Red RH

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-25T10_27_34-08_00

She’s not a fairy tale
Conservative hardcore kitten
Delivers her truth entombed in red lipstick

We all want romance
Delivered to us at four in the AM
We’re horny and desire more than sustenance and saliva

Fuck breaking through the glass ceiling
How about we first get our house in order
Stop settling for a tinkle and expect a landslide

I was inside her
I mean I was inside her cautionary tale
And it broke my heart into a twenty piece McNuggets with hot mustard and sweet and sour sauce

I was shooting for passion and instead landed in snark
Please don’t read anything into that because my stripes change like failed leaves
I want to bend you over the kitchen table and show you how a true liberal does deliver

The wolf consumed grandma and grandma became the wolf
That’s what we’re committed to believe as fiction becomes stranger than urban legends
I wouldn’t want to get lost in the wood with anyone but Red RH because she would find us shelter from the storm and protect me from any impending doom.

Charles Cicirella
12/23/20

Lala Lindsay II

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-25T10_20_06-08_00

Cut into a vein see what you get
Perchance it is genius
Perchance it’s in jest

Cutting your assistant in halves is no illusion at all
If you already cut her into pieces the night before
Because she wouldn’t do what you wanted and as a great magician you believe everything is owed to you upfront and open ended

The words pour out of me like bbq sauce out of a stuck pig. I know I’m a glutton for punishment and I prefer it just that way
I watched the cam model entice the crowd with her pink swirling machine, but it doesn’t hold a Elton John candle to your rancor or blessed ridicule
I don’t see you for who you want to be, but instead what I need at this particular moment in history. Actually that’s a chopped down cherry tree lie because I honestly only see you for what you brought to kindergarten that first day the world was exposed to you.

When the singer started to sing I was so caught off guard I almost caught my thing in my zipper
I’m drinking lukewarm Faygo root beer and just noticed an hour ago it was Christmas, it’s true what they say life is good when Jesus comes at you like ’68 Elvis dipped in black leather
Splice together all the relevant footage of our lives and you’ll soon realize being irrelevant isn’t such a bad fate if every other choice leaves you unsatisfied and unrepentant.

Charles Cicirella
12/25/20

Lala Lindsay

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-24T20_22_48-08_00

 

Her tweets give me goosebumps
I wait for them like some await a new shade of lipstick
She turns up the furnace of Twitter with her heartfelt declarations

Too many thinking they’re king or queen shit around here
Lala Lindsay offers no advice and gives no quarter to the tomfoolery crowd
In my head there is no social distancing, but I swear I’ll not infect you with the virus when I inject my sense of humor into your arm

Her tweets break wind and that’s okay because clearing the decks is oftentimes the only way to get uncivil people to listen
I desire to see another picture of her because the crush formulating in my dinosaur bones won’t be fully stoked until we share a Bic Lighter while listening to “Free Bird”
While my back was turned Lindsay stole my heart and that’s perfectly okay because I wasn’t doing much with it, but staying alive

Too many brandishing words like weapons on this social media juggernaut
It’s embarrassing when people measure their supposed intellects with a cleverness existing only in their corrupted imaginations
Lala Lindsay challenges the status quo by sneaking out the backdoor and going home early because she knows true happiness is a warm puppy.

Charles Cicirella
12/24/20

Shay

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-24T14_24_55-08_00

I don’t know her
She doesn’t even follow me
Still there’s something about her tweets that keeps me coming back for more introspection

I guess there are people on Twitter that only want to fuck, whatever that means, but that’s just not me because I’d so much prefer a real connection with a real human being
Shay cuts her wrists and bleeds into her tweets and that kind of anguish must be rewarded, never ignored
Sometimes when losing my mind I think Shay might be the mountain I’d desire to climb if I wasn’t afraid of heights and the film Vertigo didn’t haunt my waking dreams like Tickle Me Elmo on a seven day bender

I’m new here
No, really I am
I’m only actually here to hang up my radio show like a trench coat to a rusty nail and maybe to find someone who isn’t afraid to admit they’re also afraid

Lost in the consonants and vowels of her fleshy alabaster subtext I bet knowing her would be like wrestling an alligator while wearing only your paid for smile
I know I’m punching above my weight and since Covid I’ve lost over 21 pounds and gained, I pray, not even half of that back
Still there’s something about her mysterious prose that keeps me both hungry and starving for direction.

Charles Cicirella
12/24/20

Italian Hot (For the entire Ferrara's family)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-23T15_03_08-08_00

Been going there since I was sixteen
Always get the same exact deli sub
It never fails to make me happy

I used to walk from my mom’s at Acacia
Even in the winter I’d get my sub and eat it in the bus shelter
I just couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into all that flavorful goodness

During the pandemic they’ve been one of the few constants
I love walking in and everyone saying hello
Seeing Chick sitting there espousing his wisdom always brings me joy

I’ll never forget Mr. Ferrara shuffling around the place
One day he told me he owned a Duesenberg automobile
I hope someday to get to ride in it because riding with a Ferrara would be like riding with royalty

People over the years tell me about this or that Italian grocery and I just shake my head because I know none of them can hold a pepperoni to Ferrara's Imported Foods in Mayfield Heights, Ohio
The bread is always baked right on the premises and the meat and cheese is sliced fresh daily
Once my father said why do you waste your money and I just looked at him with great sadness because clearly my father never learned that a really good submarine sandwich can cure many of the ills of this cockeyed world

Chick always remembers me as working at the Mayland Theatre which has recently been torn down
He’s right I did work there for a hot second; still I’m always surprised that he remembers me from back then
Ferrara’s is like the neighborhood bar where everyone knows your name, but instead of spirits they deal in cold cuts and pasta sauce and I’m the better for it and so are so many other people.

Charles Cicirella
12/18/20
 

Paul called.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-22T15_13_28-08_00

 

Paul called and said he had the virus and the news rocked me to my core.
When he said you don’t think you’ll be the one who gets it I could hear in his voice that he was scared.
I told him if he needed anything, anything at all to call, but I knew that he wouldn’t because that’s just not in his nature to ask someone for help.

Paul likes to be the one who picks up the check and the one who never wants to feel he owes anyone anything as family money keeps him distant from feelings of any real weight.
We became close after my mother passed away and I found myself going up to his condo because I was tired of being by myself and tired of always being tired.
We’d take Lyft to Akron to meet with his dog trainers or out to some restaurant for dinner and it felt good having a friend in Cleveland and it was wonderful for once not having to explain where I’d been.

Things got bad though when I moved in and Paul realized he had bitten off more than he could chew.
I was fortunate to have another place to land because soon staying with him became unbearable and I needed somewhere for quiet reflection so I could begin to grieve the death of my mother and figure out my next move.
When I heard Paul’s voice on the phone it made me think of Saul on the road to Damascus and how at some point in all of our lives we’re led to a jumping off place where we either accept conversion or the worse fate of not being able to look ourselves in the mirror.

Paul called and I offered to walk Gabe because I desperately want to be of service and to show Paul that there are people who care about him and attach no strings to the friendship.
When he wouldn’t take back the key, I understood that he was trying his best to say he was sorry for not being able to do more and it was okay because in the short time we hung out I felt as if we’d become like brothers and he had nothing to feel guilty about.
I hope he calls and maybe we can pick him up some matzo ball soup from Jack’s or maybe he just needs someone to listen. I want to be that friend and for Paul to know someone has his back and cares very much what happens to him.

Charles Cicirella
12/21/20

Strong Personality

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-22T14_23_00-08_00

 

How about we burn each other to the ground and see whose embers are hotter?
How about we forge ahead without looking back and see who gets exhausted first?
How about you stop stammering and stuttering because I uncovered who and what you are before you could even form your first sentence and get on with the business of surviving?

All my life people have looked to me for answers while at the same time not taking me seriously because the energy I create leaves them questioning their own self-worth.
All my life I’ve been held to a higher standard because like the sun I’m 93 million miles away while also being right there to remind you of both your successes and failures.
All my life the horses in my head have run me ragged, but I’ve learned to love and accept them because they’re the only friends I can rely upon when the going gets rough and the tough are all but invisible.

I need to go to Aldi’s to pick up a few things and when we return home we’ll eat dinner, watch some television and then I’ll tell my roommate to go to bed before she falls out of her camping chair and ends up on the floor dreaming of puggles and the Rainbow Bridge.
Tonight we’re going to have pork with apples and some kind of rice. I like to make dinner for us because taking care of another just makes sense and I’d have it no other way.
The exterminator is coming back soon because circus people like us never get a reprieve from the governor as our execution looms over our heads like a Christmas ham with no true sense of how delicious it is.

How about we turn the tables and instead you take care of everyone and everything and see how good a job you do dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s when death comes to your door and you’ve forgotten how to receive an unwanted visitor?
How about we stop lamenting our current state of distress and look to the future as a stronghold and not just another excuse to hide in the closet or drive off a bridge?
How about for once you come through like gangbusters because I believe you have it in you to do great things once you give up the ghosts of past and present fears and celebrate the beautiful human you’ve always been?

Charles Cicirella
12/21/20

Hubba Hubba (For Holly and Joe)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-22T14_12_57-08_00

 

Recently I told Joe he reminded me of Cedric the Entertainer.
I intended it as a compliment, but Joe didn’t seem to take it that way which I guess I understand because Cedric is neither very funny nor fresh.
What Joe failed to grasp was that I was talking about how handsome I find Cedric and Joe to both be and also how grounding a life force they both are.

I have written about this before how Joe and I shared a homeroom all through junior high and high school.
School was never an easy fit for me and Joe Cohen always made the mornings go down easier with how laid-back he is and how he’d always greet you with that unmissable smile that could help land a space shuttle in turbulent flight.

Meeting Holly was a revelation I’m still finding myself getting accustomed to because like me she never fails to remind you who she is and how you can better serve her and yourself in this cracked ideology of a failing world order.
Joe needs someone strong to keep him in line and away from black holes in the mind and Holly does that so expertly you don’t even see the moving parts of their relationship, but what you do experience is real love as it glows as brightly as Christmas cheer.
Holly told me once she liked how I always called Joe out on his shit and I found that to be such a high compliment I almost lost myself in the swirling clouds of narcissism.

I always thought the beautiful people were something unattainable and out of step with the Purina Dog Chow day to day then I hung out with Holly and Joe and came to realize the beautiful people are each and every one of us once we accept who we are and most assuredly can become.
Sometimes I take things too personally, that’s just the way I roll as my thin skin gets the best of me and I lose control and burn another Billy Joel bridge.
This time I reigned myself in because I believe I’ve finally found a family that accepts me for who I am and doesn’t let the fact that I’m a circus person get in the way of everything that is good and holy.

Charles Cicirella
12/22/20

sister Flo aka Shirley

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-20T16_31_37-08_00

Cutting through the wonderland of our psyches with a Jung machete that keeps us out of sorts for the spell we have left in this jungle of soot and Covid tears
I was born broken like a bell ringer who never had a chance at happiness because all their sadness was lumped in with the sacrifice of always being on time
Stand up, stand down just don’t stand on anyone’s neck when they say they cannot breathe and the single cigarettes they were selling are left on the cold ground unlit and unsmoked

We freeze at the moment like the rest who don’t try because our sheep mentalities are too easy to disguise as the next charitable cause as our culture teeters upon extinction like saltpeter and Limp Bizkit 
I had a headache so I swallowed the cyanide just like the doctor prescribed and before I knew it I left my body and went to Florida to retire with the rest of my delicatessen brethren
She was a vision of loveliness and death camp austere charms and I intend that as a compliment as I slipped a mickey and a jarring remark into her drink to both wake her up and extinguish any of her lingering self-doubts

The poetry I write flows from some ancient river in the subconscious of what was once my mind and is now just a vacant Walmart parking lot where the homeless try to get on with their sleepless lives and the parked cars get to know one another on a first name license plate basis
Tablet was mentioned which is a medium-hard, sugary confection from Scotland. I became so excited I nearly wet myself because I’ve always had a soft spot for the “The Candy Man.” First time I heard it in school it chewed me up and spit me out like all childhood memories should.
Slicing through the horror of another misbegotten train wreck that I believed was my life, but instead turned out to be just another wet dream that I best sop up and move away from because little deaths never turn out as awesome as you may have once believed them to be.

Charles Cicirella
12/20/20

Nailed to the crossing of my next lackadaisical persecution.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-19T18_02_30-08_00

 

I’m always waiting for the next home invasion, the next tear to fall, next dog to be put down
Next hand to hold or human to push away, next frozen bag of peas I must conquer because they remind me too much of Holden and all his depleted Dakota fantasies
Learn to love and then kill the rabbit before your spawn tears apart this world with its Ann Landers advice written for bored housewives that need a reason to live or die before it’s too late and their absent husbands discover just how radical suburbia is

I’m always waiting for the next shoe to drop even when the shoe doesn’t fit and the show must go on, even when Esther is under water and Christian Bale has lost so much weight he’s the invisible man and no one has the nerve to tell him his bandages don’t fit
The next friend that reminds me of the cross I’ve nailed myself to best keep in mind their own glasshouse failings and how just because you were once a legend in your own mind hardly means the kids still want to go down in the basement with you
We walked out of Jim’s memorial and Mike spoke some words that have been engraved onto my soul like a Tennessee Williams rose tattoo even though the actual words have escaped my panic room mind long ago

You want to believe I’m something I’m not go right on ahead, but at some point your misgivings will catch up with you and when they do I don’t want to be anywhere near your whistle-stop tour to become a better human because I’ve become convinced your campaigning will silence all of us before even our voices can escape our yellow canary throats
This poem is coming out fast and furious because that’s how it sometimes is when you cannot spare a square and the smell of shit reminds you of summers in the country with the mannequins and stoats
I no longer have anything to do with relationships because I too often lose myself in the other person. If you aren’t willing to walk through fire to reach me why then should I even light the match and allow you to experience my burning intellect?

Charles Cicirella
12/18/20

my life is a comedy of errors and no one is laughing

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-17T14_37_35-08_00

when I was born I swear I slipped on a banana peel
it defined my life and maybe it will define my death, we shall see when the grim reaper comes around and attempts to sell me a reverse mortgage
expression and exposure that is all I have to give and if that’s not enough for you well then I don’t know what to say other than fuck off

these days most Cleveland poets drive around in neutral while I tend to ride the break because I know Henry Ford believed in a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world and I also know the man who revolutionized the auto industry moved the planet that much closer to an early grave
the pandemic has made being a pariah pretty much business as usual and what’s unusual is how you’re drawn to me like flies to cow shit
I wish to go around the bend one more time before I call it quits and hang up my spurs and my unvarnished wit

where’s Jim Murray when you need him?
he covered Dylan like no one else, but when it came to uncovering himself he’d rather escape into a box of Just For Men brown hair dye and pretend he was not as paranoid as he actually is
when he sprang the word intellect on me at the Spider when I was 17 he became extremely agitated when I told him I’d never heard the word before

when I died no one came to my services because they figured why pay attention now when they had been turning a blind eye already for so many unceremonious years
it’s okay though because all I really wanted was one more corned beef sandwich from Vienna and to know I had at the very least touched one or two people in my unscrupulous wake as a poet and a muckraker
she got down on her knees and before I could figure out what she was up to had gone through my pockets and slipped out the back door. I’ll of course never learn and invited her back into my heart over and over again because it’s lonely out here in space when all you have to keep you company is your own ego and a couple of scratchy 45s.

Charles Cicirella
12/16/20

DAN KLUTE

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-12T21_15_08-08_00

 

Flying through empty space trying to discover a friend
Queen Jayne said she needed to see someone before we went to the Indian restaurant and I was annoyed because I hate meeting new people
When I saw him that day in Chicago 2009, Kalamazoo 2008 resurfaced because the die had already been cast and now it was time for us to break the mold together

He catches you off guard with his earnestness because with Dan there are no false notes or acts of sedition that tear a country apart and ruin your day
Sometimes when we’re hanging out I feel as if I’m Harvey to his Jimmy Stewart which is funny because Klute is the first honest to goodness púca I’ve ever met
We brave the cold and the heat desperately trying to find our foothold while climbing a stone face of granite and egregious hypocrisy

Cooking up some frozen crap in Linda’s kitchen when I proposed to him that he do his very own radio show on Radio Ether
Dan while wearing oven mitts and doing his best to fish the pizza out of the cavernous furnace said yes immediately and neither one of us have looked back
I discovered a friend when I didn’t even know I was looking for one and he’s there in the best of times and in the worst of times because he’s a force to be reckoned with and a force to be experienced in this life of love and unbelievable beauty.

Charles Cicirella
12/12/20

Piñata (For Holly and Joe)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-12-05T23_35_23-08_00

One of the last times I went out to the Cohen Compound
Pinny actually came up and licked my hand
The look of astonishment on Holly’s face I still remember to this day
I always thought of Pinny as the old grandma of the pack as she kept everyone in line with her zero tolerance bark and V4 growl

Seeing her and Joe together was like experiencing Fay Wray and King Kong up close and personal except Pinny was the beast and Joe was the beauty
They spoke each other’s language with no hesitancy or fear of retribution
Everything on a higher plane as they broke through every glass ceiling known to human and canine alike, leaving raised petals and cigarette butts in their wake

Holly and Piñata, warrior goddesses who never take shit from anyone because they haven’t the time nor the patience for such trivialities
The sadness Joe and Holly are now experiencing is one I’m all too familiar with as Doug Gelbman also has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge
Pinny, I am so glad I made your acquaintance. It was my honor to be in such esteemed company. You are now a Guardian of Light watching over the Cohen pack with a loving ferocity of White Light/White Heat.

Charles Cicirella
12/5/20
 

Hey Mike Rep!

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-25T01_55_05-08_00

Let’s go down to the basement
We can hold hands like a couple of fags
Because there’s nothing wrong with that

And I love you
Loved you since you first had my back at The Poetry Forum at Larry's
Neither one of us has ever had much use for academia except of course for Mary Rumm and Frank Richardson

I love you like when I was a kid and didn’t know the sun was rooting for the demise of our civilization
You’re fifteen years older than me, but that only makes me think how you are beating the crap out of whatever it may mean to be a senior because even when you slow down, you’re still moving at light speed
Any introductions that needed to be made, you made them because you were never afraid of the best laid plans of mice and men

The whole experience of a Coney chili cheese dog and a root beer float never made much sense until you took me under your wing and showed me just how close Icarus flew to the sun
Mike, you are Greek mythology come to life because your myth has always preceded the actual science fiction that is Mike Rep, but none of that means a damn thing once your calendar is in astral weeks and your frame of reference is bushy eyed and cotton tailed
A rocket to nowhere bursts through the atmosphere because getting out of this town is all the rocket had on its mind. That rocket and me have a lot in common and that’s why I’m writing this poem to you.

Charles Cicirella
11/25/20

Let’s do our best to stand against the test of time. (For bmo)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-17T15_36_08-08_00

there’s no fooling you
I knew that the second we met
fools may suffer and you’re none the sadder for it

wisdom foretold
wisdom forestalled
cut off the ends and watch nothing meet

high as a kite
doing my best to stay out of the fray
sometimes the fray turns out to be your strongest ally

the robot strikes a confessional tone
the robot knows more than all of you put together and the robot is more human than any of you will ever be
you’re damn right the robot strikes a confrontational pose when too many adults around her have let her down

it’s not rocket science
it shouldn’t take a genius to figure this one out
stop your messing around because you will be found out

rubbing salt into an open wound
our society feeds on others’ misfortune
let’s rise above the muckrakers and make something out of our lives we can be proud of.

Charles Cicirella
11/17/20

Wisdom Ancient (For bmo)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-14T01_16_49-08_00

it’s late
dark
the night has no conscience

we resolved what’s insufficient
replaced with tone indicators
commonplace is as commonplace does

overthinking
her programming lackadaisical
still no one I’d rather watch cartoons with more

it’s early
bright
the morning refuses to surrender to the day

we pigeonhole until there are no feathers left
trade our secrets in for shiny garbage that guarantees us nothing but unhappiness
stay the course until the course turns on us and misdirects us into a fiery furnace of binging and purging endlessly

she said about Ponyo, “it’s really soft”
then I watched it and got what she meant
and it made me appreciate her even more

some people just get it while others
stand on the sidelines barking inept orders to an inane bunch of no bodies
you may feel like you’re stuck and time is moving all around you, just keep in mind you control time as much as it controls you

Charles Cicirella
11/14/20

Macaroni and Cheese (For Carter)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-13T14_11_13-08_00

I like macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets too
They help me to make sense of the world
Plus the routine lends me a modicum of serenity

I’m making macaroni and cheese right now
It’s 12:55 AM and I need to fill my stomach with some comfort food
I like the night because the silence keeps me company by consuming my doubts and turning them into rainbow sherbet

Dishwasher’s running
Makes a lot of noise
Why is there a train in the kitchen?

The macaroni and cheese was very good and there’s even leftovers
I was tempted to eat it all, but knew it would make my stomach hurt
Getting up at 5 in the morning with cramps is no way to begin the day

Carter, I’ll make it out to Mineral City at some point and we’ll all hang out and maybe we can pull out the Legos and watch you build a new world
Sometimes it’s important to step outside of your comfort zone if only to better relate to those around you
I scooped up handfuls of clouds and inhaled them like they were cotton candy.

Charles Cicirella
11/13/20

Rachel and Carter

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-11T01_49_50-08_00

 

Have known Rachel since I was a young punk screaming at the top of my irascible lungs while digging my feet into the gravel behind JR Miggs
She let me drive her car without a license while we went on clandestine missions which I cannot go into in more detail because this poem is also for her young son
Rachel was the first person I met at Miggs that made me feel welcome and that was a long time coming for me

We’ve kept in sporadic touch over these past many years and every time we talk on the phone it’s like no time has passed and we’re still just as silly and ready to take on the world
Rachel always supported my art and never made me feel judged or like a pariah just because my world view is unconventional and doesn’t jive with the creaky, cranky status quo
When we went to California for Nick and Dana’s wedding I knew I could always count on her to hang out with and that we’d laugh until we both nearly peed our pants

I’ve wanted to meet Carter since he was born because he sounds so cool and also because I know Rachel is the best mommy in the world
She has always been honest with me and not once did she let me down by losing her nerve and acting like all the rest of the sheep humans who resist change by endlessly staying the same
I want to break out of my cage and when I do I’m going to call up Rachel, grab a Stephen King book and go pick up her and Carter so we can all just get lost for a while and not worry about being found until we’re good and ready to come back home.

Charles Cicirella
11/11/20

Ancient Wisdom (For beemo)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-11T01_42_28-08_00

dhfji
pIWDJqwih
dr    fi8QIH

got it all wrong
which turned out to be okay
because you are open to mistakes being made

want to break it all down
like they did in cavepeople time
when survival wasn’t just a catchphrase

you make me laugh
stutter and wiggle my nose
because your filter is filterless

donkey priest robots
roaming the countryside
good deeds are us and you

saw your pictures
read the writing on the wall
it left me wanting more

iqwjdse
pqiwdep    [d0i    Kq]
PO9QWJU2    WP9O

Charles Cicirella
11/11/20

Who is Alex Trebek?

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-09T00_16_22-08_00

National treasure
World explorer
Gameshow host

Let’s not stand on ceremony.
We welcomed Jeopardy! into our homes because Alex Trebek made us feel safe and taught us all what discretion is the better side of valor actually means.
You would never know he was having a bad day because he was the ultimate fighter who understood that the show must go on no matter the condition you’re in.

When my mom got lung cancer she always wanted me in her room to watch Wheel and Jeopardy! I believe it was her way to spend some quality time together as she showed me just how smart she was.
I cannot believe he’s gone and how much it feels like I’ve lost a friend because Jeopardy! is the routine and Alex Trebek was the glue that held it all together.
I don’t know what to say or how to act because there’s this emptiness now in my heart that I don’t believe will ever be filled again.

Charles Cicirella
11/9/20

“I find myself quite average, but I appreciate your words” (For Sara)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-11-01T17_42_21-08_00

There is nothing average about her in the least little bit
Don’t get me wrong average is great, but Sara’s exceptionalism sneaks up on you like a mountain cat that is relentless in its growling intensity
From the moment I viewed her passion for Heavy Metal I knew her fire was buried deep in the darkest depths of Mordor

When she admitted that she was shy telling both of her last names because one of them was unique, my heart started to work overtime to capture all of the daisy petals flying throughout the holy air
We package and process ourselves as pieces and parts when nothing could be further from the truth
Average is as average does and nothing Sara does is commonplace or circumspect

I think what I’m drawn to, along with her insatiable fire, is how outside the pack she is because the pack mentality means nothing when social distancing has become all the rage
While listening to Sara play I find myself transported to another plane where everyone’s vantage point is considered and music and love matter most
I look forward to watching her up on stage sharing her soul because that’s clearly her destiny.

Charles Cicirella
11/1/20

Metal Goddess III (For Sara)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-28T14_50_38-07_00

I want to write one more poem for Sara because I find her so attractive and sweet.
Watching her play piano just sealed the deal as she pressed down on the keys and warmed the cockles of my heart.
All the pictures of her wearing different heavy metal tee-shirts never fails to bring a smile to my face because she is doing what she loves and that brings me so much happiness during these dark, deplorable days.

I ‘d prefer to not stop what I’m doing and look at the state of the world because the world is broken and until we respect this virus nothing is going to change for the better.
I had Covid-19 back in March and for three months the symptoms kept me company like the Grim Reaper on Tinder.
I met Sara on Twitter and when I did it was like a breath of fresh air came through the open window and reminded me not everything is bad and we must change our outlooks before it’s too late.

This is the last poem for Sara for now because I really don’t feel like driving another person away.
Strangers in the night, exchanging glances as they stay six feet apart and masks help keep the mystery alive and the virus at bay.
I want to write one more poem for Sara before turning off the light and returning to my bed for a much needed siesta.

Charles Cicirella
10/28/20

Metal Goddess II (For Sara)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-27T21_39_21-07_00 

Need to listen to Metallica soon
Find out what Sara’s raging on about
Banging her head, taking no prisoners

Lost in the fog of death metal
Found her soul when she gave up control
Coruscating as black as Sara’s booming bottom

Her enthusiasm infectious
Creativity what gets her through
An artist who never looks back

The Sandman enters and nothing else matters
“Would you pull me up
Would you drop the mental bullet

Would you…”
Alleviate some of this pressure
Our scruples will be the death of us

Lost out at sea
“Babylon the scarlet whore has come”
I can no longer sleep through this colossal nightmare

Charles Cicirella
10/27/20

You Make Me Happy (For Jax)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-27T14_39_50-07_00

“Ring around the Rosie”
It’s time to take back the night
I desire to make love to you

My words are a magic carpet ride
The needle hidden in a haystack
Broken hearts our Sopwith Camel

You are defined in sharp brushstrokes
A lasting impression chiseled in ether
Please allow me to kiss your dictionary lips

My apologies stain the bag with grease
Let’s close our eyes and shelter in place
The apocalypse will forever alter our outlooks

Seeing you on video
Your body cast in light and sleight of hand
I’m watching you with my third eye wide open

“Ring around the Rosie”
It’s time to bring the day back into focus
I desire you naked and full of aching promise

Charles Cicirella
10/27/20

Metal Goddess (For Sara)

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-27T14_15_15-07_00

Terror reigning, heavy metal goddess
Sexy femme fatale, lion tamer
A throwback to more malevolent times

Eyes wide open
Twenty three skidoo
Breaks open Twitter with her fat chords

Let’s stop mincing words
Remember the Alamo and apple pie a la mode
Forget how challenging the truth is for some people

Sara is happiness
As sweet as a Van Halen song in July with the top down
Watching and listening to her band makes me happy and lightens my load

I love pictures of her in her tee shirts
Leaves nothing to the mystery except the mystery of getting to know her better
I cannot wait to play her on my radio show and to introduce her as my friend.

Charles Cicirella
10/27/20

The square root of Jax is Jax squared.

 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-25T12_48_22-07_00

I desire to make love to you with the words in my mouth and the hands at the ends of my arms.
We can close our Nutella (New-tell-uh) eyes and pretend it’s a holiday or the day we were born.
Our birthdays mustn’t suffocate us otherwise what’s the point of coming out of the womb.

The first video you made for me I couldn’t help but stare at your breasts because they proved to me you were human and not just a daydream I dreamed up to stop the incessant screaming inside my head.
Your mystical countenance champions a whole other you that I’m not even sure you’re aware exists beneath a flurry of cotton candy web episodes.
You vanish back into the bottle like a genie or Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend.

I yearn to kiss your loins as you edit some grieving manuscript that you started writing before time had learned to speak in complete sentences.
I know this is neither what you wanted nor expected, but I must come clean because this poet only knows one way forward and that’s by putting both feet in his mouth while learning not to choke on crow feathers.
Our birthday suits call out to us like Salinger’s frozen peas because we’ve discovered our best selves mustn’t get in the way of our highball expectations or tiresome accusations.

Charles Cicirella
10/25/2020

Amsterdam

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-10-05T00_05_39-07_00

The fix is in
The Whiskey Priest is all whiskied out
He made up his mind and it was a big deal

Listening to Lou, but it’s not the same without him here
Nothing is the same since he checked out like Mr. White
Rep and Tommy Jay tell me they don’t want to talk about him, but I won’t be told what to remember or what to forget

October 16th. looms in infamy
So does October 19th. because that’s when my mother passed away
My good friend Dan’s birthday is also in October so I’m forced to take the good with the bad as a “Halloween Parade" passes us by

We break open our hearts with memories that even our skull banks have a difficult time wrapping their metal or meat around
It’s like some fifties monster movie where even the a actors are treated with disdain because everyone’s a suspect when the bad news is delivered like a corpse
The world is broken and the world has turned to shit as narcissism becomes a national pastime and we shoot apple pie into our veins because Uncle Sam wants you to forget he ever existed

I’m not the keeper of his archives even though that’s what I’ve been told since his death bell began to toll
I am a friend and someone who continues paying tribute because he’s the best and worst thing that ever happened to me and I’ll never forget when we listened to Townes and got lit on our drugs of choice
The Remington up in his gallows calls out like broken teeth in a pugilists’ roundabout mouth as I put the needle down on Sean Lennon’s Into the Sun and go there with Jim

Charles Cicirella
10/5/20
 

My two or three cents.

 I am just going to say it. The people who are now saying and in fact pointing out rather vehemently that even though they do not like Trump they're not wishing him any ill and that we can make up on own minds about how we feel. Now I am not even sure why this needs to be said because okay yes there are those who are saying terrible things about Trump and his contracting Covid, but there are also those of us who don't wish him any ill will, but still have no sympathy for him or any of the others in his inner circle or administration who have also tested positive. I am starting to feel that those who go out of their way to tell us how they don't wish the President any ill will and even though this may not be what they're doing, it's like they're drawing a line in the sand and either you don't wish him any ill will or you're a total unfeeling bastard and could care less what happens to Trump (sound familiar?). For me I cannot have any sympathy for a man who continues to go out of his way to sow hatred, whose flagrant disregard to science has absolutely led to people contracting Covid and yes sadly also dying. And while Trump is in the hospital getting better care than any of us could ever get and with our tax dollars he and his henchmen are still pushing through Barrett so on Nov. 10 millions upon millions (including myself) will lose their healthcare. Ill will? Absolutely not, but he isn't getting one iota of sympathy from me because karma is a bitch and for those on their higher moral plane (like it or not that's exactly how it sounds) your speech now is just as dangerous as when people said when he was inaugurated how much damage can he really do and let's give him a chance. How much damage can he do? Look around you and also one last thing for anyone who says Pence would be far worse you are clearly not paying attention because we've had bad Presidents before, but never have we had someone who has such a blatant disregard for human life. The man is a perfect storm of shit and that shit is raining down upon each and everyone of us no matter what your party affiliation is.

Chris Wallace chuckles as Rome burns.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-09-30T14_20_45-07_00

Time’s up
If you’re not part of the one percent you’re screwed
That’s what the powers that be want us to believe, but I’ll never accept that virus infected telegram

Talk over us, interrupt us and do everything you can to break our spirits and we’ll still come out on top because we have right on our side and your might will only get you so far
Take away our healthcare, a woman’s right to choose and still we’ll beat you in the end because we are the rising sun while your sun has set eons ago

I’ve never understood why minorities have anything to do with the GOP when they could care less about anyone who isn’t white and ready to carry a burning torch through the claustrophobic cornfields
Also don’t get why people who don’t have a lot of money are republicans when it’s been proven over and over again that nothing trickles down but rainwater and the tears of a misbegotten savior
My heart bleeds for you, but not because I’m a liberal. My heart bleeds for anyone who pretends they’re something they’re not and continues to come up short as an honorable parade passes you by

The clock’s face is all scrunched up
Watching this first debate was like pulling out my own toenails and feeding them to the invisible pigeons in my head
Our spirits mustn’t be broken by this clown because there’s still work to be done and a whole lot of grievances that must be sorted out before the dawn breaks and the darkness goes back from whence it came.

Charles Cicirella
9/30/2020

No Knock Warrant (For Breonna Taylor)

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/charlespoet/episodes/2020-09-25T18_18_50-07_00

Don’t believe the news
They never report the truth
Black people aren’t even safe in their own residences

We’re supposed to feel sad when a cop dies at the hands of a black perpetrator and yet when a black person is shot down like a dog nothing is done to the cops while the victim’s reputation is smeared because cops take care of their own and racists never truly take off their white hoods
Whatever happened to common sense like for instance no knock warrants never should have existed and why is it cops always shoot to kill instead of shooting to wound?
Sandra Bland was supposedly "combative and uncooperative" during a traffic stop only to be found three days later dead in her cell. The Texas state trooper who pulled her over was only charged with perjury for conduct related to a contentious traffic stop of a black woman even though we can clearly hear him yelling on dashcam video "I will light you up!"

All lives matter and the racists who are hiding behind a badge and executing black people need to be charged with murder because enough is enough and all this senseless violence needs to be put to bed with a swift kick in its GI Joe extremities
Breonna Taylor was one of their own and still she got no justice while the officer who shot into the neighbor’s next door apartment was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment
It’s getting to the point where it seems the powers that be are bating black people to react because they know the cops will never be touched and that has to change because without consequences this powder keg only becomes more incendiary and the scales of justice only get more out of whack.

Charles Cicirella
9/25/20