I am a bean

I am a bean, a kidney bean
to be exact
on the kitchen floor
being kicked and spun
with ham-fisted slippers
and reckless toes
spiraling off into the
glossy wood abyss

what do I remind you of:
an unborn fetus, a boomerang
a pasty organ?

For christs sake pick me up
do something with me.
Glue me to paper and hang
me on the fridge,
string me into a necklace
with green and orange pasta wheels,
wipe me off and make chili
or throw me in the garbage-
anything

but if I have to spend another
night with my back up against
a chairleg in the company of
styrofoam balls, bread crumbs
and dog hair balled with dust

I'll split, break into
bits, stick to your heels
and drive you crazy.


Michelle M. Buchanan December 30, 2005

IQ Test

1. If some Wergles are Floopers, and some
Floopers are Poets, then some Wergles are
definitely Poets. The statement is:

True False Neither

2. You are trapped in a revolving door. It will
spin 300,000 times before it lets you out. How
many turns will it take before the skin breaks
on your heels?

a.) 10
b.) around 200
c.) None of the above

3. If Billy looks into a mirror and touches his
penis with his right hand, Billy's image seems
to be writing in its journal with a pen in its left
hand.

True False

4. If the word, "FOAM," is written under the word,
"PLAY," and the word, "BEET," is written under
"FOAM," and the word TENT under the word "BEET"
- then a real "POET," is formed diagonally.

True False

5. Junie has 9 dollars. He can buy a loaf of bread,
some butter and a pack of smokes. But instead he
buys Joe Massey's chapbook "Bramble". Will Junie
eat or smoke the book when he finishes reading it?

6. The word "Brilliant" can be spelled by using the
first letters of the words in this sentence:
"Beautiful railroads in lavish liquid ignite ants
napping tamely"

True False

7. Poem is to Teapot as Word is to:

a.) Paper
b.) Kitchenaid Mixer
c.) Finger

8. The word ART spelled backwards
is TRA. The word BRA spelled
backwards is ARB. With this you
can conclude that bras can be art
and art can be made from bras.

True False I'm not sure

9. The word Chapbook
backwards spells the name
of a famous deceased
rap artist?

True False

10. Sara spent 100.00 on
entry fees for writing contests.
She entered 4 contests. How
much did she spend on each?

a.) More then she should have
b.) Too much
c.) All of her grocery money


Michelle M. Buchanan December 29, 2005

"AIDS expert has theory on vaccine's delay"

Come slow, come soft.
Come fast and hard.

Black moths with velvet wings
fly clumsy in lungs.
Midnight leeches come quietly
in sleep, leaving gifts of death
on skin that shimmer in the
morning light.

The morning light, the morning
light washes in -
as an unexpected house guest
arrives at the doorstep
with an overnight bag.
A stranger.

Skin cracks, eye lashes
crystallize. It all shimmers,
it sparkles and glistens

waits for the stranger to leave
again, walk into the night.

A single, escaped moth hits
soft walls with a wet head,
a newborn baby glistens
flies through teeth to the freedom
of the window sill.
Spreads his velvet wings out
to curtain the panes.

Don't you dare show pity.
Don't you dare.

Michelle M. Buchanan December 28, 2005

"The Night of Broken Glass" November 8, 1938 Part 7

Deny

There are no trees
no stones,
this is not grass,
not ice or snow
beneath bare feet.

Not wood,
not metal,
not brick or crumbled mortar.
This is not burlap
to lie under.

That is not a pile
of burning bodies,
not flesh on the wall,
not hair. That is not a
baby dead.

They are not dead
or alive. They do not
have tongues or teeth.
We do not. These are
not eyes, not bones,
not dried blood under
fingernails.

This white smoke
in the air is not breath
or heat of any kind. No
ashes, no whispers,
no screams at noon.
None of this
exists.

None of this exists,

none, but this beautiful
sky
waiting to
be fallen into.

Michelle M. Buchanan December 21, 2005

Attn: / Re:

ATTN:     God
Re:            Heaven

ATTN:    Editor
Re:           Poetry submission

ATTN:    Poet
Re:           Your poetry submission

*

ATTN:    Trees
Re:           The leaves you left in my lawn

ATTN:    Sky
Re:           Rain again?

ATTN:    Sun
Re:           Long time no see

ATTN:    Moon
Re:           Was it good for you?

*

ATTN:    Mr. Rogers
Re:           King Friday stole my sweater

ATTN:    Shari
Re:           My missing socks

ATTN:    Carole & Paula
Re:           How to plant giggling daisies

ATTN:    Bert & Ernie
Re:           Crackers in bed

*

ATTN:    Mr. President
Re:           Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes

ATTN:    Dick Cheney
Re:           Are you ok dude?

ATTN:    Rebublicans
Re:           Democrats

ATTN:    The world
Re:           I'd like to apologize for the way I behaved last night

*

ATTN:    Men
Re:           Urgent, open immediately

ATTN:    Women
Re:           Congratulations! You've been pre-approved

ATTN:    Jews
Re:           Your manuscript has been selected

ATTN:    Blacks
Re:           Let's be friends

ATTN:    White men
Re:           Return to sender, no such address

ATTN:    All others
Re:           You will receive a response within 7 business days

*

ATTN:    Santa
Re:           Damage to roof, Insurance claim #1225

ATTN:    Easter Bunny
Re:            Angry chickens to file class action suit

ATTN:    Tooth Fairy
Re:            Looking to refinance your mortgage?

*

ATTN:    Attention
Re:            Span

Michelle M. Buchanan December 15, 2005

Searching For J.W. Wilcox

From left to right:
John W. Wilcox
Lee E. Weaver
Robert E. Parker
James Yacano
Char. W. Townsend

Goldsboro, NC 12-13-42

Several years ago I grabbed a pocket folder full of old photos at
a yard sale. I love yard sales and find myself buying things
connected to people. Mostly stuff I have no use for but I get a
feeling from. The woman at the yard sale said she had no idea
where they came from, it wasn't her family or anyone she knew.
Every year for some reason I come across them. Every year
I pick up the phone book and start calling strangers trying to
find the owners. Tonight I was moving back into my studio and
ran into them again. I decided I would post them here, write
about them and share them. Over the years I have grown to almost
know this family. I've traveled into these photos so many times.
Christmas, Easter, summertime, reunions, love, children, etc.
Lives live in these photos, stories are told.

I can't find the family or anyone that knows the names on the
photos. Maybe by chance someone will find them here, I hope.
Maybe they will go forever undiscovered. Maybe I will be the
only one to care about them, to dream about a lifetime that I
wasn't a part of.

Nobody's life should end up in box at a yard sale being picked
over by strangers. Their lives were important and special, even
if just to me.

So I've decided I am going to write the story.











Caption on the back: Came to visit. Sorry you weren't available.
Call sometime.


My Picture

Now you have my picture
easy, you can have me too.
Mother says I'll be an old maid
if I don't find a man, soon.

I know we agreed things
changed, it was time to go,
but we're both free again.
We could have a house and
a family. I could love you
again. Do you still love me?

Remember last summer,
the picnic at the pond.
Just us, you ran your finger up
my neck then softly pinched
my chin and told me
I was your only girl.

Remember how the sun, as
it set, poured gold down
on the water and us
as we made love in
golden skins on golden
grass. You, with your golden
hands.

Today it's cold, the sun
pours down a lonely
white film. My lips are
lost in white. I wish you
were here.

You have my picture.
Easy, you can have me
too.

Michelle M. Buchanan December 9, 2005

"40 Million Worldwide Have HIV/AIDS"

Bag Of Blood

My skin is thick and whole
my hair grows, I process air
chew my food and my eyes
see the same world
as yours

I love and laugh, see stars
on purple-black nights
close my eyes to face the sun
in daylight hours
I dream dreams so beautiful
they cannot be captured

I am a bag of blood
waiting
      for rupture

Death comes to call for me
I cannot go back and change
this visitation or the history
that lines these lips, so thick

I can't make you
lose that look, or want
to know me


Michelle M. Buchanan / December 1st, 2005

World AIDS Day site.