poem
Train StationThe game ofLifedidn ’t age well. No one plays it anymore. Half the pieces are missing. Half the family’s dead. Its gilded suburbia a Potemkin sham. Fake money all gone. Besides, it ' s too much like real life. Insurance premiums going up, escrow shortages. Estate taxes on the bachelor uncle everyone hated so he left it all to you. When life itself is just a game, the game itself stops being any fun.Riskis more of the same. A strategy distilled down to the heaviest gas. Domination, manipulation. Betrayal and degradation. But it ’s all just roll of the dice luck. And much less fun when there’s abso...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 27, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
SafecrackerI ’ve hidden everything there is to knowIn plain site, here in the glass vaultConjured by the lines of this poemBut I ’ve forgotten the numbersTo open the combination lockYou ’ll find me on the groundEar pressed against its wordsListening for the tiny clicksOf a clear feelingI know I once felt. 12/22/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 22, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
ShameMorning blushes at its eastern edgesBefore the full fledged embarrassmentOf another desultory dayPoetry is no excuse for hidingThe things you wouldReally like to say It ’s winter, what are the trees up to?Stick figured depictionsOf fireworks explosionsPounding my fist against the frozen earthLike I ’m buried alive and the ground Is the satin-lined door of my own coffin Nothing more annoying than peopleSurprised by unsurprising thingsChewing when no one else is eatingOnly the poet sees you blushingEveryone else is still sleepingHis job is to tell the world everything What starts in shameJu...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 21, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Backyard HillThe mystics speak of love obliquelyAs one does the recently deceased. Gather you aroundA black fire Flames licking at their caftansLike the tongues of bad luck cats Come closer, they whisperEyes like hungry embersSkeleton fingers to their pale lipsHush hush But you ’re having fun playing basketballAlone on the driveway after schoolPounding the pavement With a worn down ball Smoothed to membranous thinnessThe game clock has ticked down to fiveAnd the next shot is all that matters You aren ’t ready to sacrificeYour real imaginaries On an altar of abst...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 21, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
A Living HeatIt hasn ’t been a mistake, all this livingIsolated acts, sure, there are a few I ’d like to have backBut life itself, anyone ’s life, is never in errorRegret comes to seem more like a luxuryAffliction of the young and unencumbered How could I dishonor my yearsBy pining for anything else?You can ’t put back the snowJust be the living heatMelting the ice at the edge of you12/11/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 11, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
In the FallIn the fall the trees seizeWhat belongs to themAnd the leaves seethe Orange auburn and redCling to their heightsInitially, it is said,Out of pure spite But day follows dayAnd they find common causeBand together, decide to fightAnd make a season of it.At sunset the lightPasses throughAnd everything shines.Suddenly this worldIs a warm fireThat won ’t burn down.It ’s the last stand of anyone Who ’s ever had everythingNecessary taken away. Right here, just beforeThey start to lose their gripIs when we first realizeWe could be beautiful too. 12/7/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 7, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
BurrowAll this after hours effortNothing more than a blind burrowingEach line the tip of a drillBoring right through myselfIf I ’m honest I’m anxiousBreaking though and finding outWhat ’s waiting on the other side Each millimeter of advanceIs a new kind of oddnessThat someday I ’ll recallWith sad nostalgic fondness.It ’s wearying, all this work.I take more breaks.Strangely, it doesn ’t hurt It gets terribly quiet when I rest.At this depth, I can ’t hear a thingHard to tell if I ’m still breathing Even thoughts are distant whispers I start to get the certain feelingThat where ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 5, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Kingdom of HeavenIf there was just an endNo one would recognize a beginningBecause suddenly everything just came to an end If there was just beginningIt means you have stumbled Into the Kingdom of HeavenBecause there is beginning and endYou try to find the place in the middleIn order to avoid oblivion12/5/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 5, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
How to Write a Love Letter Don ’t ever use the wordlovein a poemDon ’t smudge the stationary with your rouged lipsOr spritz the envelope with your eau de parfum You aren ’t a magicianThose things only conjure Your holographic form What I need is the real thingWhat I ’m trying to say is:Come over here and do it yourselfKiss meTell me you _____ me. 12/4/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 4, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Poem #49This poem is nothing specificWords themselves are allThe details you will needIf I speak obliquelyIt ’s because I’m worried The world is listeningDo you have enough hereOr is more information needed?I ’m afraid I’ve already said too muchIt ’s up to you to fill in the rest12/3/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 3, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Concrete KingdomIn the concrete kingdom foistedon dust and soil by driven men nothing ever lasts.Driveways crack. Sidewalks buckle.Vast parking lots fracturedby weeds finding atomic gaps.It ’s all runway strips and endless tarmacswhere everyone you love is always taking offjust as you ’re departing.It ’s the benighted realmpaved over and pocked with holesthat are always getting patched.But nothing lasts and everything crumblesin a land of artificial hardness that ’s never quite hard enough Would be more honest to build our world completely out of glassWe ’d see everything smashed—...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - December 3, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
ApocryphaChrist can you come back every once in a while? Just to check in. No strings attached. You don ’t have to bring theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Not looking for a thousand years of drama and strife here. Just pop your head in and let us know everything is ok. The ol ’ sacred texts could use some new material anyway. Updated for modern readers. Maybe graphic novel style:The Book of Midnight Pacers. I could be the hooded protagonist who conveys your prophecies via complicated anagrams. And no more miracles, please. People aren ’t impressed by them anymore. We’ve seen insects walk on water. Coded pat...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - November 20, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Soft RhymeViolins are not woodwindsNo matter how much I would like Them to be for the soft rhyme.And boys are not little menNo matter how much easier it would beTo give them the grown-up medicine11/20/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - November 20, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
MasksThe one thing I miss about the pandemicWas always wearing the mask.Free range to talk to myself Without anyone seeing my lips moving. Don ’t judge It ’s none of your business. Just listen Sometimes an excited whisperOften a boring low drone Mostly a dinner party overcompensation. The best way to become less self-Conscious is to incessantly talk to yourself Out loud as much as you can.Become the mad man muttering On the sidewalk that everyoneCrosses the street to avoid. We aren ’t really crazyJust a little less self aware.Now that I have to keep thoseConvers...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - November 20, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
George and HelenLet ’s wake up every morning and be someone elseI ’ll name you and once you ' re comfortableYou can call me whatever you want Before sunset we burn our ID cardsOur portraits and family photosMelt down our trophies and jewelries Eat every morsel of all our kids Spend the night Dancing drinking f.ingLike animals under the stars Fall asleep dementedIt isn ’t so badThe next day we get to do it all over again “Good morning Jessica”“Good morning Brad”11/14/23 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - November 14, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
