Baby Spa
10 FebBath time is a joyous event in our house.
My wife and I make sure to have everything set up
before the baby is even undressed.
The coconut oil for his scalp and legs
sits on the nightstand table.
The space heater is already raring to go in the bedroom.
and the central unit is dialed up to 75 degrees.
The baby’s big dry towel is placed directly next to his pajamas
and sleep sack.
Two more towels await on a rack
to transport him from the tub to the bed.
Music is the real key.
We like him relaxed while he gets scrubbed down–
usually some modal jazz with not too many notes playing.
The two small buckets next to his tub in the kitchen
are for soaping and rinsing.
For his bathwater I do a 1 to 2 ratio
of scalding hot and ice cold water from the faucet.
Upon immersion he is quickly covered in warm wash cloths
Then we pour warm water over his torso so he doesn’t get the chills.
Start with washing the scalp, then onto the face
then down to rest of the body
before ending with his baby feet.
We’re careful to never mix the soap water
with the rinse water.
The baby is then carefully removed from tub
draped in a dry towel
and transported to the bedroom to be lain down
on another dry towel.
The soaked towel is discarded and the third towel
is used to thoroughly dry his hair and body.
We generously apply coconut oil to his scalp, chest, arms and legs.
Some nights we even bust out the wooden brush
with the fine goat hair bristles
to brush his oily hair.
The boy is then diapered and soothingly placed in his pajamas and sleep suit
before his mama offers him some “lechita”.
Then we lay him down
in the king sized bed we bought specifically for him
and hope that he will sleep like royalty
for the next three to four hours.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Three Summers in Denton
10 Feb
I.
Summers in Denton were simple
I’d returned to cement, mend, and let go
of certain relationships.
each day was painstakingly slow
as the Texas heat beat the ambition out of me.
Mornings were spent listening to records
checked out from the school library
and trying not to seduce my female housemates ( I barely succeeded).
I spent a lot of time in bed, thinking
and believing I’d made the right decision despite
leaving behind two good jobs and
a rotating bevy of beauties–both young and old.
Though things were on the surface good in Austin,
everything felt slightly off.
Moving back to North side of I-35 created new challenges
but it always felt right,
even when things weren’t quite good.
To escape the heat I only moved at night
waking up from naps to the sounds of
70’s soft rock, Bossanova and cool jazz.
I rarely left the house before 6PM,
and at night I stocked grocery store shelves–
arguing with my direct supervisor about my box nightly box count.
I kept a deliberate pace, slow to take things in
and quick to tune things out.
My new life gave me the space to think
and to not think.
I ignored the burgeoning numbness that had yet to peak
but would not thaw completely until nearly 2 winters later.
II.
June was a rainy month–one of the rainiest summers of memory.
Lunch breaks were spent at my apartment
lying in bed together, before returning to campus
under the same umbrella–both soaking wet.
It was my first time to ever live alone
First time traveling alone to visit ballparks in other states.
In many ways things were perfect.
Yet still I felt an uneasiness creeping,
I wanted freedom.
But I was afraid to completely embrace it.
I managed to miss out on both realities by sitting on the fence.
Staring down an imminent transition
whether I was ready for it or not.
III.
I hit my stride in ’05
spent more loan money on travel than I did books
and the new mattress gifted to me by a friend
came with plenty of good JuJu.
No more road games.
Two (possibly even three) could sleep there comfortably
and I could still get away with giving in to my base desires
(no matter how unattractive the young lady was in the daylight).
It was the happiest I’d been in a long time
but I could sense I was ready for something different
Two years alone had taught me enough.
The road ahead would prove to be a bumpy one,
but it was necessary.
I learned to love to be alone.
Now it was time to learn how to be with others.
The fun (and the weirdness) was just beginning.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Come Live With Me (Angel)
6 FebSwaying, swinging notes
with a hard bottom to accompany a smooth melody.
Things really take off during the middle section when the tempo picks up.
You can feel the players stretching out
loosening up
playing rich layers of dense funk.
The percussion is less contained during this stretch–fast without the restraints.
But the drummer never loses control.
He keeps it tight.
He’s the bus driver.
Everyone can go wild,
but the drummer holds it all together.
But everyone seem to let go at the very end
at the exact same time
for a brief second,
then back together again.
With fluid bass lines
that catch all the snare hits.
Horn playing like soft whispers
The undercurrent of sex in his singing
hinting at excitement, attraction, curiosity, and anticipation;
but still playing it cool–
spilling out, but never completely spilling over.
Ducks
6 FebI shouldn’t have laughed.
I could tell from her face
that she was traumatized by the event.
I certainly saw the tragedy in her story.
She and her (ex) boyfriend
find an injured duck on the roadside,
taking it home
and nursing it back to health;
only to release it back into the wild
at some random pond
and witness the duck get torn to shreds
by the ducks native to that pond.
I cried. Cried from laughter
because it was one of the saddest stories I’d ever heard–
one so poignant that I could envision her sharing it
in a creative writing class as a short story.
It was sad as hell and I felt bad for her.
But that didn’t keep me from seeing the humor in it also.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Limeade
6 FebSuch a big boy to cross the street all by himself
walked to Braum’s and got a 1/4 cheeseburger, fries, and a giant limeade.
He crossed safely back towards the apartments on Audelia,
deftly maneuvered through traffic like a game of Frogger.
Before his feet even touched the sidewalk there was a splat!
Half of his limeade ran out onto the curb
and down into the street.
Near the bottom of the cup
remained a few sips–with more ice than liquid.
He a took deep hard look at the oncoming traffic
coming from both directions and decided to not go back across.
He ached for the limeade that was lost,
wishing for more than a cup of tap water
to wash down the burger and fries
while he watched Bosom Buddies and It’s a Living
on the 13 inch Magnavox.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Transition Chord
6 FebFor a very long time in my life
I was the guy that girls dated
right before they met their soul mate,
life partner–the one who was serious enough
to move in with them or marry.
Once the revolving door of evolving
partners stopped spinning,
I soon realized that I was always the transition guy
because I was always the one in transition;
and its impossible
for a girl wanting to stability
to get serious with a guy like that
unless they were equally as chaotic and unstable.
And though women like that are most times fun in the beginning,
they rarely amounted to anything past a few warm nights,
a handful of memories, and if I was really lucky,
a poem or two. Which of course, worked out fine,
until I became the person craving stability.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Creative Differences
6 FebHe was a mixture of jazz, post-rock, and post-punk,
a loud, bombastic
instrumental, cacophonous
free form and improvisation
skulking closest to the underground.
She was structure,
an epic and rehearsed drama
using her commercial appeal to gain mainstream approval.
Together they made soft soothing melodies,
creating emotional lyrics
written to quiet sunsets
Both styles complicated by their
conflicting formats.
Neither one better; just different,
depending on one’s tastes.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Pedestal
1 FebThe combination of background music
and her naked body beneath mine
created a magical and visceral image that exists to this day.
Back when the female body
was still a mystery;
when I never took for granted
any woman hopping onto my mattress with me.
When porn wasn’t quite as accessible
and conversation was merely a hurdle
one jumped through to in order to achieve sexual relations.
Before women (and people overall) weren’t such a nuisance.
There was still an innocence to it all.
In my mind not only were we mugging down,
but we were transcending worlds with each kiss;
achieving our destinies with each bare touch,
and baring our souls through every orgasm.
Hmm. No wonder I stayed a virgin for so long in my life.
Your boy was just simpin’.
~Edward Austin Robertson
Nuclear Polio Vaccination 