Tom Courtney Poems

Habit struck my hand today
I felt its sting - I pulled away
It said: get up and grab your drawers
Shower shave and close the doors
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From a million a thousand
I narrowed it to one
We married and ventured
til all came undone
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You stood at the small rusty pump
because Mommy gave you a chore to do
Mommy said to go and fetch water
for breakfast we’ll prepare hot noodles
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Stripped down, played out,
run around, left over and set aside
She said to love another
as if anyone could just pull a trigger
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Dashing through the mall
the last day’s sale parade
Through the stores we charge
spending all the way
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'At sea once more we had to pass the Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to their doom. I had stopped up the ears of my crew with wax, and I alone listened while lashed to the mast, powerless to steer toward shipwreck. Odyssey, Book XII

And how can I thank you?
You showed me I’m wrong
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I wouldn’t be doing my job
if I didn’t tell you what
I’m thinking
now would I?
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I think I ‘ll write a poem
the reason being that I have so much to say
so much wisdom to impart
how could I hold myself back?
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a daily moment
Two worlds now
Without and within
Without so without
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Life goes on
I’ve seen it all before
People come and people go
Perhaps I am more fortunate
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