"Flight School," "Sitting with the news," and "One-eyed Jack"

Flight School

He became familiar,
like a three-day beard,
smiling, passively friendly,
intense in a quiet,
solemn respectful way,
like a quivering cemetery stone,
clearly not at home.
 
He’d get frantic, like a drummer solo,
when no one’s watching.
We had neighboring lockers at flight school.
 
He liked Lite beer,
small blondes, surfing, chess –
never mentioned Jihad,
and didn’t seem ready to die.
 
Showed no skill as a pilot,
or as a chess player.
I thought it poetic,
when he spoke of the eastern-most
part of his body –
said he never wanted to land.

Sitting with the news

You’re here now,
like the underbelly of something
that could be worthy, or not.
 
The longer you stand thinking it over,
like you’re waiting for the earth
to tell you your weight,
 
the longer your senses are adjusting,
to this mode of nothing yet,
just grey notice on cheap paper.
 
Your patience is admirable,
you sit knowing nothing can happen,
if you pack it up, leave, quit.
 
There is a quote, “It’s better to
know some of the questions,
than all the answers.”
 
You’re vulnerable to the questions,
they are your weak point,
as are any of the answers.

One-eyed Jack

They have no plans,
no commitments, nowhere to go,
and it’s supposed to rain.
They’re doing a - no electronics day -
no TV, no cellphones, no laptop.
 
No Donald, Israel, Hamas, no protests,
genocide, no slaughter in Ukraine.
No poetry, emails from friends, texts,
calls from the kids.
This, they’ve decided, will be a lot of nos.
 
They’re going to play gin.
Jack Spade oversees reconnoitering,
informing the Kings and Queens,
that tomorrow there will be no news,
but what could be a day long tournament.
 
The Spades plan all night, wanting to keep the order,
and the caste they’ve become accustomed to,
conspiring how to use their underlings to
keep this feudal. They send Jack S.
to check on the positioning of the Hearts.
 
This doesn’t change the jealousy and bigotry,
between the Hearts and Spades,
the desire for dominance among the suits
has cost Jack Spade an eye – he got his
retribution – Jack Heart lost his right.
 
Tomorrow is here, they coffee,
but no Morning Joe,
They shuffle, fan, shuffle,
Jack can feel the tension,
as he asks her if she wants to cut.