NAPOWRIMO #30: INSTRUCTIONS AND SUCH

INSTRUCTIONS AND SUCH

Retain this information
for your records.

No trees were harmed
in the making of this poem.

No giant squid
was milked for ink.

No large bird
was plucked for a quill.

Keys were tapped
to transmit bits and bytes.

Server farms hummed
and technicians tinkered

with computers
that failed but were linked

to others that did not due
to favored redundancies.

The sun still shone
somewhere above dark clouds

that poured down hail
and rain upon an asphalted town.

And the poem lived
its life forever in electronic

digital glory that shone
like jeweled gates of a city

Pearl and Emerald
Gold, Garnet, and Jasper

a rainbow of colors
as though a petroleum stain

an oily film upon the skin
of a muddied puddle

waiting for a child’s boot
to splash it and disperse it.

Remember these things
sing them loudly.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #29: NEST

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

NEST

I am her child
and she my mother

although I wonder
why she never smothered

the life out of me
when I stared up with

near-stillborn eyes
and a crooked smile

pasted onto pencil-
thin lips

that sought the warmth
and milk of her

tiny breasts

we were mismatched
from the beginning

a flailing nestling
and a new parent

unsure of how to care
for this mewling thing

pink and hairless
and naked

with clutching paws
and sharp nails

and barely able
to contain the sustenance

that she provided

stench and attendant
dribbles from both ends

were my offerings to her
as she tried to clean up

and mask the smells
that poured forth

this is privilege and gift?
she wondered

as I rolled about
my hands and face seeking

her warm tender words
while cooing back in echo

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #28: thEEDDDD

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

thEEDDDD

she said,
although we think
she meant “the end”

either way,
it referenced
an exploding star

Wire’s “Comet”
or Killing Joke’s
“Asteroid!”

or the bright
white stellar light
of Jesus the Christ

as he went nuclear
on the mountaintop
of a planet thousands

upon thousands
of light years
away, where

if we had
been able to hear
this angel song

it would have
been a single
sustained rumbling note:

thEEDDDD

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #27: PROGRESS

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

PROGRESS

The blade of the knife peels back the skin of my forearm and hand, then the dermis, and finally bites into the meat of my arm. I cut and cube the red flesh into one-inch squares, glorying in my newly discovered skills as a sous chef. The chunks of arm fill a skillet on the stovetop, where the blue flames of natural gas render the fat from the flesh, which I pour off into an empty and rinsed jar that once held lingonberry preserves.

Cheesecloth helps to define the oil that I seek: purifying, clarifying, bringing forth the hope of new life from old.

A quick twist of the knife and a soft “pop” tearing of tissue divorces radius and ulna from humerus, the former clacking together as they drop to the granite-like laminate of the countertop. I continue to butcher with the remaining hand and its clutched utensil, having practiced many times prior on the flesh of boar or other beasts.

Fortunately, there is little blood, due to tourniquet and candle flame.

The threaded screw finds its way into the marrow of bone with one half-twist after another, interrupted here and there by fainting spells brought upon by the pain that shots of dark rum cannot quite quell. Soon, though, the haft of the harpoon is secure and stable, the blade glinting where a palm and fingers once resided.

The oil from the jelly jar gives the metal a polish that one could barely imagine. Oh how it shines!

I snack on the few remains of my former arm, pulling them from the depth of an oversized coffee mug, while I hang over the starboard side of the boat, hovering inches from the water of the sea, waiting for the Whale to appear. I will need sustenance for the fight as I hold fast until one or the other of us perishes. It is time.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #26: BROKEN

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

BROKEN

For one it was a broken hand
another, a broken head
another, a broken heart

it was all monkey see, monkey do

see no evil, hear none, speak none

yet they tried to link their bones
into one framework, one skeleton
that merely lumbered about

like a diseased silverback gorilla

without focus, without aim, lacking direction

a wheel without spokes

slightly bent out of shape
like a hard-boiled egg
that hadn’t been properly

tested in the flames

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #25: BELIEVE

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

BELIEVE

You can’t believe that
they say

it’s exclusive

it’s black and white

it’s not what we believe

so I invite

and speak of grays

and confirm that I don’t
believe what they believe

but that I trust
that the mind of God

is large enough to contain

both beliefs

and mountains more

I speak of visions

that they don’t want
to hear

because they’re filled
with jeweled colors

and the mercies
they secretly covet

but they can’t state such beliefs

while the others watch

and wait.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #24: ORDINARY THINGS

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

ORDINARY THINGS

Ordinary things
are the order of the day
when the Kingdom comes
upon the hard soil
of this earth—

bread and wine
as body and blood

water splashed
in the name of Spirit

light shining
through the darkness

banquet table
where all are welcome.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #23: EASTER VIGIL

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

EASTER VIGIL

From fall
to exile,

from tomb
to life,

ever-present:
God.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

QUICK OR DEAD

"The nest's location so close to the building was sign that the house was uninhabited and yet he felt a childish dread of arousing unknown denizens, quick or dead."
—page 337, Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

POET TREE

The Puyallup Public Library placed a "poet tree" in its lobby, with instructions encouraging patrons to (a) write lines from a favorite poem or an original poem on one of the provided tags and (b) hang the completed tag on the tree.

My NaPoWriMo #9 poem, "Cask," ended up on the tree, on the green tag in the right foreground.

NAPOWRIMO #22: CONVENIENCE

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

CONVENIENCE

“C’mon, we need to go.”

“Oh, did you already nuke your food?”

The question alters the shallow box
of reconstituted noodles
and neon-orange sauce
that purports to be macaroni and cheese.

“No, really, finish eating, I’ll wait for you.”

“Even though we need to go.”

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

OAK & MAPLE

Dusk falls upon oak and maple...

NAPOWRIMO #21: BEFORE THE FALL, SCENE 1

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

BEFORE THE FALL, SCENE 1

The scent of sweetgrass
the songbook of small birds
the soil that has yet to be lifted
by the Dust Bowl and carried away

Mother has died and Father has died
and Stepmother has died
the siblings have moved to their own homes
and he celebrates his eleventh

birthday alone on the farm
standing in the Oklahoma sunshine
with a freshly hunted possum in one hand
and his rifle in the other

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #20: ALBUM 1

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

ALBUM 1

I measure in albums,
long-players

while you measure in songs,
mp3s

I treasure the artwork
of twelve-inch sleeves

while you simply
love a song, a single

I will die with remembrances
of music-objects

the music they invoke

while you will die with snippets
of songs

pixellated and partially corrupted

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #19: RELIGION

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

RELIGION

Narrow path or narrow mind
or never mind

it’s really about open hearts

marrow of bones that dries out
to be filled again with new life

stitched together

with taut sinews
and fibrous muscle

a pulse that beats blood

to the outskirts of rejuvenated limbs
that reach toward the neighbor

in need.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #18: BRETT

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

BRETT

The cry goes out:
“This beer is infected!”

Then don’t cellar it,
instead, drink as directed.

Pour it now,
drink it down

better to enjoy it somehow
and the brewer remain respected.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #17: THE SPRING TREE

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

THE SPRING TREE

is filled with living ornaments

is the brilliant yellow of goldfinches and the rich red of house finches

is the sleek feathers of the stealthy nuthatch

is the chattering mob of bushtits that move in unison like a school of fish

is the patterned camouflage browns of female finches

is the gregarious mountain chickadees that move in close to complain about my presence

is the turning of heads at each overhead shadow, checking to ensure it isn’t death made manifest by the presence of the local sharp-shinned hawk

is all feasting on common seeds, the proffered shelled feed

is the chirps and melodies and chatters, songs that interweave into an angelic chorus made present on the soil of this kingdom

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #16: KILLER

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

KILLER

We like to think ourselves modern
our problems unique and novel
the urge to kill as something recent

yet we forget our brother Cain
standing over Abel’s body
with its blood feeding the farmland

yet we forget the covetous caveman
with his polished bone club
striking his father’s teeth and temple

yet we forget the monsters
who have always roamed our forests
traveled the highways near and far

yet we forget the criminal soldier
sprung from the prison cell
to slaughter for sport rather than honor

and our battlefield inventions
machines of war and carnage
extensions of our vile words and hatred

while all I desire is a steady trigger finger.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #15: ERNIE

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

ERNIE

Ernie the globe thistle
lives his own Easter:

each spring the stubby
stalk begins to grow

spreads out his long
lithe leaves reaching effortlessly

toward the sallow sun
of the Pacific Northwest.

He tickles the leaves
of his gathered children

little Ernies and Esthers
of his Easter seeds

each growing quickly green
(after the fall cutting

and a winter sleep)
toward a summer day

purple planets humming bees
spreading pollen for more

Ernies to emerge for
next spring’s paschal show.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #14: JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE PAGAN KING

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE PAGAN KING

Wednesday, hump day, Odin’s day
the day that Fenris wolf humps his leg
and gnashes blood-flecked fangs at his good eye

the day that whale-breath Jörmungandr
world-serpent coils around his chest
twelve thousand times and constricts

the day that his bad eye, the missing eye
itches at the precise moment that his hands
are entangled with those snot-nosed

good-for-nothing godsons and their
frigid sister, his goddaughter Hel, calling forth
hordes of snow giants to battle him as well.

And later in the day...

It’s all reports from Hugin and Munin
of prayers from fisher-folk casting their nets
and warriors burning sacrifices in his name

about weirdings and wanderings
of his disciples through herds of reindeer
or across miles of monstrous whales

crushed together into schools
like sardines, forming new islands of flesh
moving southward across the vast ocean.

And much later...

He’s picking splinters of Ygdrassil
the world tree from the palms of his hands
when he attempted to rescue himself

from a self-induced hanging, a sacrifice
for the sake of true knowledge and once
he received it figured was better to stop then-and-there.

And then there are other gods to deal with...

The brash and out-of-control red-bearded
thunder god thrashing about the world
as though he were the only one that mattered

The giant-loving biggest pain-in-the-ass
trickster thief always willing to spin
something to save his own sorry skin

Both of them deserving a good pounding
or at least a couple of broken teeth
after a punch or two to the head.


---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #13: HAND

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

HAND

I don’t understand why it’s happening.

Or who I am.

It’s as though a fibrous ghost hand is filling my mouth and nose and throat with its sticky threads, searching for a place to sink yet-to-be-revealed claws, still hidden away like those of a cat’s paw.

It’s stealing my breath as I think.

In this moment.

I try to think it away, but it’s stealing my breath away in the span of time that it takes me to think this very thought.

The panic makes it difficult to complete the thought, which is what the ghost hand wants.

It likes the longer thought.

It likes the panicked thought.

These thoughts provide it a life, it’s purpose, even though I don’t know what that purpose is, can’t know what that purpose is, for I can only know the thought that I need to make it cease.

One feeds off of the other and vice versa, symbiotic predator and prey, a delicate balance that needs to be maintained to keep both alive.

We are as though conjoined twins, although one lacks substance and the other form.

I think “caress” when it squeezes too tight, so as to loosen its grip.

It tightens, sinks its claws, searches and probes and fills another crevice when I have almost thought it out of existence.

It needs me.

It tries to get me to think this thought, this long thought, which feels like a panicked thought to me, although it feels like life to it.

Try not to think then.

That’s the next thought.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #12: SEA LUNGS

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

SEA LUNGS

How does soft tissue
sound as though timbers
rubbed by wet rigging
and then relaxed?

How does ship sail
without warm breezes
to billow the bolts
of Ecuadoran canvas?

How does tropic sun
burn so steadily
through the pink strips
of salted haze?

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

BEER BOOKS

Left: 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die

Right: The Beer Trials

---

I recently received two books on beer that are being handled quite heavily. The first is The Beer Trials, which I received as a Christmas gift from the sister. The second is 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die, which I received as a birthday gift from the parents.

---

The Beer Trials

by Seamus Campbell and Robin Goldstein

312 page paperback

published by Fearless Critic Media

black-and-white images

$14.95

The premise behind this book is that beer tasting notes are often skewed by what someone already knows about the particular beer they are drinking (or thinks they know) or their knowledge of the brewer. They decided to rate beers in blind taste tests, which meant that they beer jurors had to rely on their senses, their knowledge of brewing techniques, and their personal tasting histories. It changes the way that one drinks a beer. One may be more inclined to give a higher rating than normal to a macrobrew and a lower rating than normal to a cherished craft brew or beloved microbrewery if some of one's beer biases are stripped away.

It's a fun book to flip through and see how some of these beer experts collectively rate my favorite and not-so-favorite beers.

---

1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die

edited by Adrian Tierney-Jones

960 page hardcover

published by Universe Publishing

full color images

$36.95

The premise behind this book is that there is a wide variety of beers that you need to explore. It doesn't favor any particular beer faction, preferring to pull all of them under its wings. Reviewing four times the number of beers as The Beer Trials (1001 compared to 250) also allows it to encompass more styles and more varities.

Individual beer writers are responsible for the entries, with the editors ensuring each voice plays nicely with the others. The overall effect is as though it were written by one author, which is not a bad thing in this case. The consistent voice adds some coherency and familiarity to each entry.

Full-color pictures of the majority of the beers accompany each beer's history, information, and tasting notes.

---

I often find myself in the middle of both books simultaneously, trying to find overlapping coverage of individual beers and styles. It's research of a sort that is both fun and informational.

---

The Beer Trials leans more toward beers that can be found nationwide in grocery stores. For example, it has six entries for Budweiser and its variants—Bud Ice, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, Budweiser, Budweiser American Ale, and Budweiser Select 55.

1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die leans more toward beers that have local or regional availability and are likely to be encountered in a specialty beer store. For example, it has seven entries for Rogue Ales—Dead Guy Ale, Juniper Pale Ale, Old Crustacean Barleywine, Rogue Mocha Porter, Shakespeare Stout, XS: Imperial India Pale Ale, and XS: Imperial Stout. However, most breweries are represented by two to four beers.

Both books include beers such as Caldera IPA, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, and Duvel's Maresous 10.

---

These books are also good reference points for comparison after writing down my own tasting notes. It allows me to see how my own experience relates to those more versed in the tasting of beers. Oh teach me, masters.

SESSION BLACK LAGER

Session Black Lager, a Schwarzbier by Full Sail Brewing Company.

11 ounce "stubby" bottle, served in a lager glass.

---

I have been trying to challenge myself to try lagers, beers that I tend to overlook in my search for a variety of ales, in addition to beers with a subtler flavor profile than I am usually prone to drink.

Session Black Lager seemed to be a good "transition" beer.

---

The pour delivers a root beer brown, almost black body. A thin tan head forms but quickly dissipates.

The primary aromas are a spring airiness, malts, freshly torn leaves, and a hint of chocolate.

The primary flavors duplicate the aromas, although they are subtler. The chocolate is the strongest flavor, and draws forth additional flavors of earthiness and wood bark. The palate is light.

The finish is crisp, with wood bark and dark chocolate as its most noticeable flavors.

Overall, this is a subtle but very enjoyable beer. It also lives up to its name, being very sessionable and not overly alcohol-laden. I could imagine drinking a few of these while hanging out with friends.

Session Black served my personal purpose and also stood well on its own merit.

---

The stubby bottle is also interesting in that it reminds me of some of the beers I remember my dad drinking when I was a kid. You just don't see too many bottles that deviate from the norm, especially in beers that are more likely to end up in your neighborhood grocery store rather than a specialty beer shop.

NAPOWRIMO #11: TWILIGHT

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

TWILIGHT

Black walnut:
white dendrite:
jazz hands:
amber streetlight.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #10: REVELATION

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

REVELATION

When I was a young child, I had a vision, a reoccurring dream of myself seated upon a wheelchair throne, my legs withered and crippled like well-burned matchsticks that would support neither weight nor mass. The brittleness of those quiet legs was matched with its polar opposite, a grizzled yet glorious lion, the lion of Judah (I knew it to be so!) that stalked my kingdom of circles, coming ever closer with each pass, a satellite in free fall.

When I was a youth, I waited with anxiety and anticipation as the cloud of radioactive debris from the failed Chernobyl nuclear reactor inched ever closer to my own country, my own neighborhood. It was on that day that my lung spontaneously collapsed while practicing calculus problems, limits and the like. As I lay on the hospital gurney, I felt the snuffing of the lion’s muzzle wet and warm against my ear even though I couldn’t see him through the pain and delirium. I kept staring up into the moist eyes of my parents, waiting for the muscular jaws of the lion, the lion of Judah (I knew it to be so!) to grab my throat ever so gently between his incisors and clamp down firm and forever, to mouth a farewell to my grieving mother and father, to listen for the crunch of bone on bone, vertebrae against skull, to wait for the wheelchair or whatever comes next.

When I was a man, I leaned over the bathroom sink, strands of pink phlegm dripping from my lips after a sustained-siege-fit-of-coughing, my chest tight and burning, my face red and verging on oxygen-depleted violet. I knew it wouldn’t be the wheelchair that I would inherit, even though interpretation of one’s own dreaming is dangerous, hybristic. From the shadows of the hallway door, I heard the soft padding of paws, the sniffing of the air, seeking my scent, the frail and tired stink that clung to my clothes and hair.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #9: CASK

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

CASK

Wood departs
alcohol imparts
ale receives
bourbon & bark.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #8: WALKING COWICHE CANYON

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

WALKING COWICHE CANYON

I am young and brash
jumping from rock to rock

only slightly cautious
for the coils of rattlesnakes

imagining this landscape
a good place for temptations

in the wilderness
with its pancake stones

sheer canyon walls
and temperature extremes.

---

Morning chill bleeds
into sun-baked afternoon

and graveled trail
shifts to less-traveled path

where soon and ahead
lies a missing footbridge

swept away by the appetite
of spring rains and swollen creek.

---

Youthful adventure
becomes mature hiking

as bounce is replaced
by carefully scrutinized

footing and surety
of each and every step

the shadows of twigs
imagined as snakes

ready to strike
at a moment’s notice.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #7: PETER AND THE SONS OF THUNDER GO ON TOUR

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

PETER AND THE SONS OF THUNDER GO ON TOUR

Paul and the Preachers are the opening act
and they are rock stars.

They know the crowd.

They feed the crowd.

Paul plays the role of frontman perfectly
even with the thorn in his side

especially because of his thorn.

It excites the crowd

makes him, and the other band members,
one of “them.”

---

Peter grabs the microphone as James straps on his bass
John his guitar.

Andrew takes the helm of the drum kit.

“Good evening, Cappadocia!”

But they are old and fatigued.

They play the expected hits
the number one singles:

“Nets of Plenty I” about being
fishers of men

“We Were There (with the Master)”
and its call to follow

“Nets of Plenty II” and its vision
of clean and unclean animals.

“Eat this at my table,”
Peter the Rock wails.

But the crowd has been wowed
by the opening act

remembers

the confronting yet comforting
words of Paul and the Preachers

and begins to mutter amongst itself

boos and hisses become stones thrown
violence threatened

unless a day’s wages are refunded
or “A Miracle” is performed.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #6:JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR #4

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

---

JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 4

For a brief moment
Jesus the Christ is electromagnetic pulse

and the heat of seven thousand suns;

in the wake of his Word:

the Temple courtyard littered
with overturned tables and chairs

coins melted into pools of bronze and silver

the Big Board dimmed and dead

the NASDAQ ticker silenced;

the traders stand in the midst
of slips of blank paper and feathers

the Roman authorities keep their distance
as they quorum and calculate

“Herod will need to act
and if not the puppet king

then the prefect of the State”

with his phalanxes and standards
that Jesus pushes aside

as he walks back into the streets of Jerusalem.

---

Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #5: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 3

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 3

The Adversary takes Jesus to the top of a peak
and shows him the ships and collonades of the world.

All this is yours he whispers, while his craggy hand wipes across
this scene of marketplaces and docks and public squares.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks refusal.

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The Advocate takes Jesus to the top of a peak
and shows him the Law and the Prophets.

This is the future she whispers, while Jesus stares into the faces
of three uncouth rough-and-tumble fishermen, his companions.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks within.

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Jesus the Christ goes nuclear upon this peak:
time and space and matter collapsing into a fist-sized hole

in his chest where his human heart should be.

He becomes a flash of white light and heat
a wave of energy that strips flesh and bleaches bone

burns bark from the fragrant cedars of Lebanon

crushes stones into sand
and fuses sand into glass.

Cities and siege walls crumble
dry bones knit themselves together in wilderness places.

The stones of the Temple ignite and burn
while the waters of the seas evaporate.

Jesus opens his eyes and the light increases
although this is surely an impossibility.

Jesus turns his gaze heavenward
as a Voice speaks its Word upon him:
This is my beloved Son, the alpha
and the omega, listen to him.

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Peter and the Sons of Thunder stand upon the peak
and watch this vision unfold before them

with its tectonic fury and kinetic thrust.

As one wave after another of warm light courses around them and through them
the stink of their sin runs down their thighs and calves.

Hours and years and eons of emanation
are encapsulated in the mere seconds it takes Jesus to close his hand

and corral the particles, the waves, of light.

We will build altars to this moment squeaks Peter.

Jesus closes his eyes and speaks aloud
No, we will leave this mountain and moment.
We will speak of it, but not now, soon.
We will speak of it to remember me.

And Jesus begins to shuffle in the direction of nearby desert towns.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

DEAD MAN, DEAD PORPOISE

"Back at the boat, I took a deep breath, took the dead man underneath the arms. Webster and Henry took his ankles. His clothes had dried and warmed a little, but under that warmth he was cold, stiff, smelly meat, like a dead porpoise on the tide line after a storm."
—page 105, Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

EASTER CANDY & BEER

The first Monday "Beer Adventure" at 99 Bottles this evening was an Easter candy and beer pairing. It was delightful.

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Pairing #1

Ayinger Ur-Weisse Dunkelweisen & Peeps

This is the pairing I feared the most, but it worked remarkably well. The yeast, clove, wheat, bread, and banana flavors of the beer complimented the sugar and marshmallow of the Peeps. I'm not normally a big fan of Peeps, but could easily imagine myself eating them if I had a pint of dunkelweisen around.

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Pairing #2

Lindemans Framboise Lambic & Reese's Peanut Butter Bunnies

This seemed to be the most conventional flavor combination of the bunch. The Framboise Lambic is ruby red in color with a brilliant pink head. It smells of fresh raspberries. It tastes of fresh raspberries. When it meets the Peanut Butter Bunnies, it matches perfectly. Chocolate and raspberry predominate, with a hint of peanut butter. You've had high quality chocolates that taste like this combination. Very good.

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Pairing #3

Left Hand Milk Stout & Whoppers Eggs

I'm a fan of Left Hand's Milk Stout. It has an earthy nose. The flavors are of roasted malts, an almost burned wood bark, and carmelized sugar. The mouthfeel is smooth and milky, just like the center of the Whoppers. The ale and the candy clash when they first meet in the mouth, but then the flavors blend and become one with the other. The finish is spectacular. The "harsh" open, the blend, and the finish all heighten the experience of combining the stout with the malted milk eggs.

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Pairing #4

Firestone Walker 31 Pale California Pale Ale & Dove Milk Chocolate Eggs

This was my favorite of the bunch, although I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why. The Firestone Pale Ale presents a brilliant orange-yellow body that is absolutely clear. The nose is orange. The primary flavors are sweet orange (with a hint of bitter peel) and flower petals. The orange of the ale works with the milk chocolate eggs similar to orange flavored chocolates. The only thing I could think of that would possibly make this better would be to substitute dark chocolate for the milk chocolate.

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This was definitely one of my favorite 99 Bottles tastings. Now its time to go pick up some Easter candy and a few bottles of beer at the store for additional experimentation.

NAPOWRIMO #4: DAWN

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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DAWN

John 9

From darkness to light
from blindness to sight
a little mud and spittle
retires the night.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #3: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 2

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 2

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Tabor
witnessed by his inner circle and the Jewish heavyweights

announced by a Voice from Heaven that is unnamed but known

where then does the light reside
and what organ does it fill?

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Hermon
as though a stellar army of thousands

announced by the Creator by whom he was begotten rather than made

where then does the light reside
and what orgone does it trill?

When Jesus the Christ goes nuclear on Mount Sinai
(the same peak where the face of Moses once reflected the image of the living God)

announced as Son by the present yet distant I Am Who I Am

where then does the light reside
and what organ does it fill?

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #2: JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 1

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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JESUS CHRIST GOES NUCLEAR 1

What is the half-life of Jesus the Christ?

Peter and the Sons of Thunder know
but they forgot to write it down

when they stood on the peak of the mountain.

Moses and Elijah know
it is the sum of their combined half-lives

as the bearers of the Law and of the Prophets.

Mary of Magdala and the other women know
it filled the empty tomb with its light and heat

making them slightly nauseated and weak in the knees.

The men on the road to Emmaus know
it is mysterious and molecular and manifest

even as it is like the quiet breath of the cosmos.

What is the half-life of Jesus the Christ

when a day is as a thousand years
and a millennium is as though a single day

and the measure is of alpha and omega?

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table

NAPOWRIMO #1: ROOM

For 2011's National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), Troy's Work Table is attempting to write thirty poems in thirty days without the help of writing prompts from other websites.

Many of these are still in some sort of draft stage, but that is the nature of the Work Table.

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ROOM

This room is where I sit
and stare at the small screen

where it likewise stares back at me.

This room is where I sometimes stand
and stretch to rest my stare

and where the other stare naps.

This room is where I would also sleep
if there was a door to close

to hide away from these stares.

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Copyright © 2011 by Troy's Work Table