By Amy Simone Piller
I hardly ever am shy
or worry about school
or feel like crying
I hardly ever worry about what others think of me
I am often worried when I go to bed at night
I often feel fed up
I often feel mad
I often feel upset
I often am so angry I feel like throwing things
I almost never worry about what could [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Like the rock-ensconced tornado animation
over a cartoon who has just fought
my morning distractions
last night’s dreams
of tomorrow’s students
this morning’s headlines
fashion in Oakland
affirmative action shut down
and other such societal codes
What grabs my attention?
Unconscious – the Nets score
trivial perspective
nonobjective observation
What is instruction for?
By Amy Simone Piller
Many minutes
staring at shelves
Pocahontas in the lake
Mirror, mirror, why do I care
how this hangs?
I am the same
One article off from right
dangling capitalism disappear!
By Amy Simone Piller
like clearing the table
leaving no crumbs
remembering to scrub the sink
when the dishes are clean
removing chewing gum
after going through the wash
getting an oil stain out of a new shirt
and still wearing it as if nothing
un mixing a drop of paint
as if it could all be undone
By Amy Simone Piller
I notice you noticing me sometimes
though you notice others’ something
Sometimes hangs the space
scintillates
Scintillating is simply imagined
not dust particles exposed
it is two subjectivities objectified
It is nothing
it is just a you
just an I
I wonder if you talk to yourself like this
multiple narratives recognized
Recognizing this is not allowed
I will always look down
Down far enough?
Is that why
you don’t look [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Also known as
don’t be an a$%hole
today
when students don’t pay attention
don’t take their sneakers hostage
instead remind them science made possible
sneakers and plastic
paper and inventions
the world has become because
of minds like theirs unbound
by flashes of brilliance
of hope
moments of maybe
possibly this way out
If only they liked podcasts
If only they liked to read
It would be easier
quieter certainly
If only their [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
I.
Caffeine waning
sugar crashed
boost craving
It is late afternoon
and I want
II.
Let your eyes
linger me longer
I want to feel
not solve
your problems
though I will pretend to care
Notice how I just started using you
(Who am I talking to?
You always in need
I is never not in want
and who are they?
She he impersonal
a distant cousin
unaware)
III.
This is a warning
I will manipulate
life’s demands
beyond restraint
Take [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
CONSIDERING MOTHERHOOD
I.
Neurotic when I walk
translating songs to Spanish
to practice
to focus
to proceed
tapping barely known notes
of Ode to Joy joyful joy
childhood patterns
I smile often
on my own
II.
I imagine waking at four am wondering
if the imagined you is breathing next door
I have never been one for fine print
direction manuals and to think
this might lead to that stopping
perfect breath
How will [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
I get fatalistic at intersections
this could be it
…
Today in peer mediation
one student repeatedly apologies
the other refuses to accept
I said
Really you don’t think he can change?
He said
Nope
I said
There’s no reason to be alive
if you don’t think people can change
He said
He’s gonna keep picking his nose
A student passing by said
Ask him to wash his hands
He said
Nope
She said
How [...]