Proud to be American Cheese

Proud to be American Cheese is indignant about its ignorance.
Proud to be American Cheese must be eaten, or the terrorists have won.
Proud to be American Cheese takes national anthems at sporting events very seriously.
Proud to be American Cheese is heavily processed, has no discernible flavor, and is loaded with calories.
Proud to be American Cheese contracts mercenary corporations to do its dirty work.
Proud to be American Cheese will park, go to Wal-Mart, drive 100 yards across the parking lot, park again, and go to Lowe's.
Proud to be American Cheese's color does run, contrary to popular belief.
Proud to be American Cheese hasn't read a thing by Mark Twain, but has seen the Disney version of Huck Finn.
Proud to be American Cheese doesn't pick up on the racist undertones of most of its rhetoric.
Proud to be American Cheese is why they hate our freedom.
Proud to be American Cheese is proud that the French talk bad about it.
Proud to be American Cheese melts smoothly due to a heavy reliance on oil.
Proud to be American Cheese would gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
Proud to be American Cheese is true Americana.
Proud to be American Cheese is made in China.

Will they call your name?

They said there would be silence as they showed the pictures but the mournful music lingered. I know because I listened on the radio, their faces obscured by choice in technology, leaving violin swells. But I see them, sepia toned, faded into, on blogs and Facebook feeds. Anonymous names of former students, former children with dreams, sold out by their teachers who gave them few options. Immigrants chasing now chased and dead.

The Weight of Water

The story of the basement flooding: When
the rain came down for days and days,
the sewer grates were overflowing, and
the carpets were indelibly stained.
The bottoms of the boxes couldn't take
the weight of water, so, when we lifted, all our stuff fell into
the pool below. And so floating in
the shit and piss with
the leaves and sticks
the rain brought in were

all our childhood memories,
all our A's on our papers,
all our baby books and clothes.

Rhinoceri: A Study

A 

rhinoceros's eyes are on the side of its head, and a 

rhinoceros's skin is made of scales. But they don't categorize by a 

rhinoceros's eyes, so its a mammal instead of a lizard.

My babies make 

me who 

I am. And on a bike ride 

the clouds doubled 

the size of 

the hills like 

the sides of rhinoceri and we rode through olive grove's sticky roads to 

the valley where berryessa lay.

Torn-up newspaper [some]

When it comes down to it, this is all just some stern drive to a distant, unknown point in a desert wasteland. And when the driver mumbles ominously, "Are you gonna ask where we're going?" we reply calmly, collectively.

Nope.

A Summary of My Trip to England, Written in Globe Theater-Style Scene Captions

Chunk 1
1. Sitting in the front row for a lecture on literature after 19 hours of travel
2. Bike ride through cow pastures
3. Wandering around Oxford, wondering which archway a fictional character had his picture taken under.

Chunk 2
4. Arrive at London flat to a tiny, tiny room/Return to Oxford
5. Bike ride with strangers/Can't keep up with strangers/Lost in English countryside/Drinking/Meet new roommates/Drinking
6. First day of Shakespeare Camp, feeling like an awkward kindergartener/Flat 13 makes power play
7. Team Midwest conquers London/Why do PhD candidates feel the need to apply critical theory to everything?, or Sometimes, it really is just a statue
8. Meet Glynn, fairy godmother from hell/Find out I am "fucking awful" at walking/Stare at pole, pretend it is Henry V
9. Proper English lady makes noises like a 2-year-old/Find out I am too tense and have bad posture/ Team Don't Fuck Around will cook for booze
10. I have a speech to memorize? Just so you know, I am not going to memorize this speech

Chunk 3
11. Tower of London=Several examples of Henry VIII's cod piece/Brit dressed as penis
12. This guy on the London Eye? He had a shirt on that had a woman in a bikini holding a machine gun on it. Oh, and a gold chain and matching bracelets. I think he was from Russia. I wish I got a picture.

Chunk 4
13. Back to school/Practice, nervousness/Cod piece becomes a theme thanks to Taming of the Shrew
14. Stepping on Globe Stage for the first time/Play magically comes together
15. I am a fucking actor
16. Return to the Tate/We still have class? But why?/Scene chunking panic
17. Return of Return to the Tate/Trying to remember what was for dinner besides champagne
 18. Vacating the flat/Summer camp conclusion woe/47-year-old mosh pit for Peter Hook

Chunk 5
19. Stonehenge and some other very old rocks propped up in the ground

Chemical Reactions in Our Cells

Every goodbye is a tiny death.
Every re-union an endless joy.