I am very pleased to present this collection of wonderful poems by Dennis Kolakowski and artwork by Bruce Pipman.
Writer: Dennis R. Kolakowski – Poems with art recently published, short stories, essays and poetry published in 70’s and 80’s, screenplays throughout the past ten years. Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Penn State engineer and facilities manager for Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center and Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Artist: Bruce Pipman - Please see www.brucepipman.com
Oscillation
9” x 12”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
Oscillation
There will come a time
when I’ll be willing to trade
everything I ever owned
for just one more day
before my oscilloscope flatlines
and whistles like a bird
under a tire,
even if it rains throughout that extra day
and I don’t leave my bedroom.
But who will make me
that deal?
Or at least remind me
when I bitch about today’s traffic
and my boss
and the weather?
For now to pause
in the light
of blue night and rust rumblings
where common denominators
need not be least,
enriched from younger years
that were filled with notions
that I had it figured out,
but were actually mislead
by the circumstances that
I didn’t know
enough people
who are now dead.
Pressure To Be
9” x 12”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
Pressure To Be
I’m totally out of control
throughout the day
in such short episodes
that it appears to you
I’m cool,
calm, and collected.
But you’ll find out
for yourself
because I was you
and soon you will
be me.
Importance (Wink)
16” x 12”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
Importance (Wink)
I was five years old
when my Sunday school teacher
(mom)
taught us
God made me
because he loves me,
even more than my parents.
And,
we ALL will die.
It was at that very instant
I realized
that nothing here
could really be
all that important,
with a creator
that’s such a clown.
Pushing the Love Ball
16” x 20”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
Pushing the Love Ball
Humped over a wad
of misguided blanket
solidified in sweat,
Naked as
my innermost hunger
to make you happy
and me victorious.
Kids are bouncing
inside school buses
headed our way,
They know not
the gashes that await
and juices spilled here
till they
slash and drink their own.
They’ll never see it coming,
entanglements
creeping out of secrets
fevered fantasy
forbidden fruit
surrendering skin
and powerless pain.
It wakes you from the dead of night
when alone
scaling curves and crevices
in your head,
tripping into territories
you never even aimed for.
Then we again
swell like a flood
giggle with gratitude
suck back tears
keep score
and pull our punches,
Pushing the love ball
out of bounds
and back.
I Don’t Want You To Kill Me
16” x 12”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
I Don’t Want You To Kill Me
I don’t want you to kill me
which is precisely why
I watch breaking news….
to wise up to tendencies
and map out the parts of town
where I dare not go….
and to track the kind of people
I need to avoid….
and to suck up Severe Weather Warning Center
so I know when to stay home undercovers….
and don’t get me started about the
wealth of diseases out there
plotting against me….
I know I have several
they don’t even have names for yet….
I need the details
from attractive men and women
delivering the daily dread….
of what streets are being shot up today
what scene the cameras are speeding to….
How lost I’d be
without reporters on location
interviewing shocked neighbors….
Please
tell me who to blame
where I keep my fear
who to root for
whose politics is mine today….
Don’t expect me to live
without advisories
expert witnesses
road rage sightings
and bulletins….
It wasn’t long ago
the illegitimate act of living
underinformed
was forgivable….
But now on endless channels
every sucker for himself
with no one in control….
How entertained I am
by the doubt
of my own survival.
Airwaves
12” x 12”
Acrylic on Canvas
by
Bruce Pipman
from the collection of the artist
Airwaves
I told her,
“It’s not about intelligence,
it’s all about awareness!”
Then I tripped over her.
Then my Dangerous God
told me,
“All anger is lost.”
So I forgave her,
because we’re all drinking
somebody’s Kool-Aid.
What do you expect?
I live in the airwaves
between a broken heart
and trusted radio
where
the obscurity
of my happiness
outweighs
the certainty
of my death,
Where
everyone is doing a perfect job
of being themselves,
You’ve got your truth,
I’ve got mine.
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