Monday, February 26, 2024

The Break up

 The Breakup

I thought Winter  had left me, 

with her cold-hearted ways,

cutting me to the bone.

I was happy to see her go.

now the snow is falling

and the windows are rattling.

Looks like the bitch is back.

                                       ch2024

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Red’s Leather and Velvet Bar

 Red’s Leather and Velvet Bar



It was the kind of bar,

that makes you happy

to give it all your money.

A classic 1950’s speakeasy

architecture, long seductive bar

with a back lit display

of rare and expensive booze.

The waitresses wore more ink

than tight mini-skirts

and the skirts were tight.

Tight enough to show

they had nothing to hide,

especially the one who climbs

the ladder to the top shelf.

I fell easily under its spell,

and ordered a Communist.

A gin martini with a cherry

and hammer and sickle,

made out of hot sauce,


Sunday, July 23, 2023

Background character

 

Background Character


Lost in my morning coffee,

I watch the hipsters

dominate the street.


I feel like I’m just a character

in the background

a nameless face in the crowd


A place filler in a masterpiece.

I’m sitting at a table,

working on my first novel.


The gendarmes are patrolling the streets.

I’m worried that they will chase me away.

Move the vagrant along..


If the artist had given me a chance,

I could have been someone.

Instead I’m just a character

in the background on someones canvas.




Saturday, July 15, 2023

America is a Big Box store



Big Box Store

Visit a big box store and see America.
There’s too much skin and too few teeth,
More Ink than a copy machine.
Spandex stretched
beyond its normal limits
Four kids in a shopping cart
at least one diaper is overflowing.
An associate is directing people
to the wrong Aisles out of spite.
People are lined up
for lottery tickets
and buying smokes in bulk.
Tweaking for nicotine
and chasing the lottery dream,
before the social security runs out.
There's an Alzheimer's victim
in the toy section, looking for her dolly.
Her husband is in the beer aisle,
looking for an escape.
A couple assholes are harassing
the gay computer tech
in the electronics section,
while the high school prom queen
shoplifts a pregnancy test.
Out in the parking lot there's a dog
slowly dying from the heat,
in a locked car.
Some guy in a flag-waving pickup truck
is doing laps, Playing Lee Greenwood's
“I'm Proud to be an American, “and muttering
about all the dark-skinned people moving into town.
A couple families have been car camping
for the last three weeks
because they can’t rent a place to live.

This is America in a box
Chris Hoagland 2023

Friday, June 2, 2023

Hidden worlds

 The Hidden worlds


There are hidden worlds waiting to be discovered


Buy a homeless person a cup of coffee,

listen to their story.

Let them know they are not invisible.

Visit their world.


Have a drink with an exotic dancer

Listen to .their story

read the record of her world

on her tattooed skin.


Bring flowers and cookies

(If she is diabetic skip the cookies )

to the old widow down the street.

Let her tell you about the world

she and her husband built.


All around you,

are hidden worlds waiting to be discovered.

Friday, April 28, 2023

looking for the Modern Beats



Modern Day Beats
Looking for the Beats today?
You will find them
sleeping in a car
in the Walmart parking lot
Working for cash
to fill their tank and fix a broken guitar.
You will find them
working two jobs
to support the children after the dad left.
writing poetry on coffee-stained napkins
Looking for the beats today?
You’ll find an autistic shut-in
drawing intricate pictures of Paris
on his bedroom walls
You’ll find an Afghan Vet
in a drug recovery program
trying to come to terms
with the horror, humans can do
writing it down in witness.
Looking for Beats today?
They are all around you.



 



Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Living the Life

 Living the life


Crying in my sleep
holding it in
like a scream,
anxiety trapped
in tendon and bone
my body aches.
While reaching for
the happy pill,
I vow to learn
how to let it go.