Cary Briel

Call me jealous;
Perhaps I’m being obvious,
Or perhaps I could be tougher,
And not suffer;

But I have suggested, you are aware;
I’ve made constructive points
When you stare,
When it disappoints;

But then he comes
With smooth packages in arm,
I guess your heart drums
To my alarm;

He’s brown;
When did you like brown?
When did such a thing pervade,
To pierce love’s shade?

And as I peek to verify
That brown, boxed splendor has arrived,
With pen and tablet to seduce,
Our love he’s set to surely loose;

My world fails.
His universe prevails;
And then his words,
You know they penetrate;

Prelude perhaps,
On sidewalk cracks;
And as he greets you at the door,
“Sign here ma’am, um.. I have four;”

Up down,
Blue or brown;
Right left,
God or clown;

God or dog, man or hog?

Decide!
Bind!
Bring in Peter’s key;
Children laughing in the hills,
Leaping gleefully.

God or dog, man or hog?

Decide!
Loose!
While below a plea;
Many names of demons cast
Run into the sea.

God or dog, man or hog?

Decide!

I was pranking,
I was young,
Caller id hadn’t come,
And we were immature,
That’s just the way we were;

Prefix and four,
That would supposedly guarantee
That who I called would be in JC,
I’d absolutely need to think
On my feet or sink;

So, I was pranking,
I was funning,
In search of love was I running,
But I ultimately couldn’t recall the four,
Digits that my brain didn’t store;

Nevertheless, we talked like old friends;
When ten or fifteen minutes in,
I’d disclose my sin,
And I’d need reveal that I had forgot
Those four digits on the spot;

And hanging up would have ended
Much, much more than a call,
I can hear my life fall,
If she’d have thrown down the hook,
My kids’d have a whole different look.

It was the best time I ever had,
It was the best name I could forget,
But so worth it all it was,
As father, so son does;

Amidst the ancestors I’m set,
The new twinkle in the black,
The fraternity of blank stare,
A generational affair;

And when I’m daring to think back,
My future planning, circumspect,
Remembering times with Mom and Dad,
Remembering good times that we had,

My manners they did direct,
My matching dress, their sense of style,
How much their eyes betrayed their love,
These are the things that I think of;

And while I think on that a while,
Glancing forward seeing you,
To your world my soul glides,
Father, mother say goodbye.

Like a pull up, I lift
The weight of me and you,
Arms failing me like goo,
In my final breath, I shift

The pain from arm to arm,
Which gives a moments rest
From the burning in my breast,
My heart racing in alarm;

Intervention, we’ve tried that,
I’ve prayed to every god,
Joined religions that were odd,
I’ve worn almost every hat;

We’re old friends, this drug
That carouses in your veins,
Like coffee- leaves its stains,
Bed warm, cozy-snug;

And as I lift again,
Knowing this lift’s far from last,
Reeling, dizzy from times past,
To any god, Amen;

If gays go to hell
As some would suggest
Is the righteous behest
Then by all rights do tell

Why it thus seems
That their talents do fly
Like clouds in the sky
Like sunlight that gleams;

And as likable goes
There’s no match I can find
Though they’re often maligned
And made into foes;

And as savvy is weighed
And reason is checked
Finesse and respect
There is no degrade;

One would think that our God
Would have made them profuse
Cutting them loose
And not this facade;

Or their talents would lack
Or their beauty would wane
Their endeavors in vain
Turning them back;

But as God’s dealings go
Reputation at stake
Should He make a mistake
That will blatantly show

The genes to be skewed
And jumbled in err
Lacking His flair
Betraying His mood?

Or perhaps He did know
Or even intend
This way did He wend
Endeavoring to show

That perhaps He does work
Deeds not known to man
To bring Grace as a plan
In the realm of the murk.

An ode to freakish toe,
Who you are you know,
Beset by normal kin,
Possessing too much skin,
And haunting me quite so;

In sandaled fright you come,
Not fitting into some,
A nail as wide as sea,
Large ships flee skittishly,
To lands they had come from;

You seek to hide between,
You think to be unseen,
Protruding as you do,
Not fitting into shoe,
To border on obscene;

And though you bring a fright,
Projecting such a sight,
I’ve come to know your face,
Your clumsy, quick embrace,
So kinship is our plight.

A natural for American Idol…