futility

you stood outside the drug store for at least 45 minutes
b/c the toy machine captivated you
you fed it all the coins...continued to place plastic eggs one by one
in a line
atop the tiled concrete
as the natives stared
from their a/c cooled machines

...but by chance or fate
it never spit out what you wanted it to

belated 4th

it rained to smell like wet asphalt // green smells magnified
a polypropylene blue dvd case lay empty facing sky on grass
accentuated by droplets of rainwater
near atsugi airbase

it rained too much for fireworks
so the navy put them away
but didn't stop doing flight ops
for the 4th of july

i stood outside the 711 & ate a hotdog off a stick
later i read some angry anti 4th poetry
but...
i have the red white expat blues

independence is not synonymous with freedom
imperialistic rivers still have a strong undercurrent
pulling pulling

& america yer a manifestation of cultural appropriation
nothing is inherently unique about you or american
unless yer lookin down at the blood on yer hands
but...
i have the red white expat blues
and i keep writing love letters to you...

letter to obama

dear obama
im not a criminal
and have always paid my taxes on time, if not early
so could you please stop using my money
that i earned from a terrible life as a CSR
to perpetrate criminal acts and the erosion of the constitution?
thnx
~n

font face fascism

a college professor argued with a poetry student over fonts
the student preferred courier new:
each character uses the same amount of space, therefore making it the most egalitarian of all fonts
at this argument the professor crinkled her nose
and said she preferred arial...for no particular reason at all
to which the student screamed silently
...fascist

sweetness

it takes a spoonful of sugar to make the love go down
b/c after being sold all that high fructose love
we arent used to the disappointing reality of something pure
something w/o artificial sweetening

bringing nothing to the table

she brought nothing to the table
at the vegan potluck
even though katie had specifically requested her famous almond brownies
it was almost as bad as bringing something made with eggs or gelatin

...almost
...after all she was known around town as the "best vegan baker"

when asked all she did was shrug her shoulders
when pressed she invented an elaborate excuse
about excessive student loan debt and a shady ex gf
& this was enough to be forgiven
for not bringing anything to the table