POEM OF THE DAY BY PAUL ROLA

HOT NIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE
 

Nights out here this year have been terrible hot,
Kinda’ like hell,
But without havin’ to put up with all the deceased family members.
Tonight is one of those nights when
You wished you only had one leg
So’s it wouldn’t have to lay up against the other one.

You almost hate to try to go to sleep
Cause when you close your eyes
It makes your eyeballs sweat.

The humidity is truly hangin’ heavy in the air,
Makes your clothes heavy.
Hell it makes everything heavy.
Even Willie’s singin’ seems to be about a half a tone low
By the time the sound gets to me.

That coyote has developed a sinus cough,
Kinda’ gurgles when he howls.
Why even the cattle have been beggin’ us to skin ‘em
So they can get some relief
From them fur coats.

The only thing that keeps me a goin’ through the night
Is that I know it will be day break soon
And even though we’ll have to face the full force of that sun
It gives me a certain kinda’ relief to know
I can bitch and cuss out loud
Without wakin’ anybody up.


-Paul Rola

POEM OF THE DAY BY GEORGE WALLACE

WAIST DEEP IN THE DOO WHA DIDDY
protect the rich -- join the party!
come on out it’s the fourth of july
it's pioneer days & a mighty fine
country we live in, why yes it is!
-- took it from the indians & the
old cistern of capitalism is doing
its thing -- boys we live in a good
damn country, boomerangers &
misadventurers start your engines
of opportunity -- cruise the streets
drink your poison -- we’re waist deep
in the doo wha diddy -- all night long
all axe-handle night -- why you're
looking ram tough tonight, darling!
sing it out while the people of color
smoke their angry cigarettes & hang
around outside the county courthouse --
sing it out with kate smith belt it out
people! hands over your god bless
america hearts! it’s the seventh inning
the home team’s alive & the home team’s
winning -- poppa drink your beer -- momma
dish out some more of that good green stuff.
freedom’s for the taking! easy opportunity!
why listen to filthy protestors on wall street
when you can vote for the smiling man
who robs you over and over again in
the name of freedom? the good stuff
trickles down boys & girls the oil wells
pump magic into your veins o let the
rowdies have their fun let the good
times roll laissez les old folks scoop
their cat food dinner tin cans -- let
the children & grandchildren of
immigrants take their place on
the wrong side of the picket line.
cross the line, serve thirty days in jail.
o beat down the suckers & the cop-baiters
let the troublemakers & the infiltrators
the provocateurs & bible beating shotgun
wielding cowboys run wild in the land of
the free -- & who among us’ll blame them?
who? who’s that waiting in the dangerous
shadows of the rio grande? who's that guy
jimmy-jamming the voting booth? why it’s
just me, folks -- another good american
trying to protect the american way!
fuck that boy stuck waist deep
in the doo-wha-diddy.


-George Wallace

POEM OF THE DAY BY DEZ TENHAM

A Reason Not To Love

Satisfied with understanding the general gist of things
there is so much to look into, stars suns and faces
how could you expect the trauma of sentience
to not come with the anxious powers of observation
so inclined to attempt to take on the import of
more, the universe coax-pushing
the body
the self,
ground against pavement-synthesis
steamroller that does not crush but drives
pressed by the gravity of organic-magnetism
Scrape-shaven into road-rash dust and debris
Less than a blink-becoming of basic chemical compounds again
Building blocks for mushrooms and echoes of thought.


-Dez Tenham