jonberger

Why are you frowning?
You’ve been offered a special opportunity
by a very special lady
yet you don’t seem to be reacting
in an especially positive way.
That frown, in fact, looks positively negative.

What’s keeping you down, sport?

Is it that you don’t appreciate
what’s on offer?
Or that you don’t like the questions
it raises for you,
the choices it brings up?

Does this opportunity
make you realize
that you have decisions to make
quickly
and you don’t know what your choice is,
or even what all the options are.
You may not be positive about the question.

You know that you’re uncomfortable
though intrigued
and that despite yourself,
you’re frowning.
You don’t know
what’s next.

You stare before you
and see a funhouse mirror image. 
A handsomer, taller,
more talenteder and stronger funhouse mirror image. 
Only, upon reflection (ha ha)
maybe you’re the reflection
and he’s the original,
what with he being the better at everything
far as you can see. 

His smile shines brighter
his teeth seem whiter
his armor seems knighter,
it all just comes together on him
in a way it never does for you,
like he’s a master version
and you’re just a bad rip off,
a pale reflection. 

Who wants a third generation
when the prime material is available?
The cheap.
The weak.
The weird. 
But there’s no accounting for taste. 
If someone cares to make the stupid choice
and pick you over the obviously superior other…
who are you to judge?

Nobody.

Elvis Costello loves tomatoes
and I fear them.
My fear turns to hate in their presence
and I don’t know what to make
of this disgusting knowledge.

If my hero loves this horrid substance
what does this mean of his taste?
He also likes “Pop Life.”
Must I now also hate Prince?
I don’t know where I stand!

I need help figuring out decisions
at this point.
Shuffling playlists and picking songs
will not work if the prophet has proven flawed.
Must I now follow Joe Jackson?
Ani DiFranco?
Taylor?

Do I…
Do I have to try a tomato again
for the first time in forty years?
Say it isn’t so!

The world is not forsaken
just give it a day.
The armies of death have not awakened
yet, to blow us all away.

We have some breath still
in these very old bones
and we can last until
we overturn some stones
and we can see if
there are any old crones
to whom to pray.
And if nay?
We’ll be done then, anyway!

I think back on us
and I love how I felt
when I was with you.
I don’t know
if we were that good for each other.
I don’t think I was a particularly good guy
at that time,
though you were pretty cool.
I know I liked you a lot.
I know I missed you a lot afterward.

I felt such strong nostalgia
for how I felt with you yesterday.
Though I couldn’t return to those days
– I doubt the campus would accept my tuition –
I wish there was some way to bottle then back up
and have it again.

To name a thing is to give it power, yes,
a certain definition,
a size and a shape.

To name a thing also hedges it in,
contains it to those dimensions,
limits by the very terms used.

What has occurred so far
has been beautiful and glorious,
magical,
and I fear the power of naming.
Could we avoid that for now
and maintain a sense of freedom
for just a little while longer?

And if you feel the need for security,
insist upon naming,
as so many do,
might I suggest,
“Consultant-at-large?”

When the power is out and the fridge is losing its cool
and you must conserve the chill
as long as is possible,
you do the scientific thing
and mind map what is in the freezer,
what is on each refrigerator shelf.

You plan your opening of the door
so it takes instants
to get what you need from the belly of the beast
and nothing escapes but a mere breath of cool breeze.
This is efficiency, stark and pure
and in moments of its momentum, you may wonder
"Why don’t I always work so well?"

While, of course, in this time of crisis,
you had time to plan out this little effort,
and it gains you something to create such perfections,
there is a knife’s edge to balance
in working efficiently.
It can hurt.
It does hurt.
It is not for many.
It is not for any.

It is not for anyone.
Mind map that.

If you miss out on the latest movies
the latest television shows
or music
you might not understand the references people make
in their conversations,
the memes used on the internet,
or jokes on the latest TV shows, movies or memes.

This is a dangerous pattern.
You’ve got to keep up to date
or you risk being left behind.
If you’re left behind
then you’re…
left behind!

Be careful what you do.
Be a good citizen
lest you suffer the consequences.

The bookstore on this street that is gone
used to be such a place of excitement.
I used to love to go in
to see what I could see
to find new worlds I could explore
new places to visit
in this neighborhood so near.

For the cost of a walk
and a pull of a parent’s arm
I could go to this street and this store
that is gone
and find a new home
for a little while
and live a new life
when mine proved disquieting.

That option is no longer available
on that street
but there are many other avenues left.

Rooftop poets explore the sky.
They see the city and then ask why.
They’re not afraid of the people below
or to tell their readers so.

Rooftop dancers trip near the edge.
Their limbs take them dangerously close to the ledge
but they fly away whenever they choose
as they enjoy all the views.

Rooftop singers are sirens and seers,
seducing with wisdom, at heights that appear
much greater than needed to see everything.
You stare while on rooftops, they sing.

Rooftop artists, they all entertain.
They tickle your fancy and limit your strain.
They take you to places that you couldn’t reach.
Such is the gospel I preach.