Melanie Browne- Three Poems

Weird stuff about Napoleon

he slapped both men
and women,
he spilled coffee on
ladies dresses on purpose,
full of charm one
moment, he might 
shoot a swan in the next,
he liked his bath
hotter than hell,
and hated cats,
he would neurotically 
twitch his 
right shoulder,
and was possibly epileptic,
he masturbated before battle,
he believed in a lucky star
and made a ten year pact 
with a genie,
and yet 
he is still
quite interesting



Keith Richards again

I dreams about
Keith Richards again,
We are swimming in
the Thames,
sipping whiskey
out of a thimble,
the wind is strong,
Keith's hair like a 
bedraggled lion,
'I went fishing 
the other day,
& pulled out seven
bodies," he said
cocking one very 
grey eyebrow
towards the 
Ursa Minor,
but when I look
heavenward,
Keith has
shape-shifted
into a 
mighty clipper ship
and my foot
has slipped
into the mud
& I wake ever
so slowly
and scramble
the eggs and
dump them on
to a plate



One day after not winning the Powerball lottery

I google "Luxury Goods,"
and I see pictures
of shiny diamonds,
Gucci shopping bags
and a Russian man 
eating caviar 
with a gold spoon,
I see champagne,
beach vacations,
and bright orange colored sneakers,
Two days after not Winning
the Powerball Lottery,
I watch the reality show
"Lottery Changed My life,"
 a man buys a farm so he can 
ride a four wheeler around
and around and around,
he also buys a big truck
and some trucks for his friends
and he buys them
some four wheelers so
they can go around and around
and around and enjoy pizza
and beer and hot dogs and 
burgers made with sirloin-
Three days after not winning
the lottery I have forgotten
about not winning the Lottery
I have forgotten the people 
on the radio giving legal advice
about winning the lottery to
people who will not win
the lottery and all the crowds at 
7-11 and the soon to be
discarded sad slips
of white paper dreams