Poems by Jeffrey Side

I COULDN’T SEE IT COMING

He wanted to be in Montana,
like he read
in that philosophy book.

But it was impossible
for him to get
away from his doldrums.

Time and again, his fate
was to remain
here, with a few pleasures.

I was happy in the fields,
not thinking
about the present.

Sometimes, I hear her
calling me,
after I begged her to stay.


I’M COUNTING ON YOUR LICKING

You have chosen wisely
the wrong man.
Don’t count your chickens
he hasn’t.

He has married before,
and controlled
his birth.

No need for him
to change his goals.


SUN IN MY HAIR

I've got too much
sugar in my milk, and
the cathedral is moving in
front of the clouds.

And Venus
is coming close to me
and telling me of the
mansions in heaven.

I would tell her
that when I've got the sun
in my hair
I don't need her to
come around.

Others have told me
of the squeals they have lost
to unworthy competition.

They are learning
that when it's time you
save
you can never be a
slave.

But even in the sea
you can be thirsty.


I WANTED TO BE A PLANT

I loved you so I fell.
I hurt my pride.
You tempered me
while I attempted to swing you.

You sat behind paper all day.
You weren’t paid much.
You looked at times uptight.

You had a small room—
big in places.
And your plants sucked in
the air you breathed
out.

I wanted to be a plant.
You helped every one,
yet you gave nothing to me.

If I could find a mad girl
like you in every
bar and corner,
I’d be lucky.

We both knew it
back in Kathmandu.