A. Michael McRandall

in absentia

“I would bet that when we get together in 30 years
we’ll be comparing Pulitzers…”  DJH -  early 70’s
 
Lara found a map to Honalee, but on her way
she stopped for every whisper that lay 
painted on the sky - just to get the taste out of her mouth.
Who’d have thought that all the words would run-out
through the fissures in her wrists?
 
David just got tired of chasing allegories, 
or maybe it’s his affinity for The Bulldog - 
but he’s forgotten how to spell, metrical, 
and he doesn’t even know 
that his wife’s for sale in window twenty-three.
 
Katherine used to paint the midnights, hot,
with terse unfiltered lyric beneath desperate eyes,
and she never slept alone.
But Haldol gimlets have since feathered all her edges - 
now she dines with skeletons, in retrospect. 
 
Michael hasn’t found the way back home – 
his sight too often compromised by black and white 
and voices seem to shroud most every road sign on the way, 
leaving answers unattended at the turnstile
 
where they are counted, without question,
 
then dismissed.

Explaining Evanescence

I’ve spent the last month
shooting stars
and pissing on rainbows
but,
I’m still hungry when I go to bed,
and my dreams have forgotten 
all their lines, so,
the director pulled the plug
on this production - 
which is fine with me, ‘cause 
rehearsals 
had become a fucking drag.
 
They sewed my eyes shut - 
I guess because the lyrics 
had all come dressed in red,
or perhaps it was an edict
from the queen – 
who never fully understood
the implications,
let alone the rules of 
engagement – so,
I’ll focus my attention
on the melody
and wait for the next bus.
 
Patience is a virtue, or at least 
that’s what I’m told,
and it’s painfully obvious that I
am not
a virtuous man - 
though it has been said, I’ve got a killer smile, 
and really now,
isn’t that what it’s all about?
Still, it should not have been 
this tough to carry off, you see – 
I had it all in hand until,
they started shooting back.

Some Birthdays Are Special

Bless me Father
for I have sinned…
 
but then again,
I’m sure you already knew that, so…
 
Why?
 
I mean,
you must have seen it coming.
You do see everything, 
don’t you?
I’m wondering, what’s the point?
 
You put me on a barstool,
next to a pair of blue-eyes
and in front of a couple of short-ones.
What did you expect?
 
Now, here I am,
but I think it might be 
just a little late.
Those five Hail Marys
aren’t gonna do the trick, big guy…
not this time.
 
Six years old…
she’s only six years old.
 
All she wanted was to have daddy
pick her up at four…
That’s all.
Jesus Christ, it shouldn’t be too difficult, eh?
But it always is… always is.
 
So, she stood 
by the door…
alone,
and waited…
and
almost didn’t cry,
 
again. 
 
I’ll tell you what, Father.
 
Forget the blessing.
 
Just pour me a double, then
go ahead and…
 
cash me out.