Tim Xonnelly: California Poets Part 7, Four Poems

Tim Xonnelly

July 1st, 2024

California Poets: Part VII

Tim Xonnelly

Four Poems

A Prisoner of Hyperbole

handfuls of pollen

buckets of mayonnaise

doors windows open to gales

in hope of saving glass

drifts of pollen border the walk

plantsex sparkle the afternoon

they came with bibles and bearspray

I wouldn't touch that cookie

how the cab driver know my name

her duffel bag gone

her clothes all over the barroom

Fishing Shallow Muddy Water with a Construction Crane

but what comes up is alien as deepest sea

bug eyed

white as death

size but not shape of a human baby

squirms arthritically

plopped on deck it rasps at low volume

this you may not do

this is not allowed

my curse my bile my worst on you

next up an egg

sage green with a veiny pattern

shining like ornament and sweet smelling

larger than any of the men operating the crane

oh you have to taste it

the white fish thing rasps if you lean in to hear

it will make you rich

Every Door A Tree

Pee Wee and Sinead

each cancelled in their day

both queer

at least on sight

been so long since I cried

at a famous entertainer’s death

last time was a twofer too

Carrie Fischer then her mother

Debbie Reynolds one day later

what my heart told me then

it is possible to die of a broken heart

if one has lived long enough

The White Hairs Come In Wilder

I did not want cha cha heels for Christmas

neither did I want compression socks

eyebrow hair spin off my face seeking

beard hair break from the cool trim hedge

born without melanie make a run for it coiled as a spring in a thought bubble

also meander satisfyingly

run zigzag in the active shooter drill

detour around the food riot

heed me say I wiry white worm

newborn from last century's follicle

don't need to steal candy

I'm grown

Author Bio:

Tim Donnelly has lived 30 years in Redondo Beach, California & 30 years in beautiful downtown Berkeley. He is a Special Education Paraprofessional and Union Negotiator in the Berkeley schools, semi-retired. His poetry is published in journals & websites including; The Oakland Review, The Berkeley Times, The Fabulist, The Racket, Milvia Street and the anthologies Cross Strokes: Poetry Between Los Angeles and San Francisco & 1001 Nights: 20 Years of Redondo Poets at Coffee Cartel 1998-2017