David McFadden

It’s Not Funny Anymore

There’s no aces in my deck.
There’s no biscuits in my bowl.
There’s no conquistadors on my continent.
There’s no dragon in my den.
There’s no ease in my delivery.
There’s no fizz in my fandango.
There’s no gate in my fence.
There’s no housewife in my hovel and furthermore
There’s no heaven in my vocabulary.

There’s no ice cream in my freezer.
There’s no juice in my red-hot blender.
There’s no ketchup on my french fries.
There’s no limousine waiting for me.
There’s no mustard on my hot dog and I also just noticed that
There’s no monkey in my tree.

There’s nothing nice about my knobby knee.
There’s no over in my underwear.
There’s seldom any prisoner in my cell.
There’s very little quiet in my quintessence.
There’s no rhododendrons in my rock garden.
There’s no stallion in any of my stables.
There’s no talcum powder on my tray.
There’s no umbrella in my understanding.
There’s no violin in my orchestra.
There’s no water not even in my bathtub.
There’s no xylophone under my Xmas tree.
There’s no yarmulke in my youth and I’d just like to say
There’s hardly any zither in my Zen.

From What’s the Score? by David McFadden
Copyright © 2012 David W. McFadden

Secrets of the Universe

You’re waiting for a bus at Ward and Baker
and a woman comes up to you
and asks for a dance.

You tell her you don’t want to dance
for there is too much snow
and not enough music
and she says you didn’t mind
dancing with me last night.

And when you tell her she’s mistaken
you didn’t dance with her or anyone last night
she says oh yes you did
and when you ask where
she says up there
on the roof
and she points to the roof of Hipperson Hardware.

In fact, she says, as her voice drops
and a shy look comes into her eyes
I’ve even danced with you on other planets
Venus and Mars for instance
and then she walks away

leaving you to wonder about the part of your life
that is secret even from you.

From Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden, by David McFadden
Poems copyright © David W. McFadden 2007