Maude and Her Friends

They are very real
those women, they
won't be fooled.

They will parse
everything out and
make sure they
get their share
even though the counting
takes a lot of their
limited concentration.

Don't give me your
fairy stories
they will say
even as you ask
for mercy and calm.
They will burst
into the room during your
precious fairy story moments.

They understand the bargains
and the terms, and they will
make them understood.
All the body weight,
the rotundity and the
clumping of shoes on the floor
are all real.
They all count.

The Human Sea

1.
so much english
dammit.

in the bus
alone bathed
in language,

soaked in
messages
for now
until my ears dim.

2.
When I last
had a conversation
I received a
compliment from
someone with
a pretty name.

When I get
nice compliments
from people with
pretty names
I feel
the kiss of angels
on my cheek.

Breast and Telephone

Everything is milk white
when I feel it poke against
the tender place. I open
and the world comes in
through a hole in the field
sweet and rich.

When everything buzzes
with beeps and sirens
and steam collects on the glass,
sound breaks through
a hole in the field.

I pick it up and it is you,
sweet and rich
the code
of your intention
rushes into my mind
like milk.

Don Schaeffer established Enthalpy Press and has published 5 chap books including Time Meat and The Word Cow and the Pig O' Love. ISBN series: 0-9687017 Recent poetry has been published in The Writers Publishing, Lilly Lit, Burning Effigy Press, Understanding Magazine, Melange, Tryst, Quills, and others. His first book of poetry, Almost Full was published by Owl Oak Press early in the summer of 2006. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from City University of New York (1975) and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his wife, Joyce.

Email: Don Schaeffer

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