Poetry: Selections from Charles Kruger

Nitty Gritty Haikus

My father hates me

Because I have erections

He can go get fucked

All our therapies

And all our desperate efforts

Will not ease some pains

 

The truth is quite hard

Parents don't always mean well

Some are murderers

 

Father god himself

Supposedly killed his son

And called it holy

 

He created death

Condemned all of his children

Then blamed us for it

 

My father is dead

And I do not have children

Why am I not free?

 

The love is complex

Between creation and God

That crucifying bastard

The Artist Talks Back to the Mirror

I'm always taking care of things

Always getting it done

Always more or less fastidious

Always come from the angle

Never look at anything straight

Don't let anyone look you in the eye

I'm not reliable, you know

Always knocking things over

Everything is broken as everything

Should be broken

I am a promise breaker

Unashamedly clumsy

Always knocking

Always crashing

Into something

I clean up

Try not to leave a mess

Walk away scot-free

Charles Kruger, aka "The Storming Bohemian," lives and works by the San Francisco Bay. His activities include writing, organizing literary events, maintaining a theatre review website, and being a proud  teacher of "Jack Grapes' Method Writing." He was a founding board member of two Bay area literary series, Quiet Lightning and Bay Area Generations. He has been published by Sparkle + Blink,  LitSeen, The Rumpus, OnTheBus, Red Fez, and other purveyors of literature, reputable and otherwise. He has been called "abrasive" by some, "a pleasure to work with" by others, and a "preeminent critic" by the SF Weekly. Go figure.