Squinting

Squinting

Old soul wisdom awoken young extends life
I found clarity at a Devils game in ‘97
Great lights overhead
I blurred the colors
To turn commonplace askew
So it could last
And it did
Sneaking its way through my exclusive guest list.

I must reserve this trick
For the days trying to elude me
By dressing like ones before.

The Watermelon Joke

Nonno Corrado looked across the church choir at 22 and spotted Nonna
in the back left of the girls’ section
He approached her that afternoon, and now I'm here.
Surely other Nonnos before him had their say in the matter
But they're not seated at the head of our dining room table
With a front row view of all they created.

Zia Anna plops the tray down before him
I know that Gin Rummy mask, he’s holding something big
He straightens his posture like I do when I’m flirting
He moves his Carlo Rossi jug aside so the spotlight finds him
Erica, the youngest of my cousins, grabs the first piece
His curtain opens.

Wadamelon good three ways: for eat, for drink, e-for wash the face!
I respond with two layers of laughter
The first is for respect
The second, upon seeing his face brighten, is pure.

I'm ready for my rebuttal
I lock my hands together
Lift them up to nose level, squint my eyes back at his, and shake
"ce` p`ccaaaaate"
I receive a two layered laugh in return
We take our bows
He disappears again behind Carlo.

I don't need translation when my uncles bring up the boat to America
And his eyes plunge into his plate like a scolded child
Or when Nonna leaves for the kitchen
And his color instantly fades.

I study the nose we share
And remember we almost shared a name
I slump down into my chair like he does when he thinks he’s alone
We will never discuss what we see behind each other's curtains.

Butter and Cheese

Butter and cheese,
You sons of bitches have some dirty tricks
Under the sleeve
Took a driven man’s hand made him
Under achieve
Hit my Dad now you’re back here
Fucking with me
Recalling how I used to cut and
run like the breeze
At breakneck speed
Now I’m
clutching my knees
Huffing and puffing to breathe
I’m disgusted by that same shit I
Love and I need
to cut you out, but I can’t get
enough I’m a fiend
Healthy meals fall apart when
I smother my greens
Spread a hunk in between my chocolate
muffin and eat it
Like its nothing, I feast
til I’m stuffed, its obscene
Start the day on track and fuck it up by the eve
Blame my family genes, blame the Ruffles and beans
Blame my mother for feeding me her gumbo supreme
Blame my country for leaving me no other cuisine
When I know I should blame no one other than me
When I’m broke I concede, chicken nuggets are cheaper
Fruit cups are at least three more bucks so I reach for
the lowest in cost, now my gut has the reap
What I sewed, and I know, I’m in trouble, its deep
I day dream of the day
I’ve got a cutted physique
Walk past some fine ladies, make ‘em
Blush in their cheeks
But instead of the gym
I succumb to defeat
Mind numbing TV in a comfortable seat
Tomorrow I’ll redeem with a supper that’s lean, right
But then I feel the rumbles hit the cupboard and cheat
Many promises made, a small number I keep
You made muscles obese
butter and cheese

On Stage

My pen presses page-
my voice blesses stage-
the noise reaches ears-
and morphs with your cheers-
the formation makes-
the foundation shake-
And all of the while-
I can't help but smile.....

GRE Study Guide Chapter 3

Tortuous: Twist and Turns
Dichotomy: Split, branching into two parts
Burgeon: Develop rapidly, flourish
Diatribe: Bitter tirade, accusing criticism
Empirical: Based on experience, verifiable by experiment or observation
Apocryphal: Spurious, not authentic, invented rather than true, mythical
Apostate: One who abandons his religious faith or political beliefs, turncoat, deserter
Antipathy: Habitual aversion, intense dislike, natural repugnance
Illusory: Deceptive, false, misleading, unreal.
Idyllic: Charmingly carefree and simple, unspoiled, serene, pastoral
Maverick: Rebel, nonconformist, eccentric, oddball
Malleable: Capable of being shaped by pounding; soft and pliable, impressionable
Impervious: Impenetrable, incapable of being damaged or distressed
Aspersion: Slanderous remark, abusive attack, disparaging comment
Asperity: Sharpness of temper, harshness of manner, severity
Paucity: Scarcity, dearth, scantiness, insufficiency of number
Imperiousness: Overbearing manner, domineering, arrogance, lordliness
Cacophonous: Disturbing to the ear, rough sounding
Equivocal: Unclear, convoluted and vague
Aberrant: Deviating from the norm.


Tortuous means twist and turns
Dichotomy means split into two different terms
Burgeon spelled b-u-r-g-e-o-n
Is a verb for develop rapidly and
To flourish like Robin Williams in Jack
Or me on this track, when I verbally attack
Aka a diatribe, a noun meaning bitter tirade
Or accusing criticism, an antonym of praise
With a distrust in hunches and intuitive flashes
I place my reliance on empirical facts which
Commonly refers to verifiable data used by a great debater
Not apocryphal data, mythical, invented and not accepted on papers
Pause while I breathe in vapors

An apostate abandons his political seat or religious beliefs
A turncoat like Benedict Arnold and British deceit
My antipathy for curry, makes me hurry
Across Lexington in the morning very early
That aversion is building along with my illusory dreams
Which means, deceptive, false, misleading and seems
Out of reach so I try to keep my thoughts idyllic
Carefree, simple, serene and filled with pastoral bliss
While a Maverick means rebel or nonconformist
John Mccain claimed he was one, but his loss was enormous

Your girl is malleable, capable of being shaped by pounding
Soft, pliable, impressionable, and easily suede, which now brings
Us to the antonym known as impervious
Impenetrable, invulnerable, incapable of getting nervous on surface
In the face of any aspersion, a noun meaning slanderous remark
An abusive comment, disparaging and harsh pre-fixed by Asper
Which is why asperity means harshness of manner,
Yeah with a rough temper
Like a dramatic actor yelling and screaming at his director…
Pause while I choose to press enter

Now on to Paucity, which is an other
Word for scarcity, scantiness, and insufficiency of number
Like snow in the summer which gets used to not appearing
And next we have imperiousness, arrogance, lordliness, domineering
While cacophonous means disturbing to your hearing
I’m gonna break this down so it stays like an earring
“Phonous” means music and “caca” means shit
So cacophonous is what it sounds like when you spit
Equivocal means unclear, convoluted and vague
Aberrant means deviating from the norm, like when you misbehave
And that’s 20 words for chapter 3…. I did it again, so clap for me…..

GRE Study Guide Chapter 2

Misanthrope –distrusting
Abeyance-to block an action
Cogent-good piece of argument, convincing
Contrite-apologetic, remorseful
Diffidence- shyness
Florid- flowery, overly colorful
Harangue-intense speech
Heterodox- strong opposing opinion
Irresolute- indecisive
Lachrymose- sad, ready to cry
Lassitude-lack of energy
Luminous-pertaining to light
Malinger- avoid work
Morose- gloomy outlook
Prohibitive-something that keeps you from buying
Proliferate- increase in number
Propensity-tendency
Striated-striped
Lumber- sluggish
Impassive- acting unaffected

I sit here lassitude, lumbering around with an attitude
Morose in outlook, malingering the afternoon
Away as the work load proliferates
I sit and wait for a cogent cause to lift the weight
But I’m too lachrymose to participate
A melancholy state with a propensity for bloopers
While still acting impassive when discussing my future
Lately, my anti corporation harangues stem from
My heterodox notions of value, that get shrugs and then some
From my girl friend umm, who is nice and cute
But quite irresolute when it comes to types of food
Her opinion stands in abeyance, but she buys boots with no dispute
In truth, Fashion to me is one big prohibitive
So instead I spend my loot on living with booze and dinners in
Manhattan where luminous skyscrapers arouse tourists
I should feel contrite for making that last line too florid
But sometimes I sit and hope the optimistic quotes
Will never be broached by a flock of misanthropes
With Striated skull flags waving quietly with diffidence
I’d like to think I’m lazy, but I’ve still got my innocence