For Erik and Courtney

I once called you the worst Buddhist ever

and I meant it
in the best possible way

it’s Thanksgiving
and I’m working

surrounded by weird Europeans Koreans the suicidal
Gary, Indiana’s finest drive-in accidents in Wal-Mart jeans

thinking of your limitless compassion

and being thankful for that

and Courtney’s limitless patience

which you should be thankful for

because there are not many girls

that would see a 6-ft-6 Danish Buddhist

w/ nothing on
but a dirty bathrobe
and a beer in hand

and stick around

but w/ Jesus in her heart
and a couple screwdrivers
she did

for 3 years

and then she married you

so this Thanksgiving

I say hallelujah for you Courtney

and hallelujah for you Erik

and hallelujah for you Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Todd
whatever your name is

you work in mysterious ways

© 2009 Lee Kitzis

Holding Clipboards, Holding my Farts in

Day after Thanksgiving
and they've got me in the museum membership line

The membership levels are separated into degrees:

Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate

Asshole, bigger asshole, mega asshole, old money

I have my back to the wall
so no one can see the hole in my pants

I'm a jr. asshole

The skeletal remains of midwestern housewives and men of god
validating their parking

The weight of the world

as I let one go

it escapes through the black hole in my pants

and into the science of things

© 2009 Lee Kitzis

Post-Thanksgiving Poem

A paycheck short

The Hustler’s on T.V.

I pour a martini

too tired to shave

5 hours ‘til work

I make tomorrows spaghetti

it is November 28, 2008

the turkey is gone

I will be thankful if my paycheck gets here
before the rent check gets cashed

there is a slice of pie

I won $2.95 in poker today

I’m thankful for that

4 hours 30 minutes ‘til work

sleep

Tomorrow’s November 29, 2008

I’ll watch the History Channel

and toss cranberry sauce off the balcony

because the holidays are the holidays

celebrity deaths
socks
and slush

Some people run into each other
then it’s over

like rush hour

like this poem

© 2008 Lee Kitzis

I've Always (for Julie)

I’ve always sympathized more
with the street sweepers
and the old men in Jewel
feeling up the tangelos

riding the brown line
back from the locksmith
with a can of Spaghettios
in my left pocket
and a whiskey hangover

I’ve always been a hair away
from being the cab driver
in the porn store
at 3 A.M.
on Thanksgiving

or the guy
who thinks there’s money
in real estate

and I always will be

because
that’s pretty much
what a poet is

and I’ve always loved you

in the way stock guys
love management

and the cab driver
loves porno

and the old man
loves tangelos

and the street sweeper
gave up

and watches
the cars pass

I love you

like Spaghettios

© 2008 Lee Kitzis