Wherever

Wherever you go, there you are, Dad always said,

and it meant, well, things turn out the way they turn out,

but also, regardless of your location, you’re still you.

The truism didn’t lack irony, for, after his Mediterranean tour

In the navy, Dad never really went anywhere,

always content with himself at home. I, on the other hand,

moved about and traveled around, always on the lookout

for a place where I would fit in. But I’m pushing sixty now,

and I haven’t found it yet, so I have to admit

that Dad was right, I meet myself wherever I go.

Copyright 2021

T. Allen Culpepper

Minefield

Might it have been easier in some other universe,

this plodding through minefields of of one’s own

potentially explosive defects?

Maybe there, with a different cultural perspective,

one does it for sport, whereas here it’s a tedious

exercise that tries one’s patience.

One does, it seems, feel tired these days.

Copyright 2021

T. Allen Culpepper

Dance

Too much 

and all at once

the whole universe

gone chaotic like an after-hours party

with too many people and too many drugs

and there’s nothing left to do

but ask Siva to dance.

Copyright 2021

T. Allen Culpepper

Silver Queen

On the recent discovery, in Spain, of a burial site with artefacts suggesting women rulers

Everything she touched had silver on it,

and she was the queen, so she touched everything,

subjects as well as objects—

the miners couldn’t keep up.

Copyright 2021

T. Allen Culpepper