Poetry: Selections From Jon Bennett

Soot

“Another day...so tired!”

I buy a banana and peanuts

while the donuts glare at me

“I’m on a diet,” I say

“Another day...” repeats the donut lady

She disappears into the back

and an old man in a floppy hat enters

He looks furtive

he leaves for a minute

comes back in, without his hat,

grabs a ½ gallon of non-fat milk

and runs out

“Hey!” I say, “Hey!”

“What happened?” says Another Day 

“An old man stole some milk!”

“Oh, Mr. Nonfat,” she says,

“I called the police once, they told me

he probably needs it.”

“I don’t like thieves,” I say

“When I was little,” she says, “my grandma

put burned powder on our faces.”

“Soot?” I say 

I don’t know where

this is going, I don’t know why

she’s saying this

“Yes, but my aunty still disappeared.

In Cambodia, we were always

so hungry,” then she looks at me

and I see her

“I guess he probably does

need the milk,” I say

“Yes,” she says, 

“he probably does.”

 

 

 

Maybe I’m a Flower

 

My first mistake 

is looking in the mirror

a grotesque parody

of the male form

I look like a feral bitch,

all saggy udders

and loose skin

I gather my courage

“Maybe a man

is supposed to look like this”

and turn this way and that

trying to find

something to love

Maybe a man, an animal

maybe a collection of atoms

maybe a star, maybe mud

maybe in the micro or macro

of indifference, of vastness

maybe a man is

supposed to look

like this

and maybe

I am a flower

as fair a flower

as flowers

always are.

 

 

 

Death Wave

 

There was Death Metal

and Darkwave

then finally

Death Wave

All the people were dying

all of us of a generation,

quickly, and young, and mostly

from cancer

A diagnosis, then a 3 month

atomic clock

So we started having parties

on the beach

bonfires and shouting and abandon

The celebrant always the one

ticking down

waiting until dawn

to strip and wade 

too far out 

to do anything

but wave

goodbye.

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Bennett writes and plays music in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood.