LOCKING THE SHED UP AT NIGHT

 by Shaun Grub 



Showing that you cared
   and aren't scared
of raving coyotes
     in a colossal Toyota

run gunning down
    a Honduran dirt road
cross lit in the head
    beams eyes glowing

red in the lamp lights
    cutting through swirled
dust settling slowly on
    accelerated mercies dragged

racing through my mind
     as the foot hit
the pedal to the metal
     shifting into gear

for tumblers to rotate
     into padlocks clicked
shut locking the shed
    up at night to keep

stray cats and fishers
     out of my head
proving you're not scared
        and you cared

for all the strays left
    stranded behind
in the crashing wake
   of the dream that I find

swirling and flowing
   to a stop around me
 ready to become still,
   turn into a new culture...

JUST BE FAIR

Am I being candid enough when I say
It's best to remain detached in a way?

Not disinterested or dispassionate,
But impartial and evenhanded today.

We need to be fair-minded to be fair;
Just remain neutral, and clear the air.

Remain just and objective to be equitable
To an impersonal, open-minded, equal
Opportunity perspective, without favor.

For an unbiased, nonpartisan, or on the
Fence, middle of the road approach
Is best toward not discriminating.

We could live unslanted with an uncolored 

View; together we may be unprejudiced,
Unbigoted—impartial—me and you.

GRUB LOST

Now my friend is dead
and it hurts my head
having to figure out now
what to do instead of us

playing all the time and
crawling into caves at
midnight after hiking up
the canyon in the dark

listening to Station 3
mixing up another deck
sledding down the mountain
on a late winter's night

singing songs together
of our legend in the fight
against all the hordes
of evil with our fellows

right behind us at our backs
when we were one big tribe
forged of the moments with
each other built in time

this Castle Ground Zero
exists in the cloud erected
as turrets of vapor fall
and rise within the crowd

now I look into and see
my friend withdrawn from me
his hand reaching out to claw
at me dissolving in futility

Its okay these visions come
and go along with the wind
that blows inside this hollow
head remembering my friend

Greg, I wrote this poem for you
because we all know there was
nobody else in the world even
remotely like you in any way

conceivable for us to compare
with you were always there for
us in your dusty boots and armor
shining in the Sun way before

the black shadow of death
conspired of a sudden to keep
all our inspiration one desire  
to be swallowed by the dream

as a photo synthetic shadow
of light thrown out in a rosary
configuration of magnetic star
shine conducts our ongoing life