Asparagus Pee
the
smell of
asparagus
pee
arrives
gently:
wafting
suddenly
from
underneath,
a
stealthy
pungent
cloud
of
vaguely familiar
surprise
momentarily
disorienting:
the
odor on
the
wet grass
after
minks
have
sex?
a
pigs breath
after
eating
truffles
cashews
and
hay?
no,
just
that
funky
nut
creamy
alfalfa
smoked
dry
mist
arising
from
the
water
below.
and
you
realize
you’ve
been
here
before:
“oh,
that’s
right,
I
had
asparagus
for
dinner”
Paul
Bukovec 2009
the
humless
electricity
of
snow
falling
heavily
through
nights
sky
charges
my
synapses
with
crackling
currents
surging
me
buzzing
flushed
headon
out
into
luminous
darkness
crunching
heavy
booted
through
novocain
surfaces
tilting
my
head
to
excited
facetingles
catching
lace
webs
dissolving
on
lashes
feverishly
butterfly
kissing
the
night’s
infinitely
dense
deluge
of
cascading
flakes
PB 2009
“time passes by while we’re not looking” Phillip Roth
looking up suddenly
I turned my head
catching a glimpse
in the corner of
my eye of an older
man walking alongside
me rapidly down
the busy downtown
street with a startled
bemused look
shining back through
slightly hooded
crease rimmed eyes
and was surprised to see
that hoary headed
slightly startled
older man
was me.
Paul Bukovec 2009
moon lit crystalline
hail
had fallen upon
the hyper-chilled
melt off,
and frozen fog
had descended
just before dawn
to coat the walkways
and streets
with treacherous
black and white ice
but the older man
boldly ventured out
for his morning
exercise
walk stepping
carefully
on last week’s
shoveled snow
along the edges of
the
sidewalks to snag
traction
and remain upright
as cars crawled in
low gear and their
drivers
grasped their wheels
with desperate
determination.
down the first hill
a shrouded panel
truck steamed
astride the front
garden
of a hapless neighbor
and two befuddled
young men
laid branches and
chains
behind spinning
wheels
the older man skated
and
hop
scotched/skidded on
beyond the marooned
red box car and slid
round the corner
proudly to a
sunny straightaway
that seemed
to be melting just
enough to
make the shining
glaze
even more impossible
to
navigate. but he
managed to
set his gyroscope and
center
the gravity of his
balancing act
well enough to skate
over the
glossy spots and crunch
down
onto the snowy strips
bordering
the walk and reach
the end of
the long block
unscathed and upright,
and feeling
exuberantly agile.
crossing the well
salted main street
was a cinch and the
older man
bounded to the
opposite side
with panache and brio
feeling jaunty
as he caught glimpse
of the
sweetly concerned
face of an older woman
passenger in a car
stopped at the light.
and he bounced
triumphantly
forward just as he
smiled in
confident recognition
at that
other grey head
looking back at
him and his gaze
lingered a moment
too long as his foot
fell fully
and firmly on the
handicap
cutout in the
opposite curb
and he shot
(half-piping)
shockingly up
catapulting
sideways
airborne
while his body as if
remembering
long ago drills that
his mind
had long since forgot
twisted and tucked
and curled
on the way over
almost in a ball
(he was momentarily
impressed!)
before he found his
elbow painfully
breaking his fall as
his back rounded
and he rolled
abruptly
landing shockingly
hard on his disappointed
and rudely insulted
knees.
And the older woman
rolled down her window
and asked if he was
alright
and
the older man lied
and said
he was just fine.
PB 2007
In
her late
thirties
with
her
Clock
ticking
and
her
heart
beating
fast,
she
cast
aside
higher
expectations
and
discarded
loftier
standards
and
fell
onto
him
in a
desperate
scramble
for
the
last
musical
chair
when
she
thought
the
song
was
about
to
stop.
in
his early
forties
he
found
her
bottom
arriving
in
his
lap
an
unforeseen
and
comforting
reward
for
reluctantly
participating
in
a game
he
had
previously
felt
too
shy
and
too
ineptly
unsuccessful
to
play
So
he,
surprised
at
her
enthusiasm
and
she,
grateful
for
his
startled
appreciation
fumbled
matrimonially
forward,
quickly
hoping
for
the best,
quietly
dreading
the
worst…
and…
awkwardness,
frustration
and
disappointment
ensued
in
unfairly
short
order
curdling
sourly
over
the
longer
haul
of
time
and
they
lived
happily
never
after
PB
2009
