Bob Gaulke

 Henrietta 

we would go shopping in Henrietta 

the sprawl near our town 

parking lots stretched forever 

watching from the left side of the car 

it felt like another planet 

fluorescent and asphalt 

its monotony broken by signs 

the kind you’d…

Men 

I will do the wrong thing 

I’ll do it with style 

just to prove 

I’m alive 

of course you’re correct 

of course you’re clever 

that’s why I’m burning it all down 

just to start over 

 Like a human 

love takes off our pants 

leaves on our masks 

settling on lands 

claimed by earlier peoples 

running our rackets 

offering blankets 

reading histories 

to learn about our evils 

as Sinatra plays 

we go on our way 

smirking…

On Vibrate

vibrate the metaphors

fly the songs 

attack tomorrow 

with all you’ve got 

sex the silence 

dazzle the verbs 

eat the film 

cos there’s no cure 

 Situations Circumstances Complications Consequences

where does time go 

in these times 

like to get some back

yours and mine 

I can read the news

almost make it rhyme 

but I get so tied up in 

this life of 

situations circumstances…

 Beautiful Objections 

there’s what you want 

what you need 

what you feel 

what you believe 

what you eat 

what you breathe 

darling we’re 

living things 

with beautiful objections 

nice problems 

keeping us occupied 

within this life 

there’s your time 

your…

 Favorite Films

I’ve become someone else again 

under the influence of a film 

something I’ve read 

and the weather 

I just can’t understand how 

I do this job 

pay the rent 

why we’re still together 

leaving is always strong 

quitting…

 Not yet 

they’ll get 

all they got coming 

watch them gloat 

with a satisfaction 

bordering on sadism 

give them their moment 

let it get into your blood 

so for when we strike 

late at night 

you won’t feel 

the slightest…

 Promises

Where did it go-your promise 

to yourself or the world 

you’d held it; protected it 

for all those years 

to release to 

an audience of fools 

it flew like an untethered balloon 

or a deli bag on the wind 

…

 Limited Edition

this is a limited edition 

short print run 

there’s only one 

extant copy 

you’re the one

there’s an invisible mission 

you can’t understand 

you get a few breadcrumbs 

that fall out of your hands  

and most won’t know…

 The Externals

I’ve spent a lifetime  

seeking validation 

from eyes 

of strangers 

fighting impulses  

gaze meets gaze 

 dreams, desires, experience  

 communicate 

vertigo pulls us away  

as a recognition 

dissolves fears 

I thought were only my own 

 Blood of another kind 

I ate everything you said 

I bought what you made 

you became a voice in my head 

I followed to a point 

there’s an emptiness ahead 

pain in the back 

I take the vow to…