Decisions 2000 & 8 Sample

8/14/2019 Decisions 2000 & 8 Sample

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/decisions-2000-8-sample 1/14

Decisions 2000 & 8

Poems by

Jakob Chapman



Table of Contents

Introduction 4

This is the place 5

Maltzbier 7

Europe 9

Sixty watts 10

Paint by numbers 12

Cheetos 14

Because I love you 15

Decisions 2000 & 8 16

String theory 17

Tired of tires 18

Sleepless morning of Abraham 20

Gargoyle 23Loreley the siren 24

Jack Lantern 25

swarm 26

Only salivation 27

Love, love, run! 31Jack-in-the-box 32

Breast cancer 33

Jolynn 34

Loose change 36

“little Milton” 3740 years 38

Greener pastures 39

Reading jane eyre 40



Leave the foil on the floor 42

Carthaginian bbq 44

Rowboats 45

Patriotic 46

Dam 47

Dam #2 48

Amber 49

Grow up 52

Daily Excuses 54

Opening old wounds 56

DDS’s 57

Know-it-alls 58

Things to Tell Mom 60

Pre-thanksgiving Christmas 62

October 27th: A Monday 2008 63

Bud 65

To Margaritas 66

Tater Gun 68

Bohemian Afterthought 69

For £s Remembered 70

sleeping on the floor 72

Nuclear Sudoku 74

There is always Fear 75

Decisions 2000 & 8 #2 76

Toadstool in the Sky 77

Afterward or epilogue? 78



Decisions 2000 & 8 Jakob Chapman

4

Introduction

The year 2008 was a year of decisions for a young

poet who is trying to put together his life. Thisyear marked my return to my birthplace, a change

of Universities, not voting for a new president,

meeting my wife, getting engaged to my wife, and eventu-

ally marring her (with a few days to spare!). Along with

being a year of change, this year has been a year of po-

etry — images, words, and emotion. I decided to put to-gether this collection of this year’s poetry (a few borrowed

from 2007 and a couple put together in early 2009) when I

wrote the association poem that became “Decisions 2000 &

8”. The name of the collection was not difficult to decide

as I reviewed what I had written throughout the year. I de-

cided to write a second poem with the same title to wrap upthe collection. It has been interesting to watch this collec-

tion unfold. Hopefully it paints 2008 in its proper light, a

“clutch of difficultly easy decisions in a kaleidoscope of

hope.”

-Jakob Chapman




5

This is the place

Upon arriving home.

this is the place where I sit on a bench

and wait for a golf-cart

this is the place where the sun shines

and warms the January air

this is the place where a new year

of poetry

begins reluctantly

in public

this is the place where people know my name

because it is printed on my shirt

in sharpie

in my own handwritingand I smile at small girls

who wander from their young mothers

and I wonder if it was really worth

the effort to come

and meet people I already casually knew

back home

who leftand someone I knew years ago

his name escapes me

but I know it must be Lloyd

because it is printed on his shirt

in his own handwriting

in sharpie

this is the place where I am

I could go back

no questions asked

several answers silently given

but for now this is the place




6

where I sit

bench-side

and wait

and wait alone




7

Malzbier

An ode to the drink.

crisp cold pop

of the bottle cap

rolls across the floor

Monday evening

tie undone

hole in sock

toe hanging out

dew forming

between fingers

liquid bread

coldly warmingmy insides

big bang

in my head

unwinding

the universe

proclaiming truthwisdom

in these words:

“and barley

for all

useful animals

and for mild drinks”

peaceful risk

foamy head

eve of freedom




8

have another

then off

to bed




9

Europe

After Jack Hirshman.

I thought I would never

grace the sod

of old men’s dreams

or historian’s playgrounds.

Once was enough,

waiting in the snow

buses missed

fields sown.

Twice was too much,

walking where Romans walked

talking where bombs fell;

since the war everything’s late

postponed until I get it right

waiting until

home is not home anymore

Never again!

a chuckle

a whimper

a crash and a sigh

I left my mark

on East Germany

I tried to save the west

I became a friend to the north

Never again!




10

Sixty Watts

Upon witnessing a light go out.

Bright smile

at the flick of a switch.

Softer glow,

beaming,

gleaming,

sad to see her go.

Distracting ray

pulls me nearer.

Lay down quickly

in reluctant anticipation,

and sleep in the spotlight.

Flicker, flicker.

Whisper-quiet promises

of no books in bed,

unconscious fear

of warm welcomes

quickly burning out.

“Five AM fizzle and pop.”

Two choices for dinner:

repair the inner workings

an impossible weld,

or clutch to tarnished tungsten.

Embrace her dark adaptations,a fool's softer afterglow,

cold and cruel memory

of flickering and distance

come close and sigh.




11

Hide the hint of hesitation

in the empty socket.

Forget the longing for the light!

Pretend to be content on being

never completely satisfied, but ditch the warranty.

Incandescent demon,

angel riddling in the dark.

Try again,

screw it in,see if it will spark.




12

Paint by Numbers

Inspired by Lana Groa’s oil painting, “Catch the Rhythm, Join the

Party”

We paint in packs

the way others might party

(without parental “super -vision”)

secretly splashing pigment

on each other’s paintings

when they are not paying

attention.

Distract a neighbor

while the sable brush

of another flicks

a shower of sparkles,

glittering globs of gold,

flying tincture murder,or just a bad case

of Montezuma’s

revenge.

And watch

as the hand-guided

maquillage blooms(like an atomic blusher),

and drips down

the oily foresail surface

like a projectiled

ovum accident

caught on candid

canvas.

Join the party;

play the blame game:

who did what where

as we regard




13

the rumba’d rhythmicity

of botched realism,

and jive jovially

toward artistic

Platonism.

Consider it foul

(if you will call

it anything at all)

artistic sabotage

mingled with

mischievous multi-chromaticwrongdoing.

But at least it is

still recognizably

abstract.




Cheetos

A reflection on the snack.

orange fingers

only the first three

tips soft

almost sticky

bag in left hand

fingers on the right

can't say

I'm sorry

while eating

more than 21

tonight indulge

a little fun:

lick fingers cleantomorrow

Documents

Decisions 2000 & 8 Sample