Chris Sumberg

Some "micro poems" from Chris Sumberg, well published in little magazines,

resident of our nation's Nuclear Capital, Oak Ridge, TN, can be reached at

sumberg@usit.net.

Idiot?

My voice screaming:

You'll die!

You'll die!

Hostage, Failure,

Doom!-

Debt!-

Death!

Then TV saves me

with dreams of minty breath.

**************

Checked

Perfection's for the dull

and unforgiving.

(I see

that's unforgiving.)

**************

Debt vs Dog

The dog was expensive.

They had to have him.

A leg here,

a nose there.

**************

Ding

I'm an *ummm*, a fullish,

smallish* ahhhhh*.

Near-word:

*Hmn*

like

that lady's *tch*,

that baby's *phraaap!*

Just like the world,

full of unexplained crap.

**************

Feral Lunchbreak

Revved-up psycho chewing

cheese 'n' gristle sandwich,

mouth and jowls jouncing:

boing-boing boing-boing-boing.

**************

Mundane

Trivia, my Sancho Panza,

your words are doom,

etc.

I can put myself on

the pedestal. Just by

saying pedestal.

I'm way up there now,

a little shelf

smooth and distant.

**************

Nerve

This world of worms

gets me

squirming like a snake.

**************

My Job Before Being A Janitor

The fast food deli.

I worked with Hermoine

and Duane.

Hermoine ate pie.

Duane weighed less

than thirty-five pounds.

They were going to make me

manager--

the owners.

Told me what

a good

sound

business

making

sandwiches was--

offered to sell me

the whole fucking

chain.

But I had to learn

everything in a day,

wear a yellow shirt,

a muscle-bound hoagie

scorched across it,

and a yellow visor,

my ears sticking out

handles on a jug.

So

I worked for four hours,

squirting oil

and vinegar on white bread.

Around noon I quit,

Then I became a janitor.

The rest,

I believe,

is history.

**************

Opportunity Galore

In the train,

we all think it, but

no one pulls the cord.

**************

The Organs of Genius Are Louder

Yeah, yeah.

It's easy to run:

Minor keys.

Bach saw rough winters

with too many kids.

**************

Chris Sumberg