Wandering in Other People's Memories

This broken twig,
that muddy footprint --
these show the paths they took
to become themselves.

Here is the campground of her fearful heart,
there is the happy hillside of his youth.

There is the pizza place that still serves
    hot hope for the future,
here is where she buries her forgotten days.

This is the trash heap piled high with
    unsent love letters.
that is the wasteground where time
spent waiting for things ends up,
and little yellow flowers grow.


-Jim DuBois
2004 ish

Identity

This is where you live
On this sidewalk
In this chair
Among these people
Wherever it is you actually are

This is who you are
With these thoughts
Eating this burrito
Making these minute by minute decisions
Doing exactly whatever it is you are doing

This is what you are
Temporarily animated matter
Atoms somehow made conscious
Not separated by the boundaries you think you are
Not different from other atoms
Unique but not different from the other conscious beings that surround you


-Jim DuBois
Jan 16, 2010

That Long-Dead Dog

I keep dreaming about
that
dog
that
long-dead
dog.

Rushing to attack
the post officer,
in a strange ranch house,
struggling to escape
my restraining grasp.

He is like symbol,
or a message
that I don't understand.

Nobody liked him,
but I guess
I liked him
more than I thought.


-Jim DuBois
March 10, 2004

Let Tomorrow Come

Let tomorrow come
    because I’ve polished today
    and stashed it
    in my trophy case,
    with an engraved label
    reading:
                    ‘Yes!
                              Yes!
                                        Yes!’

Let tomorrow come
    because I’ve got my ear
    to the ground
    and the energy of life
    is relaying your heartbeat
    to me from wherever it is
        you’ve gone.


-Jim DuBois
Oct 6, 2000

That Other Room

That other room
or wing
or floor
always hidden,
always new.

Reclusive,
expansive,
safe.

It shows up
in dreams
over and over
this secret inner life
of buildings
turning formerly
static places
into neverending
caverns or labyrinths.

There's an extra stairway
or bathroom,
often bathroom,
huge, steamy,
empty bathroom
with the showers
all running,
or stairway
that goes nowhere
or is too large
or too long,
or it's
an oddly shaped room
on a new floor,
sometimes in a basement
or sub-basement.

On and on
again and again
over and over
in dreams.


-Jim DuBois
Dec 24, 2009

More Evidence

More evidence that you're
not alone in the universe:
I've started leaving my change
in your change jar.


-Jim DuBois
Sept 20, 2005

Gone So Long

You've been gone so long
your Tivo has started
recommending things I like


-Jim DuBois
Sept 12, 2005