Unknown Joes

i’ve known a few Joes
lemme think, there’s the guy
gess he may be gone by now
said he wuz askin th’ Lord
for a few thousand bucks
so’s he could buy a house
that’s all he wanted
sum place to call home

then another Joe guy
always lookin’ for peace
total broken sorrows
life swallowed him up
said he liked the story
Jesus told bout a poor man
who ended up in paradise

and another unknown Joe
in a glassed-in bus shelter
on display, stretched out
steely bench, city-heated
gess it wuz heaven on earth
his big hands folded neatly
like in sum kinda prayer
he ax’d for 50 cents
glad someone gave him $5
but it coulda been $5000
that Joe needed ever’thing

all’s i know is these Joes
keep showin up
reminds me

‘be thankful more’

seems a good plan

 

© 2015 S.Michaels
Brown Paper Bag

image: 10wallpaper.com

Being Up

caught a cross-town
there’s this Mrs W
must be hittin 80 yrs
up with th’birds
@ the bus 7:30 a.m.
u gotta wonder
what she’s doing up
why be up if you don’t have to?
Mrs W has places to be
whereas, let’s face it
folks like u & me
R mostly runnin late
Mrs W chats up strangers
as if the world’s a-ok
as if she’s on a mission
I’m an eternal optimist
she says. everyone grumpy
about changes in weather
Simpson-esque world
they’re thinkin ‘cr-zy person’
but i’m liking this
living. just being ‘up’

 

© 2015 S.Michaels
Brown Paper Bag

image: wallpaper-kid.com

Purrfect Day

can’t afford stuff…?
Chirpy sentence cut short
Words eaten by icy updraft
Taking the wind outta folks
Winds rattle bus doors
Gusting 30-50 kph
Sky blue eyes stare
Angel kid age 5 hops up
Captures a side seat
Clicks tiny pink heels
Like Dorothy visiting Oz
Gran hugs her & shivers
Long deep-freeze wait
Might bring on another flu
That #14 inner city bus!
No ‘big folks’ ever take it
(wouldn’t be caught dead!)
But they were ok, the 2 of em
Got the carpet! WalMart sale
Gran props it up proudly
Like u wanted, pink n’ red!
Yep. We’re lucky, right?
Gran tugs the girl closer
$55 bucks off the pension cheque
Uh huh, watch it don’t get dirty
Bus jerks, halts, screeches
Carpet slips on slushy floor
Shoving rush hour panic crowd
& we’ll go to McDonald’s?
Gran, cold bone tired, smiles
Soon’s we fix up yur room.

It wuz a aw-sum day, right, gran?
Yup. u r a funny kid, u know?
I jess luv purrfect days!
Me too, kiddo. Like i luv u.

© 2015 S. Michaels
Brown Paper Bag

image: covers8.com

 

Non-Fiction

i got thinking
how sometimes
the right people
don’t get together

least that’s what
my ma always sez
how lives r like books
only more real, like #s
appearing on a call display
out of the blue, yours did
after i heard u & Mia split
i wuz sure i saw your #

& i remembered us
laughing at life, everything
in love,  i thought until u said
she wuz the one
& i wondered who i’d been
just a friend, confused

i never knew why u said
“i’ll find u someday”
as if u knew u might need to

as if u knew u were
stuck taking a wrong fork
on life’s twisting road
& couldn’t help yourself

but hey, if u want to talk
you know, i’m still here

 

© 2015 S.Michaels
Brown Paper Bag

image: purehdscreen.com

 

Lucy’s Life

Funny u axed me…
bout Lucy, I mean
cuz not long ago
i wonderd how she wuz
being a singl mom
Suddenly, wham!
i sees her flyin by
skinny as a twig
ofta’ sum daycare place
7 a.m. cold n dark
downtown by the Y
january winds, -25 C
towin a toboggan!
a green plastic sheet
like a frozen leaf
her kid floatin over ice
u’d think it was mid-July
the way she wuz  smilin
Itsa wonder ta me
they weren’t run down
in the morning jungle
rush hour madn-ss
Two of em cool as cukes!
i gess the boy’s 3 mebbe 4
& seems he’s jess like her…
Coupla born survivors.

 

© 2014 S. Michaels
Brown Paper Bag

image: wallpttrns.com