KINDNESS OF STRANGERS


I’ll have truly earned

the scorn & derision

of the critics

whence I finally

release this dribble

but I won’t walk the plank

of Orizaba

& follow Crane to a death

of either asphyxiation

or shark meal

the pundits will get their say

and the reviews will be severe

but I fear not

the harshness of acidic pens

that tear my heart to shreds

and leave me for dead

the kindness of strangers

has bailed my ass before

& plucked me from the abysss,

fed me, rescued me

and sent me on my way

Surely, some kind soul

will prop me up again.

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS | PostPoems

AMERICAN ZEN KOANS: Schaefer, George: 9798809062107: Amazon.com: Books

BEASTLY BUT BEAUTIFUL (flash fiction(?))

The assignment was to place Huckleberry Finn in modern day New York and write a short story.  I was a high school kid in the 80s and only spent a few field trips in New York.  Of course, I watched many TV shows and I did have my imagination. 

Mr. V didn’t cotton to me.  I was a dirty, wrong side of the tracks kid and he was a GQ preppie.  I figured I would just go balls to the wall on my yarn.  I set the tale in Harlem and had Huck running into prostitutes and drag queens and trying two kinds of Mary Jane (One a plant and one a Ho for the naïve among us.)

I turned in a completely uncensored tale fully expecting to be failed and possibly sent to the principal’s office.  I skipped school for fear of repercussion.  Then I learned that Mr. V loved my story and read it out loud for the entire class.  He had to censor spots due to complaints of two classmates.

I returned to class greeted with a smile from the first fan of my literary stylings.  The class discussed my story.  Mr. V managed to use the word beastly twice in a 45 minute period.  I did take it as a badge of honor—as he was talking about my poetry and fiction. Ït’s beastly but beautiful.”  They say don’t judge a book by its cover and I think 2 people learned a lesson that week.

BEASTLY BUT BEAUTIFUL (flash fiction(?)) | PostPoems

HALF ASS KEROUAC SIPPING ABSINTHE

And postulating

on poetry

and wondering if

the inspiration

can be found in mown grass

and dry summer nights

as the beer

is no longer

enough

to fire my soul

a green fairie is beckoned

with a belief

in transcendence

or at least

a serious buzz

HALF ASS KEROUAC SIPPING ABSINTHE | PostPoems

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO DO POETRY AGAIN: Schaefer, George: 9798449725561: Amazon.com: Books

I FOUND DUENDE

I found Duende

& then lost it

among the papers

& notebooks

scattered on desks

& shelves  & under beds.

It made a cameo

on a poem
written on a napkin

in a brewpub in Vermont

only to smudge

into oblivion.

Over time,

it occurred & reoccurred 

in haunted alleys,

bus station bathrooms;

even the rare sighting

at the local convenience store

but the loss 

seems more reality

instances fading away;

no more proudly

pumping out gems

with incandescent flair

so the quest will continue

as search and recovery

remains the mission of the day

and plenty of beaches,

airports and coffee houses 

await offering clues.     

5-30-03

I FOUND DUENDE | PostPoems

EVEN WHORES HAVE FEELINGS: Schaefer, George: 9798843259587: Amazon.com: Books

DUMBASS

Loved ones

stay with you after death;

They continue to live

on in your heart and soul.

They continue to haunt

your memories and dreams.

My father passed on

17 years ago

but still makes cameos

& guest spots in my dreams 

from time to time

and amazingly,

after all these years,

he’s still calling me Dumbass

DUMBASS | PostPoems

THRU PERIPHERAL VISION: Schaefer, George F: 9798790939471: Amazon.com: Books

EPHEMERAL TAVERNS

There are certain bars and taverns that exist only in my dreams.  They might be located in Philly or Chicago or Brooklyn or even Saigon.  But you can only go there in my dreams—if I’m nice enough to include you in my dream.  They are on streets no one ever heard of and they often morph from one location to another without warning.  Sometimes I can’t find them in one dream only to have them show up in a different dream.  The décor and the staff of these taverns is ephemeral.  It is often staff from real life bars who apparently moonlight at these surrealistic saloons I imagine in sleep.  Everything can shapeshift and I’m often left waiting for beers or desperately trying to locate the bathroom in these pubs.  Of course, seeking the bathroom is never a good sign.  It usually means waking up is imminent and going to happen sooner rather than later. 

But alas I dream

these wondrous mystical pubs

the exotic beers

cocktails of heavenly bliss

until they fade into black

https://www.postpoems.org/authors/georgeschaefer/prose/1099965

Cannibalized Haibun: Schaefer, George: 9798416456573: Amazon.com: Books

MOISTURIZING CREAM

There are still times that I get carded in bars or venues.  It’s usually an indication that the establishment sits in an uptight municipality or they recently got tagged for selling booze to (too) young’uns.  I won’t give them too much trouble since they’re really just doing their jobs.  And also, a lot of venues have guys at the door with necks thicker than a redwood tree.  I just show them the card and move on with my life.  People say that I should take it as a compliment.  Hardly, they aren’t looking at me and thinking that I might be under 21.  They’re doing it because some asshole council member wants to make a statement.  It would be great if it was a compliment but I’m not that naïve.  I’m not standing there thinking “Gee that new moisturizing cream is really reaping dividends.”  I’m usually just anxious to get in the door and get settled. 

Largely not nessa

a delay in the next beer

thirst waits to be quenched

https://www.postpoems.org/authors/georgeschaefer/prose/1086114

Cannibalized Haibun: Schaefer, George: 9798416456573: Amazon.com: Books

LONE WOLF

He all too often promoted himself as a lone wolf.  I never understood the notion.  Wolves tend to find their greatest success in packs.  This lonely notion fostered by dreams of James Dean and a rebel without a cause.  It never led to any happiness or success.  He was a lone wolf and he wore the mask with great pride.  I kept waiting for him to ride up on his motorcycle wearing his leather jacket.  In the end he mainly just became a parody of himself and a few Hollywood images I was foolish enough to buy.  It must be harsh to buy into a myth only to become a caricature of yourself. 

A mask worn tightly

hidden subtle human truths

always denial

perpetually buy in

the false notions we are sold

https://www.postpoems.org/authors/georgeschaefer/prose/1109731

SQUANDERED SERENDIPITY: A Second Helping of Cannibalized Haibun: Schaefer, George: 9798354488872: Amazon.com: Books

SUBCONSCIOUS SAHARA

Ferlinghetti called poetry eternal graffiti and I guess he may have a point.  Poetry at its finest will make an indelible impression on the human heart and soul.  It is recklessly but pristinely spray painted across one’s consciousness.  The bright colors and the elaborate structure of the lettering looms large in one’s vision.  The words dance across a subconscious Sahara seeking an oasis.  Those with wisdom are able to find ways to take that tag and feel inspired and restored.  The words and images are seared into the retina and take on a life of their own.  Those renegade poets and pranksters have made their mark.  They may or may not go down in history but somewhere along the line they have touched and inspired someone.  That, in the end, is the function of poetry.

Verse etched on a wall

the decay of ancestors

the buildings collapse

spirit rises up in words

eternally etched on soul

https://www.postpoems.org/authors/georgeschaefer/prose/1099840

Cannibalized Haibun: Schaefer, George: 9798416456573: Amazon.com: Books