a breath and a sigh

magic never mattered much

spells and incantations are

punchlines pounding air

barely worth a chuckle and

lately most of life stacks

a natural order and predictable

placid piecemeal wave

but

a breath and a sigh ago

in the warm night air

somewhere between the pause

of the sunset and

the promise of dawn

you touched me gently

recklessly upsetting all mystery

a promise no proper landing

dancing between knowing and 

hiding in a never-land of 

grins and giggles

shakes and surprises

dreams and desire

say,

maybe there is magic after all.

douglas brent smith

 

in need of a doctor

she held back her tears

as she told me the reason

she just could not hold me tonight

"i'm in need of a doctor

who does not ask questions

can you tell me a place to go?

and my body is trembling

from a night past remembering

and i don't want the family to know

"why does it happen it's my cross to bear?

i hear thru your silence -- you weren't even there

but i do need some help some how

"i know it's not unusual

it happens all the time

but it's so devastating

when the choice is mine..."

she refused to cry

as she ended the call

"i will find a way

to overcome it all..."

and never spoke of this again.

douglas brent smith

  

openers

universal bang it was a universal bang

it was a universal bang it was

a big bang

got to thinking about the nature of existance

and with a certain degree of persistence

i proceeded to untangle all the angles

that approach us

from the cosmic cloud encroaching us

all leading to the theory

that a weary sort of human

needs awakening acumen

to make sense of any reasoning

and weather all the seasoning

that's bound to blow right thru you

no matter what you do you

come up a little short and then

it slips right thru your hands again

it hasn't changed much to the aliens

deciding if we're enemies or friends

still hoping that we finally get the joke

universal bank it was a universal bang

it was a universal bang it was

a big bang.

douglas brent smith

Note:

from journal #10, cry Wolf (1977)

cry Wolf

here and gone and

here again the most

peculiar fleeing friend

you stay you go you

tell me so i know

it's sure it's what you name

it's all in how you play the game

but oh i wait here for your kiss

there's something that you should not miss:

cry wolf my

dear

and see what shows

the wolf

will

come

and i

will go.

douglas brent smith

 

Pie Out-Moded

 

Pie Out-Moded - sketch by douglas brent smith, from journal #10 cry Wolf (1977)

Note:

Another silly cartoon, drawn with a flair pen in a spiral bound notebook. That is a lot of ice cream.

breaking up

come to me

as the person you know as

the one who will go

softly in silence from you

slowly and close

feel the most we can offer

all of this flesh thru the mess of our parting

there. you see? the magic the warmth

still willingly there

all we have shared

has formed a bond

not to tie us or hold us captive

but to wrap our walk

thru this passage

peacefully gentle

compassionately free.

douglas brent smith

Note:

This is at least the third version of this poem. I'll never get it exactly right, just as I never figured out how to get breaking up exactly right. Much has changed since 1977 when the first bits of this poem appeared, and yet...much remains a mystery -- like the mystery of how does someone fall out of love?

To me it feels the same as if you said you'd decided to stop breathing. How do you do that? 

Little Known Scientific Fallacies

 

Little Known Scientific Fallacies - from journal #10 cry Wolf (1977)

ashes

the only fire that inflames me now

crackles constantly your name

white hot and furious over the ashes

of your unwritten melody

and my unwanted soul

the only air flowing thru me now

tastes bitter and smoky

colored in resins i've never learned

in pigments past understanding

you say i may not see you now

though i still hear you when you sigh

you declare there's no love there

but ashes swept aside.

douglas brent smith

 

silence

i guess the postal service died

no other cause will do

it's been more than a month

since i've heard a word from you

the phone company has gone on strike

or else my phone is broken

it's been too long a time it seems

since your sweet voice has spoken

it could not be dark apathy

or mystery ignoring me

that would not do it's not like you

to leave me so neglected

and somehow soon it must be true

you'll treat me as expected

to sit alone by my dumb phone

reveals a hope gone rotten

and it's much worse to live the curse

of someone who's forgotten.

douglas brent smith

 

napkins and things

dorinda likes to doodle

daringly on napkins

unseen unnoticed by

the scramblers eating eggs

or sipping bitter coffee

sometimes she pops out a song

or sketches a summer scene

from somewhere no one's been

now here i am in Chicago

frozen to the bone

doodling on a napkin

and wishing i was home

but, lacking that i

send a pre-doodled napkin

to someone who appreciates

napkins and things.

douglas brent smith

 

A Safe Bet

 A Safe Bet, sketch by douglas brent smith, from journal #10 cry Wolf (1977).

I was not much of a cartoonist, but that didn't stop me from occasionally trying. The joke here is basic and obvious and probably just came out of idle doodling.

what Jane needs

what Jane needs to paint

fuel from foolish adventures

folly from feeling

alive

swirling her flashy flesh filled shape

as metaphors

a warm blanket

around her naked frame

what Jane needs lately to feel

hip in her new age

is company, coolness shared

some touchable one

who cares what she paints

more than about 

what's under her blanket.

douglas brent smith

 

A Slightly Sinister Creature

 

Sketch: A Slightly Sinister Creature - from journal #10 cry Wolf (1977).