Yes by Yes

-Jim DuBois
2004

Buried Dreams

A blackout poem.

-Jim DuBois
October 2012

abandonded

-Jim DuBois
1990s?

Some Days

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

-Jim DuBois
June 30, 2012

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.

Vistaprint and Nothingness

I made a postcard
at Vistaprint
which had the words
"there was a time
I was enveloped
by months of nothingness"
on the front,
and as I was
placing an order
for copies of it,
Vistaprint asked
if I would like
to automatically send
copies of the postcard
to a carefully selected
target demographic.

I paused, really,
and thought about it,
because I wondered
who they would select:
The unemployed?
Zen monks?
Hermits?
Lazy people?
Couch potatoes?
Depressed people?

Or on the sadder front,
might they go to
old people in nursing homes,
inmates on death row
or in solitary confinement?

I figured that
even if they
ended up
in the hands
of a very normal,
nice suburbanite,
it would be good
for that moment of wonder,
for that,
"what the hell is this"
look on their face.

I declined the offer,
but not before
I imagined
the postcards being delivered
to newborn babies
as a welcome
to the world.



-Jim DuBois
May 21, 2012

My Magical Powers

Magical Essence

Nothingness

- Jim DuBois
2008 and before

Art

Sometimes you have to
tell your story
through art or poems
just to get a sense
of how magnificent
it really was.

-Jim DuBois
June 25, 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

Soft and Tender Love Stories

-Jim DuBois,
c 2003

Abstract Art Calendar

Last week I made these calendars for 2011, which feature paintings and collage I made.

Get a copy at RedBubble.

---

Get a copy at RedBubble.

Birds at the Feeder

-Jim DuBois
2006ish

Faded

I.

I never thought
those times would
become faded

Or that my voice might be
the spectre of the past
calling out,
reminding you,
reminding me,
of something…

…something indistinct
but important,
locked away in memory,
in childhood,
in these faded photographs
of who we used to be
but can never be again.



II.

I never thought
those times would
become faded,
but these photographs
tell the true story,
that we weren’t who we
thought we were,
and we still aren’t,
and it’s only by a trick
of the mind
and avoidance of the sight of our old bad
hair cuts
that we convince ourselves
that nothing’s changed.



III.

Sometimes something
indistinct can tell us
more than something precise,
because what is essential
is dynamic and can’t be captured…

…we can only be reminded of it,
and experience it anew.

We have memories and feelings
about the past
but no more moments of it.



IV.

I look out the window,
watching the grey weather
quietly drop snow onto Northampton
as I write down some thoughts
that came to me
after looking at these old pictures.

I know that one day,
this moment will also fade,
this ink will disappear and
the paper crumble.

Until then
I just want to say:

We still have time
to be who we’ve
always been.



-Jim DuBois
2005?

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

Astronaut

I used to be
an astronaut,
floating out, way out,
somewhere between
the galaxies.

They sent me there
on some mission we all
forgot about,
but luckily I got rescued
by some aliens who brought
me home.


-Jim DuBois
2004

When You Were Almost Two

When you were almost two,
you and me and Shahana
ran around in Eastworks
while our other people
talked after dinner
at the Apollo Grill.

There was this huge plastic bear
in one of the windows
and I lifted you up
so you could get a better view.
Shahana wanted to see too,
so I picked her up with my other arm
and we looked at the bear together.

We laughed and talked and pointed
and I felt peaceful and happy and content.

I held you guys for as long as I could,
until my arms got tired,
but if I could, I'd be there still,
holding you up to see the bear.


-Jim DuBois
March + Aug 2009

This is the Coat (March 31, 2007)

This
is the coat

This is the coat

This is the coat
I wore when you were born

This is the coat
my brother gave me

This is the coat
I wore every day this week


-Jim DuBois

The Perfect Book

(Come see the original at my house some day)

-Jim DuBois