Dirty Old Windows

Dirty old windows -
you still let the light through.


-Jim DuBois
Feb 23, 2005

* Five Special Colors *

This poem
now comes in five special colors
and is suitable for use
on fourteen different
    special occasions.

Wherever you see an asterisk,
substitute the name of a loved one,
or a touching word from the list
    at the end.

Don't worry too much
about meaning --
or originality --
what matters most
is that you bought it
    from us.


-Jim DuBois
March 19, 2005

The Scent of my Childhood

Sometimes
I catch the scent
of my childhood,

in the swampy air
from the stream
down the hill,

in the rotting leaves
on the bike path
through the woods.

Sometimes
I catch the scent
of my childhood,

of the magic
that I had forgotten,

of the goodness
I used to know more about.


-Jim DuBois
Oct 22, 2009

Half an Hour

Half an hour
between one thing

and the next.

How can I
live these moments well?


-Jim DuBois
Oct 22, 2009

The World is Mine

I like to go downtown
get a 33 cent pad of paper
and $1 pen
and sit on a bench
and draw
and write
and feel like
    the world is mine


-Jim DuBois
Oct 22, 2009

(Sorting) Laundry

Shirt,
Shirt,
Shirt,

Socks, pants, shirt,

Why do I have so many shirts?

shirt,
long-sleeved shirt,
pants,
pajamas,

I wonder how other people categorize their laundry?

I have the most categories for shirts,

shirt,
long-sleeved shirt,
shirt I need to hang on a hanger,
Oh! this shirt's not really dry yet...

Maybe I'll do more laundry tomorrow.


-Jim DuBois
Jan 22, 1998

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