Aquiring real estate

Buying a house
is not like buying an iPod
at all
nor like buying a car
nor licensing a new pet
The marathon of paper
runs with the crush
of signatures and initials
and one date rewritten 30-odd times
In the ether created
from black and white
with escrow and earnest to cause it to thrive
during the period of due diligence
dashing to closing
I, the buyer, am subsumed
and overwhelmed
From the cost of credit
to the full payment of the 30-year mortgage
PITI
pity that I don't understand
all the intricacies
of negotiation
though the deal, I'm told, is sweet
seller pays closing
the APR is fixed
the loan is bank secured and assumable
The surreality of lender-ese,
legalese, and the 1-year seller-financed warranty
leave me astounded, frustrated, elated and depressed.
caveat emptor

Weekend Dad

What hurts most is that I was the every day dad.
Then the wishy-washy testimony of an 11-year old
settles it for the judge, and then
I am relegated to 46 hours twice a month
unless their mother
gets busy,
and then I'm the parent
who drops everything
to make life easier
for people who don't give a fuck.
My children do; don't get me wrong.
Still somehow, in someone's eyes,
I am the lesser parent.

Man w/no memory

Drawing from Maggie Steber's photograph of EP in the November 2007 issue of National Geographic (graphite on 65 lb. Canson paper)

Learning from classical art

Moses from the sculpture by Michelangelo (graphite on 65 lb. Canson paper)