Three Poems

by Robert Pavlik

Stock Market Seppuku

Dow Jones eviscerated my retirement plans
One swift slash
And the guts of my future were on the floor
The Nikkei Average kneed me
(A lot more than I need them)
Standard and Poor's
Has left me substandard
And poor
Nasdaq
Shot me in the back
In this global economy
Investing in stocks is Russian Roulette
The Money market is no place to shop
Give me a shovel and a coffee can
And turn around

Carrizo Plain

Carrizo Plain
Looking north
The San Andreas ripples up your right hand side
Like an offset spine
Flanked by the trembling hills of the Temblor Range
On the valley floor
A piece of displaced sky
Where Sandhill cranes whoop it up in winter.
The Calientes crackle in summer heat
In late autumn antelope and elk
Amble from the canyon shadows into the slanting December light.
This is where the condor soared.
They ate offal and multiplied.
Euroamericans arrived
Stole the condors' eggs
Poisoned their dead prey
Struck them from the sky.
Once again the great birds
Tilt and wheel through the blue:
Empty spaces welcome their return.

White Male Adult, 2001

I am afraid of rakes in deep grass
Tines skyward
The handle end
At forehead height
Sharp knives jumbled in dark drawers
Children running
With popsicle sticks
In their mouths
Women's manicured fingernails
Gesticulating
Pointing
They can put out an eye
Meanwhile
I'm crossing the street on a red
Hands in pockets
Looking backward
Whistling Dixie in South Central LA