Catfish McDaris is the author of Prying with Jack Micheline and Charles Bukowski. He’s done over 20 chapbooks in the last 25 years.

Cultural Weekly is proud to premiere the following poems by Catfish McDaris.

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Nirvana Blues

Seeing a golden finch or cardinal eat from a giant sunflower
hearing Chickenfoot or Los Lonely Boys tear off a riff
watching Romeo Must Die or Lonesome Dove
smelling fresh strong coffee or buttered popcorn

Gazing at Prince play a solo with 3rd Eye Girl
feeling a cat brush and rub against my bare leg
getting a half laugh smile from my daughter
when my lady of thirty years kisses my bald spot.

***

The Revolution Of Love

When my lady is happy, singing
in Spanish and French and I smell
the perfume of Mexican vanilla,
cinnamon, cloves, cilantro, and sage

The cats are purring on the bed
and the snow is melting and chives,
garlic, daffodils, and grapes are
looking at the sun with love

I smile inside I no longer care how
much money I have or owe, or that
I don’t drive or my hair is thinning or
that I’m closer to death than life

I put another quarter in the parking
meter, laugh at the shadows and think,
my turn to pull the rabbit from the hat.

***

Another Hole In The Universe

I’ll be the exterminator in a flea circus
play trombone in a bedbug parade
the worm swimming in a sun yellow
bottle being shared by alley skunk skanks
until their eyes fill with death tears forever

Kahlil Gibran saying: it’s all love baby doll
or David Lerner: people hear my poetry and
weep, scream, disappear, start bleeding, eat
their television sets, beat each other to death

Change my name to December Q. January and
swim in the Sea of Tranquility and to the bottom
of the Mariana Trench and find a mermaid harem
and send up poems in bottles and never come back.