Personal Evolution

This morning I could actually feel

My DNA unravel.
It exposed myself to me.
It explained my genetic code.
The tablet of my destinies
Recombined with environment.

It sounds ethereal,
But, in fact, it’s an intensely painful process.
Personal evolution happens
As the double helix explodes.

-jenn long

Eternal Life

Per written request,

I asked to be cloned.

I placed my hopes

In world without end,

And foresaw no way

To live forever.

I wanted the double portion,

And Elijah’s mantle.

Request ignored.

I wasn’t important

Enough to make the cut,

Sifted like a lamb

At the county stock show—

Common pedigree,

Underfed,

And improperly handled.

-jenn long

Frozen Roses

The roses are frozen.

They are beautiful,
As long as you keep them
In the freezer.
But when you take them out, my friend,
They will wilt and die again—
The second death,
And no one will care this time.

-jenn long

Sparklers and Paper Plates

If you’re gonna have a love affair,

You might as well go and make it a good one.

Why hustle for just a half an ass?

You can have that any old day!

Don’t bring out the good china!

That means work and dishes to wash!

Live dangerous!

To hell with the candles!

Put sparklers on the table,

Right up next to the paper plates!

Find someone who’ll grab you with both hands!

And kiss you like they mean it!

Someone who’ll stoop down to your level

And squeeze you in between!

-jenn long

Hermes' Take

His language of love was kleptomania,
And thus he stole my heart away.
He charmed me with a childish eyebrow—
The spark in his eye
Like a philosopher's stone.
He robbed my Peter
To pay my Paul,
Yet, he turned all my lead into gold.
I woke with a piece of my better self missing.
I woke, and even my dreams were gone.
"But what was left
Was better for his kissing,"
I thought, as I watched him take the dawn
And ride off, into the broad light of day.

-jenn long

High Maintenance

Oh I'm terrible high maintenance!
Hard to Please!
Been called “insatiable!”
Labeled a “tease.”
I just wanna feel something,
Like a heart-a-flutter.
And all it would’ve taken
Was … some Applebutter,

-jenn long

Grover Cleveland Alexander

They named him after a president,

But he was born to pitch.

He fought his way to championship,

And won a world series for his trouble,

In spite of prejudice against

The players,

Epilepsy,

And the war.

They made a movie about the man.

The actor who played him, played him well,

Then went on to become a governor,

And then, himself, a president.

Funny sometimes how life layers in,

And all the things we do, and go through.

I used to play a doctor on tv,

And now, I’m going to medical school.

-jenn long