D.G. GEIS

D.G. Geis divides his time between Houston and the Hill Country of Central Texas. He has an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Houston and a graduate degree in philosophy from California State University. His poetry has appeared in 491 Magazine, Lost Coast, Blue Bonnet Review,The Broadkill Review, A Quiet Courage, SoftBlow International Poetry Journal, Blinders, Burningword Literary Journal, Poetry Scotland (Open Mouse), and Crosswinds,   He will be featured in a forthcoming Tupelo Press chapbook anthologizing  9 New Poets and is winner of Blue Bonnet Review's Fall 2015 Poetry Contest.

---

    Tips on how to choose clothing for the deceased.

Something dark is best.
Perhaps a Sunday suit

or formal business attire.
Something you might wear

for a special occasion--
like interviewing for a new job.

Your new position 
will require a certain panache.

Stiff determination 
and a resolute smile

should make a lasting impression
on your new Employer.

Later, as your suit empties
and you fade slowly

into the woodwork,
it will come to you

how deep 
life’s roots really run--

two of which
are already knocking, 

discreetly,
at your new front door. 


             Puppet Show

This Potemkin village barely stands.
Even the slightest breeze shakes its walls.
Look closely and you can see the seams 
Where the set designer joined them together.

There are no actors or extras, only half-dressed
Manikins beckoning from storefront windows like
Whores in Amsterdam—and, of course, standing 
On the sidewalk, cash in hand, their customers. 

Behind the curtain, standing in the wings, is Pinocchio,
Nose sharpened into a pencil, palms open, moving
Now to center stage, eyes on the audience, back to his 
Maker, waiting for the first tug of the strings that will 

Very shortly 

Move his enormous painted mouth.