JAMIE SUE AUSTIN

sister, don't object... just

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:48:00 -0400

listen to me sister,
i’ve been right there,
on that same speck of dust
along the same shale path—

this is warning sister,
like “all that glitters is not gold”
but, with far more consequence.

careful where you tread sister—
or you will come full circle.

just once, sister, listen.

your nametrips my tongue,like a tipsy chippy withone broken heel,tottering towardthe tip of my...

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:54:49 -0400

your name
trips my tongue,
like a tipsy chippy with
one broken heel,
tottering toward
the tip of my lips.
it’s a sweet name —
that tickles.

Mark Twain’s Letters read like poetry.

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:30:48 -0400

Mark Twain’s Letters read like poetry.

the lake is cerulean—nutrient overload from a decomposing algae bloom, ...

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:24:40 -0400

the lake is cerulean
—nutrient overload
from a decomposing
algae bloom,
depleting the oxygen
and killing the fish
—but the bright blue
waters are pretty
and produce lovely photos
for the casual
naturalists, enamored
by teal water,
shamrock trees,
and swimming geese—
they document
dying ecosystems
without noting their
many contributions.

crafting

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:39:21 -0400

i drop a bucket

from the window

you call me

from your balcony

crafting

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:43:00 -0400

my cabinets are empty,
but the wealth of many nations
overflows them,
—symbols of conquest,
and protest, the salt from
the sea,
the spices of colonialism,
the wealth of kings and kingdoms
is with me—
swirling and warming in
the life-blood of the Greeks
—There are my riches,
riches calling riches,
through my front door.

there’s this tray—under the refrigerator—where fish juiceand dying ice cubesgo to...

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:44:56 -0400

there’s this tray—
under the refrigerator—
where fish juice
and dying ice cubes
go to make their last
filthy stand,
grow pelts of black fur,
and waft pungent fumes
through the sterile kitchen.
it’s a red-light district
for the tears of cast-away
meals and bacteria.
I just found out
about it today
and wondered, briefly,
how a secret like that
could stay hidden,
but I didn’t know
about the little girl next door
either
till I read the paper.

"While the rest of the human race descended from monkeys, redheads are derived from cats…"

Wed, 23 May 2012 04:11:32 -0400

“While the rest of the human race descended from monkeys, redheads are derived from cats…”

- Mark Twain — Though every good quip is attributed to Twain, so who knows.

i want to help you… because i know you need it… i really do.—but there’s...

Sat, 19 May 2012 03:30:27 -0400

i want to help you…

because i know you need it…

i really do.
—but there’s this stuff going on
it’s always going on,
that endless stuff
that swallows up chunks of my time
like the DMV or a black hole
where time slows to nothin’, so nothin’ gets done
all across my universe,

the light bill

work

the dentist and a missing muffler,
an oil change, laundry, dishes, poverty, and whatnot

—stuff, things, endless tail-chasing-life-haltin’- stuff going on

all the time

and i’d like to help you,
but i’m barely
gettin’ by.

sometimes you just Don’twant to think of itanymore,—you know?but it keeps...

Fri, 18 May 2012 20:19:00 -0400

sometimes you just
Don’t
want to think of it
anymore,
—you know?
but it keeps comin’,
like you’re in an
ocean or a toilet
or any sort of place
where you can do nothin’ but drown.

and it’s the same
for all
of us
whether we’re drowin’
or burnin’, freezn’, or bein’ crushed…
—it’s the same
ya see?

and it keeps comin’
even when we don’t want
to think about it.
so just let it come…
like a stinging wave,
or a sunburn,
pin pricks
or pressure…
and let it go.

Because that’s how
it is, sometimes,

for all of us.

the boys

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:23:02 -0400

go frog-gigg’n
with their jeans
tucked into their
shit-kickers,
armed with tridents
like juvenile gods
choosing which
four legs to smite
and which to let
hop away—
the legs spasm
in a hot skillet—
mamma says they
taste like chicken,
but i’d rather not
know for sure.

the geesewith their goslingstotter across the lakefrontdepositing shithonking, hissing, and...

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:14:00 -0400

the geese
with their goslings
totter across the lakefront
depositing shit
honking, hissing, and
posturing
at the thin elderly
hands that
sprinkle breadcrumbs
—like ungrateful
children
they gobble up dainties,
muss their feathers,
filth the water
—their migration
halted by
an uncommonly warm
winter, mild
summer,
and the wrinkled hands
that give out promises
of continued
sustinance

Beware of Kind Strangers and Bridges Today.

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:55:37 -0400

— Your fortune cookie from Mama Sue

In the US this would have ended with “Don’t tase me...

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:38:00 -0400

In the US this would have ended with “Don’t tase me bro!”

yanatone:

Lacan lecture, Interruption around 2:49. Dude is like aight I’m a finish my cigar then

Aquarium

Fri, 11 May 2012 23:58:37 -0400

the perfect harmony of
dodging glints —
of indigo and mikado
striped in black and white
yellow,
cerulean
fins
gliding
over the coral
forests
—the diminutive reef
and all the brilliant
iridescent shades —
blended behind glass
by our lungs’ avarice

on knees, by hand

Fri, 11 May 2012 01:53:28 -0400

“There ain’t no sin in being poor”
only in being dirty
my mother said—

you can’t savor
poverty
till you’ve scrubbed
the floor.

i think …i’m trying to writemicro-fictionshi-def secondsof brightly...

Fri, 11 May 2012 01:45:01 -0400

i think …
i’m trying to write
micro-fictions
hi-def seconds
of brightly illuminated
life

i’m not sure
how its going,
but it’s interesting
like adjusting a microscope
to see
waterbears

parasol

Thu, 10 May 2012 23:31:38 -0400

ivory parchment
barbed vines
slowly spiraling
black spade-flowers
pierced by darted creases
preserved in wax and gloss
the wooden
snake lapping around
the pale wrist and
the freckled
arm

Places

Wed, 09 May 2012 19:30:21 -0400

In the daylight hours

I am the Golden Gate Bridge.

By moonlight I am

the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

With You, I am all

of Mecca.

Photo

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:30:57 -0400