He butt dialed me,
And I sat and listened for a long time.
I could hear the way he spoke
To other people when I wasn't around.
"He's really nice," I thought as I eavesdropped.
A gentle voice, an easy laugh, a quick wit,
A kind heart.
It made me love him even more.

-jenn

Interview With A Midwife

"I wish I was white
Like you,
And didn't know nothin'
About birthin' no babies !
I wish I never had cut the cord
Or ever slap no baby's behind til it cry.
I wish I'd never seen some of these man
That got up in here and got these girls in the family way.
Makes me want to slap the world
And reattach it's umbilical cord,
Shove it back up in some primordial vagina from whence it came,
Back up into the womb to gestate some mo',
Cause it ain't ready.
It's premature,
And it ain't gonna make it, y'all,
Unless it has time to get right,
Develop up to a point
Where it can survive it's upbrangin'."

-jenn

I'd like to think he's crazy,
But I talk to myself, too.
I didn't feel the need to impress him,
But rather, the need not to.

If I could exist in a vacuum,
And feel everything else sucked away,
Until I was stripped bare
Of clothes
And hair,
Of likes and tastes and proclivities,
And simply be
Myself.
Then I could be that one
That can stand alone
In your presence
And offer nothing,
Until you feel for yourself
That same stripping away.
Then you would be free, too.
And then,
We could talk
To each other.

- jenn

Just because it wasn't rotten yesterday
Doesn't mean it ain't bad today.
Things change ya know.
And there are certain things you should never eat by themselves,
Because once you get that undeniable whang in your mouth,
You can never find the taste palatable again,
Even when mixed with other things
You used to enjoy.

I personally never should have gotten a taste
Of this gluten-free crust
Without the sweet pecan pie filling,
Or religion
Without warm love.

-jenn

Everybody's burning breakfast today.
I can smell the charred remains as I walk past house by house.
Must be that some breaking news on the television set
Caught people in the middle of scrambling their eggs,
Grilling their ham.
Someones even left the water running in the sink.
The drain has clogged and this trail of suds
Has trickled out the front right window.
This next house has milk spilling out it's front left,
Someone so stunned
While dousing their corn flakes
That they stand in perpetual pour.

And the two windows
From the two houses
Are two eyes on one face.
One cries milk,
The other suds,
But both weep as best they can
To cover the shock and sadness.

Or, someone is filming a very cheesy commercial,
Probably for the express purpose of next years Superbowl.

-jenn

There are those who walk amongst us
Who live in a coma based reality.
They like to fight and criticize
Things they know nothing about.
Something inside of them has formed
A delicate tipping point,
And they prefer to dump their animosities out on other people.

But I wish you'd seen the room before you entered it,
And noted the peace,
The  camaraderie,
The nonjudgmental encouragement
Of all of us others who acknowledge
That we, too, put our pants on one leg at a time.

You'd have seen that we didn't need a ramrod,
Or a head asshole,
Or even an assistant to the ramp supervisor.

We were actually doing just fine!

-jenn

I want something for nothing!
Because the spirit of bum has got all over me.
I'm tired of livin somewhere between
The American dream and the American nightmare.
I don't even want to work for food!

But all these Bradford Pear Trees produce here
In the Chase Bank parking lot is leaves,
Inedible ones, I'm sure,
And the non-bearing mulberries stain  my point of view.
Nothing grows on my street except crabapples,
And nothin or no one tries to digest those
Until they ferment long enough
That a few reprobate squirrels decide
To get together and run along the fence intoxicated.

So smile, orphans, and be very happy,
To live in the mundane migrations
Where real food still grows.
And have no fear,
You will never have to strain your brain
Over a catchy sign
Designed to harvest spare change
From the good people who drive up and down Western Avenue
In their towncars.

-jenn