June 2016
E. Martin Pedersen
martinpedersen1255@gmail.com
martinpedersen1255@gmail.com
I left my hometown of San Francisco, California, in 1978 for a long hitch-hiking trip around the Mediterranean, ending up in Messina, Sicily, where I still live. I teach English at the local university. My poetry has appeared in Frigg, Strong Verse, Ink Sweat & Tears and others. To relax, i play the banjo, follow baseball, take summer walks on the PCT and blog at www.emartinpedersen.com.
I Repeat Repeat
I repeat myself, repeat myself
Every time the same, over and over again
Walk the same empty corridor
By the same locked doors
Breathe in and out
All the chords in my new song are the same
As the chords in my old song, is this a game?
I ate chocolate cake last week; I enjoyed it
I bought another one this week
Sex they say should be different every time
I wouldn’t know, I wouldn’t know
Is redundancy such a crime?
Then I noticed that I begin brushing
With the teeth on top front then to the left
Then right, then bottom teeth
Lastly in back and on the tops, edges
Gums and tongue
Every freaking time
A million days in a row
Well, not a million any more —
Oh, I just thought of something
I will only do once.
I Repeat Repeat
I repeat myself, repeat myself
Every time the same, over and over again
Walk the same empty corridor
By the same locked doors
Breathe in and out
All the chords in my new song are the same
As the chords in my old song, is this a game?
I ate chocolate cake last week; I enjoyed it
I bought another one this week
Sex they say should be different every time
I wouldn’t know, I wouldn’t know
Is redundancy such a crime?
Then I noticed that I begin brushing
With the teeth on top front then to the left
Then right, then bottom teeth
Lastly in back and on the tops, edges
Gums and tongue
Every freaking time
A million days in a row
Well, not a million any more —
Oh, I just thought of something
I will only do once.
©2016 E. Martin Pedersen