and leave.

It was so unbearable
that I resolved one day
to say something
next time,
no matter what.

(Now, I must tell you
that I have made
resolutions of that nature
before
and they usually don't work
- one time I had resolved
to say something
to a woman I kept seeing
on the sidewalks downtown
and the pressure built up
so much
that I
jumped behind a tree
to hide
the next time
I saw her coming.)

So, I go to the library
and my crush is there.

She takes my book
to check it out
and I am saying
(in my head,)
"Do it! Say something!
Now is the chance!
Seize the day!
You never know what will happen!"
but I'm feeling like
it will be very awkward.

This battle continues
for a bit
as I stare down
at my library card
in my hands.

Then I look up,
and say (out loud),
"My library card
is made out of paper!"

There is this brief
yet horrifying pause
and then she says,
sounding eager to talk to me,
"Oh yes, and now,
you can get plastic ones!"

And that was
real progress for me.

I planned to follow it up
on other days,
with equally chatty statements,
but unfortunately,
that was the last time
I ever saw her.


-Jim DuBois
August 24, 2011

Return of the Slacker - The Book

I made a book out of the last three years of this blog, and you can get a copy, which contains all 182 entries, as well as a color print on the cover of a painting I made. It's really fun to have.

Get a copy here

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.

Like the Sun

I wrote a book of poetry philosophy, and will be putting up a few selections from it on this blog, but you can get a copy now:

Like the Sun

Sometimes

I put together another book of my poetry, which you can get online from a print on demand service. This is a larger collection of poems I wrote in the 1990s, and it covers a wide variety of themes, including love, spirituality, nature and space travel.

Sometimes - a collection of older poems

40 Short Poems

I put together a book of some short poems (many of which aren't on this blog). Now you can get a printed version of my work.

40 Short Poems

The Perfect Book

(Come see the original at my house some day)

-Jim DuBois