Wednesday, April 23, 2014

James Babbs- Three Poems

My Mother Was In ICU

last night
at the hot wok express
the one over on university
sitting near the window
eating general tso’s chicken
over some chicken-fried rice
not too far from the hospital
where my mother was in ICU
with some kind of infection and
they were talking about
maybe
having to remove part of her leg
I didn’t know what to do
standing near her bed
not knowing what to say
I finally told her
I was going to leave for awhile and
get me something to eat
noticing how pleasant the air was
when I walked out into the night and
I could see stars
even through the glare
of the city lights and
the moon so big in the sky
like something that didn’t look real


Fixing the Garage Door

I just spent the better part of
an hour fixing the garage door
after the pulley on one side
broke apart and allowed the door to
come crashing down and
for a moment I stood there
not sure what I was going to do
but knowing I had to do something
if I expected to get the car out
in the morning so I could go to work
so I managed to find a new pulley
one close enough to do the job, anyway
rigged up with a couple of washers
then the worst part was
getting the cable and spring back in place
see, there are these big springs on
each side of the door that
stretch and contract to make
moving the door up and down easier
and there’s a cable that attaches to
the bottom of the door and
runs through these pulleys
one of which connects to the spring
it’s not really that complicated but
I knew there was an easy way
to do it and a hard way and
I was learning as I went along
trying to put the ladder in the right place
my hands getting covered with grease and
I didn’t want to get my coat dirty
I know I should’ve stopped and
changed into my old one but
I didn’t want to take the time


Another Weekend

I decide to stop at
Casey’s on my way home and
pick up an 18-pack
the older woman with the mop
telling me to be careful
they have some kind of leak and
they don’t know
where it’s coming from
so I walk around
through the next aisle
carrying my beer to the front
looking over the cutie behind the counter
giving me her smile
along with my change and
it’s just another saturday
another weekend and
I’m alone again
heading home
so I can get drunk again
so I can fall asleep again
without taking off my clothes

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