I used to pick you up
and carry you to bed
Now I hoist you
your long toddler legs
dragging across the sheets
your curls in my face
they smell like a daughter's head
dirt and imagination
the opposite of the world we live in
The bad old days
the salad days are gone
my friends are dying
drinking scotch
listening to the Pogues
in a soccer hooligan bar
beyond thought and matter
I social distance
from the moon I used to howl at
stop at one glass of wine
and switch to tea
what a fucking dad I've become
I will not leave it like this for you
Cecilia
We will have the president
that unites this country
gay, compassionate, shoots missiles
from his eyes, is also a she,
plays third base w/ a good slash line,
hits for power, a communist in a
Gucci belt w/ the head of Merle Haggard,
knows 12 languages, fluent in
America, the art of love, diplomacy,
and Star Trek bar trivia
I lay you in your bed
cover you with your Paw Patrol stuffies:
Chase, Skye, Carl, Slippery Jean,
green helmet guy, something something
What a fucking dad I've become
Goodnight, Cecilia
Dream those dreams
of dirt and imagination
and goodnight, Cal
who's now the dream
drunk on Laphroaig
as well dressed as they come
© 2020 Lee Kitzis
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Motherfucker (A Poem)
Motherfuckers
don’t know
they’re motherfuckers
that’s why
they’re motherfuckers
A few
are lucky enough
to look in the mirror
at their motherfuckin’ face
and go my god
what have I motherfuckin’ done?
I’ve been a motherfucker
this whole time
but most
go on bein’ motherfuckers
Some stay small
bein’ motherfuckers in customer service lines
a fistful of expired coupons for another store
Some rise to the heights of motherfuckery
and become president of the motherfuckers
MFOTUS
There are motherfuckers in Brazil
There are motherfuckers in the states
There are motherfuckers in France eating pasteurized cheese
There are Yanomami motherfuckers
There are Inuit motherfuckers
There are motherfuckers in lost tribes in the Kalahari
they send out for water and that come back with a handful
of rocks someone told them they were magical
and could produce water and the elders the women
the children the camels all go
This motherfucker
You see
a motherfucker isn’t a swear word
It’s a state of mind
It sets off fireworks at 3 AM in December
It doesn’t wipe the stationary bike at the gym down
when it’s done with it
It blames Mexicans instead of banks
It cages children
It steals from charity
It’s in the White House
eatin’ a cheeseburger
in a tanning bed
like a little bitch
© 2019 Lee Kitzis
don’t know
they’re motherfuckers
that’s why
they’re motherfuckers
A few
are lucky enough
to look in the mirror
at their motherfuckin’ face
and go my god
what have I motherfuckin’ done?
I’ve been a motherfucker
this whole time
but most
go on bein’ motherfuckers
Some stay small
bein’ motherfuckers in customer service lines
a fistful of expired coupons for another store
Some rise to the heights of motherfuckery
and become president of the motherfuckers
MFOTUS
There are motherfuckers in Brazil
There are motherfuckers in the states
There are motherfuckers in France eating pasteurized cheese
There are Yanomami motherfuckers
There are Inuit motherfuckers
There are motherfuckers in lost tribes in the Kalahari
they send out for water and that come back with a handful
of rocks someone told them they were magical
and could produce water and the elders the women
the children the camels all go
This motherfucker
You see
a motherfucker isn’t a swear word
It’s a state of mind
It sets off fireworks at 3 AM in December
It doesn’t wipe the stationary bike at the gym down
when it’s done with it
It blames Mexicans instead of banks
It cages children
It steals from charity
It’s in the White House
eatin’ a cheeseburger
in a tanning bed
like a little bitch
© 2019 Lee Kitzis
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Haiku for my Daughter
Go the fuck to sleep
Please wake up I miss you so
Go the fuck to sleep
© 2017 Lee Kitzis
Please wake up I miss you so
Go the fuck to sleep
© 2017 Lee Kitzis
Thursday, November 24, 2016
A Promise to My Daughter in the Wake of a Trump Presidency
We trudge through the snow
me in my pea coat
you in your pink snow suit
two months too big
I show you the garden
the celery is dying
and I promise you it will begin anew
as for everything else
I do not know
You are just grasping the fall colors
of a country
which is beautiful
and ill and tired
I can only explain the leaves
nothing else
just the colors
that will begin anew
I’ve failed you
We’ve failed you
but I will be the hammer for you
I will be the tornado
like a fighter past his prime
until we take our last walk
and look at the celery
and look at the leaves
and we will have our silence
as loud as thunder
as we breathe the air
and continue on
© 2016 Lee Kitzis
me in my pea coat
you in your pink snow suit
two months too big
I show you the garden
the celery is dying
and I promise you it will begin anew
as for everything else
I do not know
You are just grasping the fall colors
of a country
which is beautiful
and ill and tired
I can only explain the leaves
nothing else
just the colors
that will begin anew
I’ve failed you
We’ve failed you
but I will be the hammer for you
I will be the tornado
like a fighter past his prime
until we take our last walk
and look at the celery
and look at the leaves
and we will have our silence
as loud as thunder
as we breathe the air
and continue on
© 2016 Lee Kitzis
Friday, October 21, 2016
New Book!
Sheeeeee's Heeeeeerrreee!
The new book of poetry from Lee Kitzis! That's me!
No more readin' poems on the computer for you! You're reading poems on paper! Like the professor of a fancy college! Or a college drop-out with a book! Whichever!
The new book of poetry from Lee Kitzis! That's me!
No more readin' poems on the computer for you! You're reading poems on paper! Like the professor of a fancy college! Or a college drop-out with a book! Whichever!
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Saturday, August 6, 2016
For Mingus the Cat
We were united in our mutual weirdness
co-conspirators
writing partners
If you were a person
you’d be an installation artist
who wore nothing but Hawaiian shirts
and drank Night Train
out of a bowler cap
You saw the street
You saw the good life
You cared nothing for either
and took it to your death rattle
I would’ve traded a city block for you
but that’s not how life works
so
I do the next best thing
and leave the door to the attic open
when I write
like Jews
leave the front door open
for Elijah
in the hopes that you’ll wander up
and perch your dirty asshole on the railing
like old times
and watch me chug black coffee
and write through dirty glasses
swearing at stanza after stanza
missing you
I know it’s weird
I know it makes no sense
but humans never do
like the street
like the good life
like an empty attic
and some silly lines
© 2016 Lee Kitzis
co-conspirators
writing partners
If you were a person
you’d be an installation artist
who wore nothing but Hawaiian shirts
and drank Night Train
out of a bowler cap
You saw the street
You saw the good life
You cared nothing for either
and took it to your death rattle
I would’ve traded a city block for you
but that’s not how life works
so
I do the next best thing
and leave the door to the attic open
when I write
like Jews
leave the front door open
for Elijah
in the hopes that you’ll wander up
and perch your dirty asshole on the railing
like old times
and watch me chug black coffee
and write through dirty glasses
swearing at stanza after stanza
missing you
I know it’s weird
I know it makes no sense
but humans never do
like the street
like the good life
like an empty attic
and some silly lines
© 2016 Lee Kitzis
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