Sisyphus Smith

Give Us This Daze

Sisyphus sez
sipping coffee waiting for sun
before his morning mountain run
“You have to love the rock
you have to want the hill
pain is all you got
that and strength of will
welcome to the ritual
of redux redo
until rock and hill and roll are one
there is no up or down
and misery is fun.”

– Smith, 3.31.2016

thought crime

ghostbear

Lady and I each will have one poem appear on the Cuyahoga County Library’s online celebration of National Poetry Month along with 28 other poets, many of them friends. . . you can sign-up for daily notice of each poet here – http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001IQ52rwNW1FFicIwyMZQmeGRkTBNfGBZn1uWpUPrW9Tr4tW7F17w73IT-3sn23oIiYyY1zNE0WyHzWJzmgAkLzYi8YjcxGsFU_QxmObQxIws%3D

The 30 poets with date of poem appearance are Maggie Anderson 4.8, Phil Brady 4.24, Steve Brightman 4.5, Miles Budimir 4.19, Don Cellini 4.12, Kathleen Cerveny 4.30, Thomas Dukes 4.10, Leatrice Emeruwa 4.22, Kisha Nicole Foster 4.9, Kathryn Gallagher 4.2, Lori Kusterbeck 4.25, Tom Kryss 4.3, Bob Lawry 4.20, Amit Majmudar 4.1, Shane McCrae 4.4, Claire McMahon 4.28, Darlene Montonaro 4.18, Linda Nemec Foster 4.29, Mary O’Malley 4.13, Suzanne Ondrus 4.17, Josh Romig 4.16, Barbara Sabol 4.23, Rikki Santer 4.27, Wendy Shaffer 4.21, Margie Shaeed 4.7, Kathy Ireland Smith 4.26, Steven B. Smith 4.15, Lou Suarez 4.14, Bruce Wiegl 4.6, Catherine Wing 4.11.

I’m almost up to Status Report 200. These poems were not originally designed to be a cohesive flow, so I’m starting to go back and patch some of the more awkward segues. Here’s my latest batch patch.

Status Report 2.1

Sun rise
I’m still alive
Now what?

~

Status Report 13.1

From bed
to coffee
to day

~

Status Report 21.1

Bath hot
body sore
brain “ahhhhh”

~

Status Report 27.1

Thank you Great Mother Father Other or Nought
for whatever oddness wrought in this knot
may rot not spoil the plot

~

Status Report 53.1

Left with seeds and stems
twigs and seeds
to welcome in the norm

– Smith, 3.30.2016

gridluck

Status Report 197

Waiting in the reading room
reading of the wait that looms
in weight of wait white as bone
existing in the fading zone
more me’s than I can hold in one
so into fiction fill the rest
to test with friction in the fray
whichever way I amble next

– Smith, 3.29.2016

did Issa say
birth, bullshit, death
map of man?

– Smith, 3.28.2016

Medusa’s Kitchen features 9 of my poems, 7 fotos and 2 songs in my monthly visit at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2016/03/status-report.html. Glad to be part of their group.

Lady & I caught the Unitarian sunrise Easter service at Lakeview Cemetery this morning.

Sunrise Service

Worship death rerisen
blood dried
by time and design

Dew on grass
low morning light
inner essence effervescence

– Smith, 3.27.2016

A caucasian 12-14 year-old boy in front of me had a purple hoodie covered with illustrations of brass knuckles, dynamite, hand grenades, diamonds, bling, skull & crossbones, handcuffs, headfones, eating utensils, running shoes, winged-skulls, bombs – with a bright yellow t-shirt peeking out the bottom . . . eggsellent Easter color combo, mismatched message.

Policy Polonius

Roundy round round
roundy round round
cover again the same old ground

Keep yr nose clean
wash yr own mind
stay in line and don’t be wrong kind

Grindy grind grind
groundy ground ground
this working wheel will wear you down

Rub a dub scrub
wash and wax hacks
cover yr ass and hide yr tracks

– Smith, 3.24.2016

Just discovered I have a haiku quite similar to one in the 1600’s by Buson, one of the four great haiku masters.

Buson’s sexual haiku:

The short night is through:
on the hairy caterpillar,
little beads of dew

or depending on translator

The short night–
on the hairy caterpillar
beads of dew.

mine from 2010:

The caterpillar
glistens in night-sparkled dew
hides in its foreskin