Every Word for Itself

By Al Ferber

every WORD for ITSELF:

It’s a jungle out there in the world. It’s survival of the fittest out there in this world. And that includes the
words we use. Choose them wisely. Say or write what you mean. And mean what you say or write. I don’t.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669878636

Al Ferber

Al Ferber a septuagenerian going on 13. Born. Regrettably… A North Philly kid. Survived education at Temple U., Penn State, Villanova U. Alcoholic 30 years. Sober 23 years. Indenture servant to Catherine the Great 34 years. Learned to love and appreciate cats and one dog. Authored 30 books of poems, 2 novels, 3 chap books. Poems in Magazines in U.S., England, Scotland, France. Still alive, on the downward path of the sliding board, as of this writing. An undocumented alien in the world. Resides Ocean City, NJ surrounded by water with Cathi, Luna, Mitzi, and Opal. So there.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Al Ferber.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover design by Al Ferber

Rev. date: 05/24/2023

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

851515

Contents

Acknowledgements

Anywhere

Mitzi (R.I.P.)

Diplomacy

The Beats Are Gone

Feels Like

Unexpected Compliment

Call 911

Powdered Milk

Ghost Writer

Cha-ching

An Acquired Taste

J. Judy Said

Mulch

Chill Out

Through The Grapevine

Balls & Bars

S.O.S.

EWFI

Loud As Thunder

Shattered

The Dances

Where’s Everybody Go

The Secularist

Subterranean

Descent

Belly of the Beast

Arrangement

In The World

Opinions

Sunday

Words

Almost

Cemeterys & Shrinks

Don Juan

The Price Is Right

The Ascent Of Women

Rare Condition

The Conundrum of Boys & Girls

Hints of Joy

Chip Chip Chipped Away

The AA Thing

I Forgot

Night Life

Around The Circus

The Hole In The World

Bring It On

Hair Trigger

The Crew

The New Disease (2013)

Chamber of Horror

Aunt Maim’s

Hunters & Gatherers

Crawling

Passion

Welcome To My New Digs

Bronze Age

Stud

Rolling Around

Rattle Trap

Me & My G.P. in 1970

My First Car

Dr. Darko

The Pill (1970)

Pshaw Pshaw Pshaw

Screen Play

Protocol

Made My Day

Scant Chance

Ensnared

Eminent Domain

Enlightenment

Cautions Warnings Alarms Alerts

Mr. Potato Head

Buxom Neon Crossing Guard

The Out to Lunch Bunch

Scant Evidence

Other Voices

A Return to Now

The Ballad of Hideki Irabu

Haunted or Exhausted

You’ve Got a Disease

Cold Weather

The Birds

The Arrogance of Mud Wrestling

Weather Worn

Minimum Wage

Another Brick From The Wall

Graffiti

Missing Persons

Snapshots

Perfectly Sad

Debt Collector

Turf Wars

Every Word For Itself

Moment

Country Hicks

Oh, Hippies

Calamity

Epidemic

The Queen of Hearts

Night Train

Sucker Punch

Lies & Liars

Another Day

Pricks

Shock

Odd Size

Inside The Houses

At The Core

Don’t Dare

Slime

Florid

My Town Hall Meeting

Admiral With Draw

Evidence Based Practices

Death In The Right Circumstance

Chit Chat

Enigma

Flash Flood

Some People

Whirlpool of Forgetting

Summer Fun

Connect The Dots, Fool

So Many

No Bail Money

Squirrels: a modern day fable

Hello Boys, a cautionary tale

Gorp

Love Affair

Sump Pump

Strobe

Thanks for Sharing

Confusion

Under The Sun

Benchmarks

Violence

Electrical Current

Triggers

Infrequent. But Intense

Choosing Peace

Shallow Grave

Sneaky Process

Also by Al Ferber

Acknowledgements

Poems by Hop Wechsler, Paul Lutton, Tiffany Bartholomew Swain, Cathi Ferber, and Connie Rossi appear here with their permission.

Fable by Lawrence J. Ingram appears here with his permission.

Dedicated to

Cathi,

love of my life

Anywhere

                                      Mom said don’t go

                                      anywhere

                                      for any reason

                                      at any time

                                      kid said I didn’t

                                      go just anywhere

                                      for any reason

                                      at just anytime

                                      I went to

                                      the bathroom

                                      to take a shit at

                                      precisely 7:15 PM

Mitzi (R.I.P.)

                                            Her ears

                                            her whiskers

                                            her nose

                                            her paws

                                            could see

                                            for miles but

                                            not her eyes

Diplomacy

                                  Never took a course

                                  in it

                                  pretty sure I wouldn’t

                                  do too well if I had

                                  don’t do a hell of a lot

                                  a thinking

                                  before I speak

                                  my brain seems

                                  to operate on the

                                  fire when ready system

The Beats Are Gone

                                Gus said the beats are gone

                                it took him

                                the longest time

                                to dope out that the Beats

                                were from his father’s

                                generation

                                no similarities whatsoever

                                except the submarine

                                under Brooklyn bridge

                                the dinosaur

                                in the museum of art

                                red nosed clowns spinning

                                around

                                looking out the window

                                of a laundry dryer

                                Canadian geese shitting

                                on golf course greens

                                remnants of Old Glory

                                getting

                                tarnished in the wind

                                and a poetry reading

                                on top

                                of an unsanitary landfill

Feels Like

                                            Feels like

                                            spring today!

                                            I know

                                            they’re

                                            trying

                                            to trick me!

Unexpected Compliment

                                        A guy, just before

                                        a meeting,

                                        who I respected

                                        as a damn fine

                                        human being

                                        and

                                        brutally honest

                                        about recovery,

                                        told me

                                        whenever he read

                                        my poems

                                        it mades him feel

                                        grateful

                                        that he wasn’t me

Call 911

                                                It’s not

                                                raining.

                                                call 911

                                                I wonder

                                                what