The Square Root of a UFO

Bob, , ,

The moon grows antlers and stops wearing clothes.

The cities of the Great Lakes are wild with the loneliness of the cosmos.

A penciled in whereabouts for identity. Synapses with the appetite of rainy pavement.    

The heart leaps grave canyons neighing stars. Only the ridiculous will survive.

Okay lost. Okay peanut butter and dusk sandwiches. Okay angels stole my socks.

31 thoughts on “The Square Root of a UFO”

  1. I had a poetry teacher who, when I wrote a startling image or combination of words, would write “!” next to it. He’d write “!”s all over this poem.

    “Okay angels stole my socks”: I think of Elvis Costello: “the angels have stolen my red shoes.” The scumbags are never satisfied. First they steal your red shoes, then they steal your socks. Next they’ll be chopping off your feet.

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    1. Thanks! It might be that the Elvis Costello seeped into my unconscious. Which would cool if it did. I agree, we have to be careful of those angels. This one felt good to write…I felt a bit pedestrian lately.

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  2. This is the best math poem I’ve read in quite some time. Well, it’s also a fine UFO poem, and the angels! Wow Bob, this one just rings all the bells for me. “Synapses with the appetite of rainy pavement.” That is an image to think about for the day…

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    1. Thanks, Ron! I don’t know what it is about the pavement after a good rain, especially if it’s near dusk and the sun comes out. And those UFOs…I don’t think we’ve ever been visited, but it would be cool if we found out there was life out there somewhere.

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  5. i just learned about the buck moon which is a full moon that happens in july….buck moon because that’s when deer get their new antlers. it reminds of november at my old job. that’s when the truck came to give us shoes, always in late november. we all had 110 dollar credit. Anyway, i’m off topic as always. This poem makes me want to see more and more great lakes cities….simple destinations, not crowded either….this poem has such a casualness too, almost required reading for campers prior to lift off to the woods…….i like ridiculous will survive. i love the origins of words. so clouded in mystery……ridiculous from “that which excites laughter”……yes, peanut butter and desk sandwiches….oops i mean dusk sandwiches and that oh well no big deal of angles…i mean angels stole my socks like our great elder Kerouac said,,,,,”accept loss forever”

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    1. I remember meeting a girl when I was in my early 20’s who wanted to live in a different city every year and work odd jobs to make it possible. My big regret is I didn’t go with her. Kerouac was right, accept loss forever…but for some reason that sadness is because we have so much to live and not enough time to make it happen. I’m compiling a list of Great Lake cities.

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      1. wait a second. was her name Penelope? i ask because this girl knocked on the door yesterday looking for work…..just kidding. i thought about doing something similar….every year a different city, specifically a city with a baseball team.

        i get that willy wonka feeling sometimes . how does it go? “So much time and so little to do. Wait. Reverse that. So little time and so much to do.”

        i love your plan to compile a list of great lake cities. Excellent. of course, there are those great lakes cruise ships, but canoe is the way to go.

        Yes, Kerouac was right about so much. imagine if he would have sobered up a bit, not completely, but just enough to keep writing. oh well, he passed the torch.

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      2. A looked up Great Lake cities, and strangely it brought me to a NASA site. According to NASA the St Lawrence River is part of the Great Lakes, so that included Montreal.

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      3. Oh yes…..the Great Lakes St. Lawrence seaway. The first non-natives to visit Milwaukee area originated the journey in quebec and its first mayor was french canadian, a cat by the name of solomon juneau. i’ve hitchhiked the route, ridden a bus, taken a plane and now as you’ve inspired Bob, time to put that canoe in the water and GO!

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      7. bummer that he passed away so young – mid 60’s. i have to check if lake winnebago has any monster legends.

        i had a breakthrough yesterday. i swam in fraser lake, not too far from magog, quebec and there were hot and cold currents and it was cloudy under there or how do we say that? murky? but i did it and no monsters. i know i might sound overly dramatic, but i probably just watched too many of those tv shows.

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      9. i was able to get into a groove (isn’t that a Madonna song?) for a few laps in between the ropes designated as swimming area and there is something about immersing in a natural body of water, not exactly the electrolytes of an ocean, but still an effective ? I’m not sure what that water does but in that 80 per cent of earth is water, it makes me feel more a part of it all, of earth anyway.

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      10. Swimming is something I’d like to do more of. The YMCA near me closed. So I’ll have to fine an alternative. And Buffalo is so broke, most of the city pools are closed.

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      13. Great idea Bob! bike ride and a swim and the natural waters of lake, river, or ocean seem to do wonders for mental clarity. i have no idea how that works, but something strange and wonderful happens when dunking our heads in natural bodies of water….maybe because so much of earth is water.

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      15. i just looked up the ming part of swimming and i knew it was chinese or thought it was as in the ming dynasty which i know nothing about but now know Ming means bright or luminous. i owe that one to my dad’s dad who always encouraged me to learn one new word a day.

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