Three Short Poems

These days, poetry comes out of me in bursts--I can go months without writing a line, then churn out three complete poems in a week, which is what happened with the following. The first, written on a Sunday morning, describes a particularly unhygenic practice that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. The second, written the same day, was inspired after an October afternoon some 20 degrees above normal. (Don't worry--there's no such thing as global warming. Nope.) The third was inspired by one of my MySpace friends, who sent out a bulletin entitled "I'm Bored." To entertain her, I wrote the following in about an hour. She said that no one had ever written a poem for her before; I was honored to be the first.

Anyway...here they are. Enjoy.

ONE
Some nights I
crawl off to
bed without
brushing my
teeth or
tongue because
some mornings I
like the taste
of decay in
my mouth when
day breaks and
stays broken.

TWO
It's odd to
walk out into
autumn air
seasoned with
heat, the scents
of drying grass
and cracked
asphalt spark
together with
the tapping of
maple and sumac
leaves wheeling
north to the hum
of air conditioners
for a cocktail
great to swirl
in your glass
but best left
unswallowed.

THREE
Some may well
prefer the surprise
of sunrise, with its

shades and hues
and promises whispered
close and moist to

reddened ears
in the blush of
fresh daylight,

but I'd gladly
pass on such
common delights

for the uncommon
warmth of one of
Nikki's smiles or

her sly eyebrows
arching mischief
only at me.