Monday, August 27, 2012

James Babbs- Three Poems


I Didn’t Have Anything

I didn’t have a job
or a place to live
and sometimes
I borrowed someone’s car
or I bummed a ride
when I had some place to go
and I slept on people’s couches
I took turns
staying at different houses
some nights
I even slept outside
underneath the stars
twenty-one or two and
I didn’t have anything
but I felt pretty good
walking around
the warmth of the sun
pouring on my skin
and whenever it rained
finding somewhere to stay
I was young and strong
and indestructible
felt like I was capable
of doing something great
I never felt like
I was missing out on anything
except
maybe the touch of a woman
every now and then
and sometimes
I went for long stretches
without having enough to eat
the hunger like a hot blade of steel
burning through me
and those were
some of the best days of my life


Something About Windmills

the windmills kept turning
slowly in the sky
I started thinking about you
watching the windmills
slowly turning and
I was wondering about
the last time I saw you
trying to remember
what I said to you
while I was driving past
the windmills turning
slowly in the sky
I remember
you were crying
and calling my name
but I don’t know why
and there was something
about windmills
I kept seeing them in my mind
and I couldn’t stop thinking about you


A Hole

it’s not like a hole in the ground
but the emptiness I feel
somewhere in my heart
since she’s been gone
a hole in the wall
where the light shines through
but this room still gets dark
it’s like a hole
where I bury myself
sometimes
another place I can go
when I feel the need to hide and
it’s been a long time
since I dreamed anything good and
I don’t know
how many years have passed
since the last time
I wished upon a star
now
I get tired and
I just close my eyes
but there’s nothing left
nothing there
for me to see



I have published hundreds of poems over the last several years in print journals and online.  I live in the same small town where I grew up.  I work for the government but don’t like to talk about it.  I have a cherry tree and two grapevines in my back yard and several pesky rabbits.  Recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming at Camel Saloon, Horror.Sleaze.Trash., and Word Riot.

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