Burting In Again

Crepe myrtle in bloom in Washington, D.C., on a recent morning. The flowering shrub, which also blooms in lavender and white, blooms at the height of the hot and humid U.S. summer.


Burting In Again

I got yelled at
on the DC Metro
for "burting in"
ahead of a couple:
he spoke with
a Dixie accent
like molasses.

Burt,
to ride Metro
that's what
you gotta do,
"burt in."

Did I have
my burting-in
face on

like Burt
Reynolds in
"Deliverance"?

I hope I did.

Christopher T. George





Watching Honey Bees Pollinate Lavender on July 4

I take out the trash--a Glad Bag bulging
with my wife's old shoes and shoe boxes.

And I stand smoking a cigar, pressed flat
against the Twenties wall of our apartment

house watching tawny bees pollinate the blue-
purple flowers on overgrown aromatic branches.

An ambulance rushes by, its siren blaring,
while the bees continue their essential work.

Christopher T. George



Zen Stream

a push, a pull
continual motion

the mill wheel turns
trout swim upstream

life's eternal duties
a baby in her booties

poems get written
sermons get delivered

one life begins and
another's severed

the song continues
a lullaby
a lament

lies and love

humans down here
and God above

Christopher T. George





Beckham's Parking Cars

Three days after Beckham made
another million coming off
the bench in a downpour to help

the LA Galaxy lose to DC United,
as I drive into the garage, I spy
Rodney with his cap and gold

tooth wearing the England
shirt of no. 7: "Beckham."
I greet him and he tells me

"That's my name,
Rodney Beckham."

Christopher T. George