March 22, 2018

Five Poems by Joan Payne Kincaid: "The Goose is Getting Fat," "Poem About Things," "Holiday Activities II," "A Photograph," and "Pub-crawl II"

Joan Payne Kincaid is a poet from Sea Cliff, Long Island, N.Y.  Her work has been published in The Wallace Stevens Journal, Clackamas, Comstock Review, Gargoyle, Hawaii Review, Paris Atlantic, Limestone Poetry Review, Licking River Review, Iodine, Hampden.Sydney Poetry Review, and other journals. Once upon a time, she was an Opera and Concert Performer. Her latest book, "Starting Now: New and Selected Poems: 1985-2017," is now available on Amazon.
         
                       



The Goose Is Getting Fat

But the checkbook is lost.
Announce the checkbook is lost again.

The Times stares trivia and horror from its bench.
Christmas is coming and it’s somehow always

Not where you are
All the way back to being five.

A long time surviving with occasional help.
Watch the blinking lights outdoors.

Make a pretense of something
That doesn’t touch anyone.

Travel to a place with just the right amount
Of amenities.

An island that has everything to relax.
Everyone on a first name basis.

It’s cheers with a side of eggs.
All trips include airfare.

There will always be a place for a few friends
To sit around a kitchen table

With a USB mic and laptop
As long as it‘s interesting.

We need place-specific sounds
On our walking tours

Meals to be included.
Please to put a penny in an old man’s hat.




Poem About Things

How dark every thing is
In October
     Sun-like little icy shards.

In hidden spaces
He thought doing some stand-up
     Might be good

Hollywood is so far away.
The ridiculous things that happen there.
     Vice president for customer experience.

In filtered reflections nothing can be distinguished.
Several tours give incentives to linger
     A guide takes them to four bars.

Along the Naviglio Grande Canal
A visit to The Last Supper
     Reserve by email.




Holiday Activities II

No two agree on anything
Turkey beef or meatless
     Make the hors-d'oeuvres.

No one really focuses.
Someone yells deviled eggs!
     Half of the old families are gone

As far away as summer.
We need a Sunday Times for words.
     In some cases the penalty was loss

Or suspension of vacation days.
Now nearly like the setting sun
     Or leaves dying on the grass.

The table is a jovial scene
No one knew where the clutter
     Of years disappeared.

There will be wine
And memories
     Of ancient recipes.



A Photograph

Of us trying to
accomplish
     something,

His wife
was abducted
     by aliens.

They must save humankind
from craziness that exists
     in the universe.

I don’t really
believe in
     anything.

Fantasize there being
a camera
     on us.

Looking in nooks
and crannies
     for a job

felt like something
profound happened.
     Hey, I didn’t write it down!

Dancing like a biographer
whose forceful message matches
     severity of music.




Pub- crawl II

After they left
The party back to winter set-in.
     Planet begins to recede.

Explore the past with descriptive podcasts
Mix place-- specific sounds on tour
     Have a place immersive experience.

A recording represents
The vanguard
     Of engagement in travel enigma.

Bayview is an Avenue lived on
Before the tech boom and high-rises.
     It was beer and yoga on weekends.

Long traffic going nowhere
Making themselves at home for New Years.
     Like horses grazing inside a fence

Perfectly content forever piece of time.
Life to be forever on budget.
     Began making expeditions

Mount Kilimanjaro, and so forth.
Florida to get the first racing wheelchair.
     Stock market breaks high records

As days slowly lengthen.
Eighteen degrees today’s
     global warming.

You have to face challenges
and overturn
     Familiar faux news.

The President lies again send an Instagram!
You say you can’t drive at night anymore.
     Can’t do this can’t do whatever!

Will be weeks before the temperature rises
To at least 40 degrees.
     Make a shopping list.

At the pub
Rich and poor
     Together.


Joan Payne Kincaid

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