Friday Poem

I’ve always envied Eric Ziegenhagen. He and I went to high school together. During our senior year he had one of his plays produced off-Broadway. He’s since gone on to be a brilliant writer, director and musician. But what really gets me about Eric is his restraint. He’s never been showy. Everything he’s done has been built on simplicity, honesty, humor and surprise. So it made sense when I heard that Eric had won a Haiku contest from the Japanese consulate. What better medium for his understated aesthetic:

Winter dinner
At the Olive Garden
Three brothers, three cars.

Your yellow sundress,
Taramisu
On your lips.

Live alone,
Watch the traffic.
Live together,
Watch T.V.

My lover’s cardigan
Still smoky
From a bar last year.

Like a loon,
My brother swam down suddenly
And reappeared far away.

Sunday newspaper
Thicker
Than two heavy blankets.

Home Depot
In a blizzard
I miss my grandfather.

Boots piled in the doorway
My childhood friends
Visiting the city.

I drank beer
You, hot cider,
The night John Kerry lost.

This is Division.
This is Grand.
This is Chicago.

For more about Eric, go here and here