James Babbs- Three Poems

7 Years

I crashed into mirrors

when I grew weary of my reflection

watched the pieces

falling to the floor

scattered

I saw the tiny image

captured in every piece

each tiny image

part of some larger whole

a man can go crazy

for the strangest of reasons

sometimes

women go crazy

thinking too much about men

everything broken

shattered

I stood there

raising the bottle to my lips

watching endless hands

raising endless bottles

touching the lips of countless mouths

so many of us

all in the same room

so many of us

getting drunk

alone

Married

when I drive past

I see them

out there in the yard

she’s picking up the sticks

that have fallen from the trees

over the winter and

he’s next to her

wearing his baseball cap

drinking a beer

pointing at the ground

showing her where they are

Maybe Next Time

I should’ve got drunk

last night and

tried writing another poem

but instead I came home

and mowed the yard

then worked the dirt

surrounding the grapevines

it was a beautiful day

and it felt good to be outside

later

I sat in front of the TV

flipping through the channels

because

there wasn’t anything good on

I should’ve got drunk

and tried writing another poem

but not a love poem

no

not another poem about love

maybe something about

how I didn’t seem to write

as many poems as I use to

because

for whatever reason

things weren’t the same

not like they were before and

even rooms

I’d lived in for years

could suddenly appear strange

in the pale morning light

after I awoke

feeling restless and afraid

from my own dreams