num-num



Left
Look
Side
Stroke
Ruffled feathers
Or was they fur




Eyes are for Seeing

Budding pastrami lunch meat package on the sidewalk
Fluffy ducks are sometimes seagulls
Flocks of dogs
       wandering the lake
       one in a fancy sport coat and pink ribbon
       could be the matriarch of the tribe
Large metallic green mylar balloon
       white string
       floating free in the sky
       emancipated
Am I making fun of emancipation by saying that?
       What kind of purpose does a balloon have
       once it's free?
Mutt Mitt
Mariah says
       'We need to get you some shoes'
       when I showed her my cool
       painted on ripped up Jackson Pollocks
She says
       'We need to get you some creepers'
and I says
       'They expense too much'
Black plastic bag wrapped around a tree
       Thought it was a crow
       with a broken wing
But it's not
       it's just a black plastic bag wrapped around a tree
'And,' Mariah says
       'with a broken wing'




Dream - 26 Feb 2008



1.

In my dining room
       only in the dream
       it's not my dining room
       it's Grandma's dining room
       again

This house was hers
       before my wife and I bought it

Grandma and Uncle Randy are sitting at the table
       not really talking
       just sitting

Maybe Grandma is reading the paper

I notice Grandpa Bob
       sitting at the far end of the table
       wearing his massive sunglasses
       a blue flannel jacket over a white t-shirt
       and grinning a broad, disconcerting grin

Like Granny and Randy
       he's not talking
       just sitting there
       smiling

And then I remember
       that he's dead


2.

I wonder if I'm the only one who sees him

He isn't moving
       like the "ghosts" in Turn of the Screw
       but neither are the other two

I always jump to the supernatural conclusion first
       so I assume
       of course
       that he's a phantom


3.

Uncle Randy
       in his deep, booming voice
       says
       "So---
       What do you think?"

I'm not sure what to think

"Pretty realistic, isn't he?"
       Randy nods his head
       in Bob's direction

And then
       somehow
       I realize I'm looking at a Bob-robot

He's a placeholder
       created to simulate Bob's presence
       but he isn't very sophisticated

He can smile
       and listen
       Two things Bob did well in life
       but that's about it

I wonder why someone would want a fake
       floating around the house
       and I suspect my Uncle Randy
       with his lust for gadgetry
       was more responsible for the replica
       than Granny

Who just sits there
       quietly
       maybe reading the paper

I never suspect
       that she is a replica too

Richard F. Yates is a poet, short story author, and zine maker living
in southern Washington state, USA. He is married, has two daughters,
and works in the writing center at Washington State University @
Vancouver. His work has appeared in several online and print journals
including: Mad Swirl, The Salmon Creek Journal, Words-Myth, and
Vision? Nary! Magazine. He was one of the winners of the 2006 Ooligan
Press Flash Fiction Contest and served as the 2005 poetry editor for
The Salmon Creek Journal.