New Notebook

New notebook,
                ($3.99)
new one dollar pen,
new poem...

Argh! The pressure!
Don't crack under
the pressure, man!

Grrr....
alright, got that
outta the way.



-Jim DuBois
July 12, 2011

Spring Peepers

I heard the first spring peepers
the night after
_______ got put
in the psyche ward
at Cooley-dick

Somehow those little frogs
didn't get the news
that life has a hard edge,
somehow those little frogs
kept singing


-Jim DuBois
April 2, 1998

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

These New Pens

Inauguration
  of these new pens --
it reminds me
of many other times,
recorded by similar pens
and similar neurological alchemy
which turns ink scribbles
into meaning.


-Jim DuBois
June 17, 2011

Summer Solstice

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


-Jim DuBois
June, 2011

Romance/Science

How do you cross that line
between talking
and dating?

I want to compare it to
crossing the event horizon
of a black hole.

You might not notice as you cross
but you are on your inevitable way
to that intense and singular point

And no information
can return to the outside world
to let anyone know how it finally happened.

On the other hand,

I want to put romance
into a high-powered particle accelerator
and smash it to it's elemental bits

So we can make lists
that say things like,
"romance always has at least 130 billion quarks."

Then we won't have to
ponder the mystery any longer.
Instead, if things aren't happening,

You can study the lists
and say,
"more quarks, my friend, more quarks!"



-Jim DuBois
May 22, 2011

Gone

Gone,
for a little while
playing flute by the swamp
-- only the birds knew me


-Jim DuBois
June 5, 2011

in a dangerous state

Went out in a dangerous state,
totally relaxed
and without desperate desires.

Felt very awake and aware.

Invisible and brightly burning
at the same time.


-Jim DuBois
May 14, 2011

Reading Jean-Paul Sartre

I'm reading
    Jean-Paul Sartre
    for a laugh,

for the deep angsty zen,
for the anguish we can't escape,
for the anguish that we are.


-Jim DuBois
May 10, 2011

__ of __

Son of
    improbably intelligent primates

Offspring of
    supernovas of primordial stars

Descendent of
    quantum fluctuations in the early universe


-Jim DuBois
May 9, 2011

To The Boats!

To the boats!
One of our tribe has died.
Paddle hard across the treacherous waves
until the light returns.

One of our tribe has died.
Race the stormclouds!
until the light returns
and the water settles.

Paddle hard across the treacherous waves.
To the water!
To the boats!
We must move fast now.

To the boats!
Until the light returns.


-Jim DuBois
Sept 7 - 15, 2010

Noticing

Late at night,
the clean sink,
the dream catcher,
memories of clear light
in the afternoon.


-Jim DuBois
April 12, 2011

Watching The Frightened Men

At the Roost,
watching the frightened men
whose relationships
are mediated
by alcohol and women.


-Jim DuBois
April 9, 2011

At Least

At least
there's people
downtown.

At least
there's people
at The Roost.

At least
there's a chance
of human contact.


-Jim DuBois
March 30, 2011

A Chance

Sometimes,
a chance
is all you need.


-Jim DuBois
March 30, 2011

I've Been Struggling Lately

Sitting at the Roost
in the middle of the day
feels so desolate,
but much less than
sitting on a stone stoop
on market street,
wishing for friends.

But then I glanced
at someone's laptop
and discovered they
were playing
Settlers of Catan online
and realized they were killing time too,
faking activity,
distracting themselves from desolation,
and it made me a little happier.

(Because I usually imagine
that everyone else
has lots of friends
and deep meaningful lives
and that I,
somehow,
was the only one who got screwed
out of those things)

And I won't let myself
end on that note,
because I have meaning in my life,
it's just that
I've been struggling lately,
like all humans
sometimes do.


-Jim DuBois
March 30, 2011

Two Old Men After a Funeral

1.

Two old men,
patriarchs of their families,
leaning against the porch rail
after a funeral
- they thank me
for all the work
I have done
to take care of
their daughter and grandson.

I am caught off-guard
by my emotions.

I search for a reply,
then say,
"I felt it was important."

One of them replies,
"It was...
  it is."

And I carry on.



2.

Two old men
after a funeral
remind me
that to care and to love
are important.

Two old men
after a funeral
pass down
ancient primate wisdom
and responsibilities.



-Jim DuBois
September 8, 2010

The Roost - #3

They're playing Madonna
at The Roost,
and I'm writing
and waiting for Phil.


-Jim
March 12, 2011

The Roost - #2

Sitting at The Roost,
wearing a spandex shirt
I inherited from
a fairly recently deceased friend.

It's too short,
and when I reach,
I worry
everyone will see
my underwear.


-Jim
March 12, 2011