An Uphill Espresso Machine
by Benjamin Morgan

Bright red bombs in the
garden, pulling down
trip wires
On blades thick with
harsh dew

I'm wearing two pairs of socks
It's January
Waiting for you to wake up
In love
I tell the lawn chair
Pink, that you sit in

Paper weather men
describe systems to me
my eyes like ears
like morning

Who
the Sun
I answer defiantly
over again
Parroting metaphors for
base energy
but

my wheels turn too fast
you come around
to stop the
spokes for a second

Thanks Dr. Hurlow!

This is the first poem written after I started reading The Best American Poetry 2000.

A Small Town (Devil's Dogs) by Benjamin Morgan

What about the girl who stood
on the precipice
Her dress whipping in the wind
and the wolves
They tore her to blood-red pieces
on the daisies
The old farmer saw this and
it filled him with remorse
The townspeople were not ready for a trial
They loosed him
The farmer, on wolves with human weapons
Killing beautifully
The painted red forest poked its head up
became legend
And OH GOD the feeling of alarm
in my heart
In my head, the brilliant sirens darkening
bringing hell
To all the little people who hired the wolves
To destroy the girl
Purity is oh too hard to bear
to lift up
Tiring of complimenting her songs and candor
They killed
The glorious resolution bathed in no regret
like this regret
Until the whole town is taken by wolves
To silence each other
But the farmer wanders further down the highway
to plant more towns

#30

One More Loud Whistle Blows!
By XII

I came from the midland
To worship where my parents breathed
But they built up towers
Poured the molds with sanctity
I knocked on ivory doors
To build up such young ambition
The wind of change like a fever in my body
Join the people waiting for a needy demolition
The round council table is wooden
With firm patterns across it's surface
I stood finally, reciting from a paper
Swallowed my tongues wondering if it was worth it
They told me to swim great lengths
To reach the spot they had all seen
But I couldn't grab it from the shore
I stayed to hum around the local scene
The firm, fresh bodies of young people
Do not deserve to be all up in chains
I am not afraid of your commanding chariots
On fire, I am waiting for god to make it rain
The movements that all of you can't speak of
Bring joy to the hearts of searching people
I've opened up a great many rule books
But have never been told to climb to the steeple
This whole thing seems like a broken treadmill
Buttons never seem to make it work
As I slam my fists on unyielding plastics
Employees want to paint me as a jerk
As if I came in with a gaudy rifle
To a sensible, level headed gun show
Like I wanna show off how to defy them
Instead of wanting to let normal life flow
Should we really be treated like a prison
Walls that cannot close to hold me in
Am I supposed to shove this in my body
Take it all in with a sick grin
Nobody tells me when to go to heaven
I have been staying up all night
Sweating new rules that I see sometimes
Knowing that no one wants a fight
We all want to stay so plaid-Amish
Pushing oxen over daisies in the field
The night people are the wrong powers
Stop signs will never change to say yield
So I throw up my mad mans hands
Growl into the danger of the night time
Wonder who on Earth thought this up
I wait for something clearer in my sight line

#29

Extra Alive
By XII

Your eyes are like the water I look into
They reflect what I am not afraid to be like
I wonder if they'll hate me just for writing it down
But honestly I don't give two fucks
So I hope no one throws stones like they used to
The table bends and breaks under the weight of justice
Finally served, finally balanced
I am electrically excited to breathe
And the wind whips my hair into flash dance
Nothing noteworthy goes unnoticed
Notify the county sheriff of my intentions to rob everyone
I want to steal the sunshine and hold it down
Rub it on the earth, till' it leaks into the ground
Then take your hands in mine and just
lay down
Straight into the sunshine
Something in the water is contaminating me
I have never felt like I could float on water
This feeling in my body is expanding ever further
Until everyone in the county is affected
The dances that we do will not wake up the dead
But the living will rejoice until the dying come up peacefully
Ready to come around and stop people crying
Please join in and sing the three songs
That everyone is taught right before they are born
These three songs are as follows:
I love you
I need you
"Lean on Me" by Bill Withers

#28

Cactus Kids Club
By XII

Hardly holding on to the lip of the horizon
I struggle in my innertube
The summer is attempting to end, viciously
I have begun to run
I will not let hope die
I will get all of the fun
I have not yet been alive

Autumn is a strange, strange man
Winter will not kill me yet
Spring is a total cocktease
It's impossible not to see where I'm going
Down the river
But the river is a total symbol
of distance and constant flow
My escape will be magnificent
I will explode but not from pressure
The vibrant light not present at night
Is a lifeblood I had not expected

#27

Howdy Stranger
By XII

I am spreading my rivers wide open
To focus and nothing will remain very sacred
The old hilltop crumbles
While sweat buds on Atlas' brow
I am patiently sitting on a mountaintop
Waiting for it all to fall down

Humble eagle struts across the sky
Hovers forever in my eyeline
Peaceful people
Start throwing colored stones
The door swings wide open
So that no one can pretend to know

It's all apart
I can't sit still
Sky is dark
Moon is ill

#26

My Hobbies Include Barn Quilting
By XII

I turn up the stereo
Tear down your shirt
Castles collapsing
On the living room floor
Passionless wars over nameless estates
Brown shag carpet with fragments from
broken plates
There are limitless verandas to stand on
Reciting drawn apathy lines
Swirled in pools of human genesis
Mouthwash, Jar of Vaseline
Plastic cups lined up like traitors
I thought the reds were my friends
"Oh no!" I exclaim
and quickly change the channel
Urkel's funny faces deflate my false bravado
I won't beat up
I won't even get up
Pour me down a hole past the weekend
Lay shallow bricks on my eyes
Pray for some real wishes to come down on us
A feast will be prepared
in our dirty golden hair!

#25

I'll E-Mail It To You Sometime
By XII

Meet me directly on Wabash
I still need one friend
That understands drug culture
Don't bring ten kilos or anything
Look man, I'm only addicted to the fashion
Step back before you examine my motives
September to August on fire
A whole year of chemical dependence
Sweat down my fire escape
I love to sing plastic love songs
Put plates over my ears and hum
I'm getting scared proportional
To how dark it is becoming
How dark is it in the place where you aren't coming from?