World Cup Sonnet

It was the summer of ’94 and

I remember it because it was the

year the U.S. was hosting the World Cup –

and up in Palo Alto the Brazilians

were dominating the games to the

rhythm of their metal drums & djimbés

and we could feel the energy coming

down from Stanford to where I lived in San

Jose, in the barrio and farther south

into Los Gatos – they were dancing &

celebrating : the pulse of the salsa

and the hard hard rhythms,

and the futbol.

And I would stay up all night in those days

& stand bare-chested on my balcony

overlooking El Salvador’s house and

he, waking up early, drinking canned beer,

watering his plants & shouting up to me,

Did you see the game last night? Beautiful!

In Los Gatos – all night, man! – the women

and Brazilians wearing the yellow and

the green – the colors of true champions

Your Brother’s Keeper

Because with great power comes great responsibility

the boy, he said to me are you your brother’s keeper?

And although the night was closing in on me

I couldn’t say specifically if I was or if I wasn’t

And yet as coldness creeps and goosebumps rise

I could see it in his eyes –– you can’t outrun the Grim Reaper

So why should I stop myself from kicking him in the teeth

and ripping his sign in two though I knew I shouldn’t 

Because with great power comes great responsibility

the boy, he said to me are you your brother’s keeper?

 

This One’s for Dave

and so I walk …

with my head in the clouds, it’s April

out here in Southwest Washington

big puffy white clouds, cumulous and stratus

the stratocumulus and whatnot

Grand Canyons of cotton over my head

Manhattan skylines of fluffy white floating

into the sky, Titanic ships of stuffing

sinking in the horizon under pure blue sky

behind red-tailed hawks circling, surfing

tidal waves of thick clouds and breaking

on the shores, the gray wet clouds ready

to burst vertical watercolor strokes –

there are 4 layers of sky here:

the low puffy white

the grey heavy wet

the thin white high clouds

and the blue sky above even all that

this morning, driving to work I saw

five layers … all that, plus the low

damp fog, driving through

my windshield wipers, sky

down low, tires splashing  puddle

sky in a pothole, wet

Southwest Washington in April

there is so much going on above

my head I barely notice until

its almost too late – a garter snake!

coiled and pissed, upset that I nearly

stepped on him, he hisses …

pointed tongue flicks in defiance

the vertical yellow line like a

twisted road in the mountains, back

and forth, the little guy is poised

ready to fight, upset at my

neglect of attention

it’s April in Southwest Washington and I am reminded

of the snake we caught in my neighbor’s garage last year

terrorizing their 7-year old daughter, another garter

my son and I captured, placed in the plastic terrarium

and returned to the shores of Whipple Creek

I with my bad knee, shaky on my feet

and Riley balancing down by the rocks, saying goodbye

to our slithering friend as we released the serpent

from the container into the wild, holding back tears

or the time Shelly followed me back to my cubicle

stuck to my windshield – a praying mantis, bright

green and beautiful. I kept her stored in my empty

pop container after removing the ice and plastic

straw, another gift from Spring in Southwest Washington

where she watched me work at my desk for the rest

of the day – both of us trapped. And when I drove home

I stopped by the pet store and bought that $14

terrarium to house the mantis. And it was the kids

who named her Shelly while we searched for leaves

and twigs to furnish her new apartment as I explained

her beautiful bright color, her exoskeleton and the fact

that her hands looked like she was praying to a god …

and a month later, when we finally did let her go

both Kiera and Riley were sobbing, saying their goodbyes

to their friend, their pet, their praying mantis –

Shelly, who flew up into the sky, dancing

among the clouds out here in Southwest Washington

the big puffy white clouds, cumulous and stratus

the stratocumulus and whatnot

untitled

Originally published in Leaf by Leaf, Spring 1998, Copyright © 1998 by Sterling Warner – Evergreen Valley College – Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing

whole worlds were lost because of it

spelled out in the grains of sand

forever stretching out above our heads

conjures up such images

it’s where it got me last time

underneath the bridge, diving

those dumpsters behind the pizza parlor

searching for an answer

rain was falling hard that day

I remember, the hole inside

my head, cold wet and blind, rushing to

and waking up inside a cage

it’s where it got me last time

locked up in the rehab

spoon fed, force fed, promises and visions

borders, walls and freedom

whole worlds were gained because of it

spelled out in the grains of sand

forever stretching out above our heads

conjures up such images

Untitled

Originally published in Reed Magazine 2002, A Journal of Poetry & Prose, Vol. 55. Copyright © 2002 – San Jose State University

and the drip, drip, drop

of the drops from the sky

so grey and so clean

sends shivers, my spine

(and) i’m with you in this dream

as together we lie

bearing our souls so naked

and imperfect

how i feel so warm

so pure and so blue

as i breathe it in deep

your red and your pink

the scent of the salt in your ocean so wide

take me out to sea

with the tide, won’t you take me out to sea?

and the drops, still they fall

gently tapping on my brow

dripping now this moisture, sweat

as damp turns to wet, so profound

these feelings that i have for you

how can i begin to explain this kind of love?

the ocean’s deep

and so it’s wide

the ocean’s deep and so it’s wide

you can not ever stop the tide

and my love is like that ocean