Ivan Jenson- Three Poems

High Altitude

You are

fashionably dressed

remarkably bright 

impressively prepared 

demographically desirable 

and you have shown us

you are goal-oriented 

with an eye for detail

a head for numbers

and legs to die for

but this is Colorado 

and we don't give

a hoot about 

credentials 

we are only 

looking for an

afternoon temp

to sell some 

homegrown hemp

Doormat Blues

I completely forgot

your instructions

and got lost 

on the way here

my wallet is missing

my socks mismatched

and I didn't bring

my reading glasses

the car is out of gas

I am soaked from the 

rain since my 

umbrella has a hole 

I am 

coming down 

with a cold

and my stomach

is upset 

I am wearing 

yesterday’s 

clothing 

because

my washer is on 

the blink

and I believe

I stepped on 

something in the 

lawn because

my shoes stink

all this to learn

you don't really 

want to see me

at all

and that you 

“butt-dialed” 

me

when you 

called

The Dot Con

I thought that you 

were seeking a self-starter

an independent thinker

a free spirit who had a

sixth sense of the marketplace

who could anticipate 

what hungry young professionals 

and the gentrified generation

wanted when they switched 

on and plugged in their

up-to-the-minute 

Google gadgets

but now I see you just wanted

me to affirm this company’s

right to shove your

sugar substitute 

for quality, meaning and love

down the online throats 

of consumers 

and so I resign 

Lord,

deliver me

from this 

silicon 

valley of 

despair

to the pearly

Bill Gates of 

heaven

Ivan Jenson is a fine artist, novelist and contemporary poet. His artwork was featured in Art in America, Art News, and Interview Magazine and has sold at auction at Christie’s. Ivan was commissioned by Absolut Vodka to make a painting titled “Absolut Jenson” for the brand’s national ad campaign. His Absolut paintings are in the collection of the Spiritmusuem, the museum of spirits in Stockholm, Sweden. Jenson's painting of the “Marlboro Man” was collected by the Philip Morris corporation. Ivan was commissioned to paint the final portrait of the late Malcolm Forbes. Ivan has written two novels, Dead Artist and Seeing Soriah, both of which illustrate the creative and often dramatic lives of artists. Jenson's poetry is widely published (with over 450 poems published in the US, UK and Europe) in a variety of literary media. A book of Ivan Jenson's poetry was recently published by Hen House Press titled Media Child and Other Poems, which can be acquired on Amazon. Two new novels by Ivan Jenson entitled, Marketing Mia and Erotic Rights will be published hardcover and will be available for purchase at bookstores worldwide. Ivan Jenson's website is: www.IvanJenson.com