Southside Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The Whole Apple

monet ate the whole apple -
i never thought to do that,
just threw the core on the road
and felt okay about it.

i think that i'm in texas now,
sam just threw up out the window

stoppin' at a rest stop,
my tummy is a 'rumblin'.

--

who am i gonna meet tonight
and what am i gonna say to them?
i think i'll talk about my jobs
and how i keep on leaving 'em

i'll sing some songs about the past
and a few 'bout my diet.
life is very cyclical,
the future might be new or not.

--

i might wake up shivering,
or maybe i'll be sweating.
it depends on the heating
so many ways to live.

olympia: the floor was cold.
but that is what we slept on.
in the woods near oahe
it sucked to keep my pants on.

--

then i moved to bethlehem,
and didn't get a job, no.
i dreamed about an easy life.
bike to work and home and work

but then i thought about my friends,
way up north in stroudsburg.
it's good that i have moved back home,
but i still miss the midwest.

Who the Heck Played on Big Artichoke Face?

not pictured: jim daniels, mike strunk, renee demund
pictured: left to right, top to bottom: billy mack, a.w. feldt, zeke katz, jamie miller sean gardner, miranda nicholas, bekah snyder, siri, augusta koch, annie, dan levin, jacqui pratt, amber fusiak, crystal hamelburg, cristina, piers, dalila aldras, connie jordan, isaac katz, amber trunfino, alley getz, heather hummel

Open Mic Night

a blind man is eating pop tarts on stage,
while a band from baltimore waits for their turn in a booth.

heather orders her third ham sandwich,

but her friends say she's had enough.

they say she can get the diet coke, though.

i help her write the check.

the wind blows the door open,

letting in a gust of cold air - something like negative twenty.

ryan and jamie blitz the counter,

place two orders of super nachos,

and engage me with a barrage of

uncomfortably specific

time-related questions.

"how cold do you think it is?"

"how long is the band going to play for?"

"how many songs do you think they'll play?"

"that's a lot of songs, huh?"

"how many drinks did you make tonight?"

"that's a lot drinks, huh?"

i rush into the back.

we're almost out of sour cream

and we're down to the last

heavily preserved jalapeno peppers.

the blind man is done eating pop tarts.

now the trucker who never drove a truck takes the stage.

he says people have no respect these days.