The A Cappella Handyman: Crayon Box for Christmas

Crayon Box for Christmas

There were so many colors! It’s not like I was gonna do that much coloring, but somebody had made and packed this box, bigger than my world to date. Sometimes when I go to an Open Mic’, the experience is the same. I may or may not be stirred or moved, but more often than not, I hear something that blows me into the next room! It’s like being a student all over again. Maybe that’s why some of us write and publish, to share what it was we gained from being in that other room. Poetry: I sold some, I gave some away. I’ll probably do it again. It’s like a Crayon Box for Christmas.

©Peter Bray 7/24/2018
All rights reserved

Dear Jeff/The Gift of Words

I read your poem recently
about not being able
to make a buck or an income
from poetry.
Not to feel like a pilgrim, Amigo,
the same has plagued me
from the git-go.
So here’s the deal:
some things should be
bought and sold,
like socks, locks, clocks,
jocks for hire
(First Draft, Second, etc),
and heads of stock.
Other things bring us joy
or help us cope with grief,
give us some relief,
help snark-parody the Chief
(like “SNL”),
and it’s my belief,
come freely like the wind,
and should probably stay
in that medium like
angel faces and gorgeous hair,
staring at the moon for blatant wonder,
and “Raindrops down in Africa,”
(now playing at Starbucks.)
It’s just how the world is made, Amigo,
but be ever so thankful
you too have The Gift of Words.
©Peter Bray 7/24/2018
All rights reserved

Every Hardware Store

Every hardware store
Knows a guy like me
Who brought as much
To Berkeley
As he took away –
Who knows a 1/4-20 thread
From a drill-driver’s charger,
A stirring paint stick
From a 2×4,
A checkbook from
A Starbucks card,
Palatino type
From New Times Roman,
And a prose poem
From a snarky line
Added to a Facebook page.
If not, call or email me,
I have friends and
Several associates,
Both amigas y amigos.
©Peter Bray 8/10/2017
All rights reserved