irresponsible intern
"the power went off at
my house," she said.
"my alarm turned off."
liar.
she hit sleep too
many times, and suddenly
it was an hour later, as
she dreamed about the
boyfriend she hasn't been
talking to for the
past four days.
she gained an hour of
sleep, but is tired already.

flight plan

the summation of vacation

clearing.
sand being pulled--pushed--re--
formed.

percived world

today
the second Thursday of the month waking up at 11
I will transcribe
for my sister still schoolbound at
“a blue ribbon school of excellence”
messy journal entries
“I wish I had a tape player to record the things he says”
cherylin said, who skimmed her pink notepad with stars
that said simply for that day “ego”

twelve pages of notes to self
the first family debacle full of to do lists &
spoken threats
I will edit down & cut to pieces
“shut up before I hit you”
the deadline of forgetting about it
like a real father
& she will probably never read it

why am I wasting time
that could be paying me to lift lumber
for poetry?

real world

today
the first tuesday of the month at 7 pm
i will cover
for the hearthstone town and country,
"serving the upper perkiomen valley for 108 years"
the bally borough council meeting
"we like to keep the meetings short and simple," said brenda,
council secretary, who wore a leapord print shirt
and looked bored the whole meeting

with four pages of notes and quotes
an hour and a half of handicapped parking and
rogue ballpark baseball debacles
i'll write the article tonight
300 words for $30
before the 9 am deadline tomorrow morning
like a real journalist
although they'll probably cut my lead
"the borough of bally council is knee-deep in sludge"

why aren't there internships
that pay
for poetry?