from George Carlin Poems
Thomas Fucaloro
George Carlin has a list poem called “The Book Club,” wherein he lists about 70 made-up book titles. The titles of these poems are taken from that list.
1. The Meaning Of Corn
Little cartoon yellow bullets
pulled from cobbed gums
glisten with spit and
delicious. Filled to the ear.
No one comes close
to our consumption. Filled
to the beer, we are a nation
defined by what we grow.
8 interesting facts about corn
and none of them are this
poem.
2. How To Give A King A Really Hard Time
More glare, more guillotine
Let them silence into pass
We are not kings, we are
Of feather we can rise
And ascend, we can
Create a village,
We can create
An ache.
3. A Complete List Of Everyone’s Personal Effects
If at first you don’t succeed
Buy a flame thrower
Wave lightening brilliance
In through the outdoor and onto the patio
There was that one time, when, and then, but I just
Breathe deep from pails of sky
Watch the once burned to a crescent tip
Everyone makes a big deal about the moon
I don’t know what all the fuss is about
It’s just a rock
Orbiting
Trying
To drift
Away
Silent
4. The Stains In Your Shorts Can Indicate Your Future
We all create maps
from what we leave
behind. I can’t find
how to get back
from now, how
do you turn
your back
on your
already
happening
I knit
a sweater of
forgetting now
ever happened
because what’s
happening now
is always
the sacrifice
of somebody
who is not me
later.
Thomas Fucaloro holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI press. He is a writing coordinator at the Harlem Children’s Zone and is the winner of a performance grant from the Staten Island Council of the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. He has been on five national slam teams. He is the author of two books of poetry published by Three Rooms Press, most recently It Starts from the Belly and Blooms, which received rave reviews, and the chapbooks Mistakes Disguised as Stars (Tired Hearts Press), Depression Cupcakes (Yes, Poetry)and There is Always Tomorrow forthcoming from Madgleam Press.
