Russ Cope Poem

RoadKill
by Russ Cope

It's a rain-swishing kind
of day when I am stopped
at the red light.  

The truck in front of me
is loaded down with branches,
leaves, wooden flats.

A bit of what looks like 
foliage sits still at the side
of the road.

The passenger hops out, gives
it a tap of the foot to avoid
teeth, and then hoists it in 
the air.

It is like a stiff, glued carpet
and he plops it in the back,
pulling away, 
leaving me thinking about life.

Russ Cope Poem

Giant

A Russ Cope Poem

A giant washed up on shore

today

from God knows where

We played in his bones

until mother made us come inside,

and we stunk to high heaven

That night, we showered luxuriously

and planned how we would

build swords out of the rib cage

But his body was gone the next

day and we never found him again,

and what’s worst

is mother threw our baseball cards

and childhoods away

while we were gone at the beach.

Russ Cope Poem

No Face

A Russ Cope Poem

It’s honest to God the best

interview I’ve ever seen, people

pawing over a new piece

of tech, rolling it in their hands

like a joint and cooing like doves.

The last person interviewed sealed

the deal.  Underneath her wide brim

straw hat, there was no face, only a sound

coming out,

describing how she needed a new phone.

Just perfect.

Russ Cope Poem

Fang

A Russ Cope Poem

Today we found a tooth

made of stone, impressed in rock.

It’s probably the earliest known

specimen of fang, long before

we were walking out of the soup

and learning how to devour

each other.

I  imagine I could build a whole

animal around this one piece,

just start with the tooth

and go from there, slapping on skin,

hair, jewelry, neuroses, and therapy.

Russ Cope Poem

My Wooden Boyfriend

A Russ Cope Poem

Cami tells me her boyfriend

is made of wood.   I imagined

it as some kind of metaphor,

then I met him.

He stood in the doorway like

some dime store cigar Indian.

I can’t imagine how she pulls

the splinter out of her tongue.

Russ Cope Poem

Ethel Passed Away

A Russ Cope Poem

Ethel passed away today,

I got the text at about 9 when I was

trying to catch up from lack of sleep.

Oh, Ethel.

She used to howl at me the way dogs

howl at the moon.  When she served us

cake, she licked the knife with her large

tongue, and wiped her hands on the crotch

of her joggy pants.

Remember the time she decided the middle

finger was her favorite gesture and flipped

you off all Christmas season long?

Oh, Ethel.

It’s probably best she’s gone.

Russ Cope Poem

Kernel

A Russ Cope Poem

There’s a bit of truth

in all fiction.  There’s a bit

of me in you.  A bit of you

in me.

I sneeze and the universe

says, yep, I know what that’s

like.

I spread and diffuse and merge

and we all speak together

without words.

Russ Cope Poem

Sunflower

A Russ Cope Poem

She’s my sunflower girl,

raspy voice, who takes my unwanted

hand and helps me find

the glow again.

She’s my sunflower girl,

knows some 80’s music, has

the power of infinity in her lips,

and kisses me away into the night.

Russ Cope Poem

Joiner

A Russ Cope Poem

She said, join in, but I had

heard too many stories and saw

too many religious types thump

their Bible one day and flap

their gums the next.  I could not.

When the altar call came, I sat

stiffened to my seat, refusing to

bend down.

Russ Cope Poem

Burial

A Russ Cope Poem

We buried the dog today

and the neighbors say he had

it coming.  He used to look out

the upstairs window and howl

as people passed by.  Sure, he

was good-natured when he was

young, but people grew to hate

him.  Even we hated him.  So

there will be no marker for this

one.

Russ Cope Poem

Sex Manual
A Russ Cope Poem

Dirty and tattered on the outside,
dirty and tattered on the inside,
grainy pictures that don't do
life the kind of justice it deserves.

Russ Cope Poem

Personal Fictions
A Russ Cope Poem

I can make up any detail
about myself I wish
but the difficulty is that I
would never believe it

I could give you a piece
of me and let you run with
it like a kite

but I would know where
the key was tied to the string.

Russ Cope Poem

Tidal
A Russ Cope Poem

My courage comes in waves,
washing me away in the ebb
and constant flow, erasing

the features of my face, rubbing
free the crags of my being,
breaking my sharp edges into

smooth and polish places.

Russ Cope Poem

Pavement
A Russ Cope Poem

I hit the pavement at
such a velocity that
it jarred me awake again,

this is the world I have
known and get to know
again,

welcome to this new
world where you are not
the star, I say to myself,

welcome to the cold slab.

Russ Cope Poem

One of Those Guys
A Russ Cope Poem

I don't want to be one
of those guys who runs
down a list of cocktails
and has to try each one,

one of those guys who
takes advantage of an
easy situation,

one of those guys like
all the rest of the jerks
who have hurt you.

Poems by Russ Cope

Check out my work at:

Dead Snakes

Poetry Super Highway

Eternal Haunted Summer

Wilderness House Literary Review

Bitchin' Kitsch

Enhance:  The Last Issue

Adding more all the time.