Two Poems

Elvis and me

I like the kind of rain
that upsets people
postpones the softball game
stops traffic and the radio
I am the man
Salvation Army shoes
straightening cigarette butts
in front of the laundry mat
personal Jesus t-shirt
faded blue jeans
hair and beard
all asphalt grey
streaked nicotine orange
this world is always trying to take my breath away

Ten above tomorrow

I guess there’s something
I kind of love about
the first snowfall of spring
the smell of disappointment in the air
all anyone talks about around here is hockey and the weather
conversational suicide
and me here, like a burnt-out traffic lamp
They’re calling for ten above tomorrow
it can never last