oelbaum


Seth Oelbaum

Two Poems

on the edge


baby’s got some big
bubbles hopefully ascending
to the top
of the ceiling
where the spiders
crawl unmolested

oh no
one mustn’t kill them
they’re the stuff
of superheroes

rip
tear

it’s mummy
on the toilet
flipping through her
glossy so fast it’s an upheaval

if only she weren’t

so focused

“4 easy moves for a super-hot body”

then the spoiled
meats lining up
on the edge
wouldn’t be below her notice

eyes open
mouths open
much worse than a polluted aquarium

if only they weren’t
so gristle then maybe
i could paint them
like eggs on easter


bling teeth

if my daddy wasn’t dead
then he’d infinity me to the sporting goods

store and daddy would hold up a red
baseball bat and say “what do you think
of that?” and i’d say “daddy
red is the color of those other parts” and daddy
would nod thoughtfully
and then daddy would hold
up a brown
baseball bat and say “what do you think
of that?” and i’d say “daddy
brown is the color of my dearest
rapper” so daddy would credit
card it and then out into the out-
side world we’d go
and i see an un-
cultured sea witch dressed
in a pantsuit so i use
the baseball bat
on it and daddy smiles and at
the corner mailbox there’s an un-
cultured sea witch talking about
“barack” “trader”
“obama” “joe’s”
so i use the baseball bat on
it and daddy rubs his tummy because he is
hungry and i am
hungry so we walk
to a fast food chain and a
black boy with bling teeth waits to be
ordered so daddy orders a complicated
burger and i order six nuggets and we take
a seat near a big glass
window and daddy says he’ll push
me on the playground swing
set if i want him
to and i do

return to SHAMPOO 37