* * *
091229
WRITING AT ODD ANGLES
How I love a pencil
when I write in bed!
I can seldom count on ink
like I can count on lead.
WRITING TOOLS
Tonight,
I’m writing with a Papermate
Sharpwriter #2.
(Every paper needs a mate—
some sharp writer who
helps to maximize its worth,
bringing quickened thoughts to birth.)
BODY WRAP (for Ado)
When did my skin get so thin?
It’s like waxed paper crumpled
or an old silk-tissue sheath
I let get stained and rumpled.
[ASIDE: Although I was glancing at my own skin when
writing this, the poem when done aroused feelings of
connection with my friend and "adopted mother" Ado,
who recently died.]
091228
QUALIFICATIONS
You don’t have to kill yourself
looking for a job—at least not
the one that advertised:
"No expirence necessary."
THRILL OF A LIFETIME
When I went to Russia,
I walked the streets alone.
Well, who would want a
group or troupe
when one can walk alone?
LIGHT OF HEART (for Susan)
May we be thankful
today for the light,
which fills each of our lives
with love and delight
and, next to each sunspot,
shows all the more bright.
[ASIDE: Susan’s 10 most frequently used words on Facebook are:
thankful, today, may, little, more, our, which, sunspot, each, and light.]
PROSECUTORIAL IMMUNITY
If you are in a position
to stop a murder or other crime
and do nothing to prevent it,
you can be held liable
as an accessory to the crime—
unless, of course, you’re God.
CODE VIOLATION
I don’t enjoy washing cockroaches
down the drain and I suspect
they’re not thrilled either.
Why do I do what doesn’t make us happy?
CAVEAT PRE-EMPTOR
Here’s some advice,
straight on the level—
a bargain’s no bargain
that’s made with the devil.
ACE IN THE HOLE
Dad’s the king of comedy.
Mom’s a drama queen.
Brother—what a joker!
Our home is quite a scene.
(There are no guards
in this mental ward.)
In this place, I'm an ace.
I live in a house of cards.
CHILLED
Our bed is cold;
I'm about to freeze.
Come warm me up.
Come catch some zzz's.
Quit dallying—
you're such a tease!
“I guess I might—
if you’d said please!”
DIVINE INFERNAL
God is a heavenly
Being of love,
or so the scriptures tell.
His master plan
included man.
(What in hell
was He thinking of?)
091227
BE A PRO
Write as if.
That's your gift.
See it done.
Make it fun.
The odds against—
though stacked sky high—
are odds against
you must outfly.
Write as if.
That's your gift
091224
WASS AILING ME?
Christmas is here;
that time of hobnobbing.
All of my friends
are busy eggnogging.
I should feel cheer—
instead, I am sobbing
over a tooth
that set my jaw throbbing.
Wait! It’s come clear—
the cure for my flogging!
Drown it in beer.
Go glugging and grogging!
‘TIS THE NIGHT
BEFORE CHRISTMAS
I'm making a list,
checking it twice—
last minute shopping
for naughty and nice.
091222
IMPOUNDED
Bewildered--
that is my first impression
of the kennel occupants;
the dogs for whom life has
so abruptly changed.
I wonder, do they eventually
acclimate, resigning themselves
to concrete, gravel and chain-link?
Or is there even time for that?
Their bodies
express everything so candidly—
history, temperament, thought.
Love and pain co-reside in their eyes.
In this place, they receive
excellent care by caring people—
but they know, and we know
that life should not be like this.
This is not right.
We are brethren,
designed to be free—
following our hearts and noses
over the wide, wondrous,
sun-warmed earth—
not chain-linked to, or from, anything.
SEVEN WEEKS
People don't stay kid-cute long.
As for kittens, the window of cuteness
closes quickly.
At the shelter, animal discards
are caged and dated.
No matter their age now,
the young cats at pickup
were almost invariably
seven weeks old.
Something ended then
that can't be recaptured.
BARGAINER
Given time,
I swear I will.
Let me live
until until.
091221
THOU SHALT (for Ethan)
Hey, Yaweh!
Hey, Krishna!
Hey, Allah!
Who died and
made you God?
[ASIDE: I got to thinking about that strangely-worded
final sentence which is so often bandied about.]
* * *
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Writer at Christmas
* * *
091225
DENTAL FLAWS
Hot and cold,
sweets (like cake)—
these things cause
my tooth to ache.
Though I beg
the pain to slake,
eyes and jaws
and cheeks partake.
091224
VERSE-ATILE
What shall we make a poem of—
a feather or a father?
A roux or kangaroo?
What shall we make a poem of?
Anything will do.
091223
DECEMBER 23
We're two days shy of Christmas,
said Adam, and—I believe—
that means tonight is Christmas
eve eve, Eve.
091222
WRITING
ASSIGNMENT
Others build
or grow
or fix.
Others mother.
I do this.
* * *
091225
DENTAL FLAWS
Hot and cold,
sweets (like cake)—
these things cause
my tooth to ache.
Though I beg
the pain to slake,
eyes and jaws
and cheeks partake.
091224
VERSE-ATILE
What shall we make a poem of—
a feather or a father?
A roux or kangaroo?
What shall we make a poem of?
Anything will do.
091223
DECEMBER 23
We're two days shy of Christmas,
said Adam, and—I believe—
that means tonight is Christmas
eve eve, Eve.
091222
WRITING
ASSIGNMENT
Others build
or grow
or fix.
Others mother.
I do this.
* * *
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Winter and Aging
* * *
091220 (for Zach)
SNOW NAKED
Trees—
the elder
and the younger—
withdraw their energies
from these winter
silences and
furies.
091219
SURPRISE
Buzzard babies—
such a sight!
Who’d have thought
they fluff out white?
091218
IMMINENT DOMAIN
My chores were done,
and more to spare.
I headed for my easy chair.
Alas—the cat was sitting there!
“Forgive my breach of happy purrs,”
I told him, “but it’s time to stir.
So take my lap or I’ll take yours.”
091217
MUSE TO POET:
Yay! Hurray!
Oh, frabjous day!
You wanted a poem
joyful and snappy—
so, now are you happy?
BEYOND
After aftermath;
some nice surprise.
After all,
even winter dies.
091216
REMARKING TIME
For the unemployed,
meanings get reassigned:
- holiday/workday
- time on/time off
Vices become versas.
091215
NON SOM
Call it the “night bubble”—
that wide-awake, fret-tending time
between episodes of
sleep-it-under-the-rug.
Mind is a fitful child.
Might as well rise
and take care of it;
might as well walk the floors.
091214
AS LONG AS IT TAKES
Give me a word;
I'll give you a rhyme.
I'll give you a poem
if you have the time.
TOUCH OF THE DIVINE
Thank you, thank you,
powers that be,
for this human-inborn ability
to apprehend divinity!
091213
FUNNING ON EMPTY
"I'm in a bind," the poet whined.
"On my quota, I'm behind.
If there's a poem in my mind,
it's a poem I can't find."
091212
NOT OLD ENOUGH
I was born three-score
years ago, plus one.
And so, for Social Security
I'm too young.
For Medicare too; too young.
I'm sixty-one and I don't care.
I'm sixty-one; still young!
091211
DOWNSIZING
Goodbye,
right eye;
goodbye, left.
Farewell,
today's tooth;
tomorrow's.
Bone, muscle, skin—
your services;
suspend.
Goodbye,
dear body;
farewell, friend.
091210
WANDERERS, SQUANDERERS
Wasting, wasted, living lost lives
(barren, enervated, unenhanced),
we sleepwalk through paradise
oblivious, numb, self-entranced.
091209
GIFTED
Angelic?
Devilish?
Madness?
Sanity?
Gift of divinity:
our humanity.
091208
SHHHH
noise
annoys
091207
NOCTILUCID (For Rick)
Weatherman, we love you dearly.
You scan the skies day-month-yearly.
You’re a wizard.
You’re a wit:
"Behold that cloud, night-lit!
It’s more than cirrus merely;
it's noctilucent, clearly."
* * *
091220 (for Zach)
SNOW NAKED
Trees—
the elder
and the younger—
withdraw their energies
from these winter
silences and
furies.
091219
SURPRISE
Buzzard babies—
such a sight!
Who’d have thought
they fluff out white?
091218
IMMINENT DOMAIN
My chores were done,
and more to spare.
I headed for my easy chair.
Alas—the cat was sitting there!
“Forgive my breach of happy purrs,”
I told him, “but it’s time to stir.
So take my lap or I’ll take yours.”
091217
MUSE TO POET:
Yay! Hurray!
Oh, frabjous day!
You wanted a poem
joyful and snappy—
so, now are you happy?
BEYOND
After aftermath;
some nice surprise.
After all,
even winter dies.
091216
REMARKING TIME
For the unemployed,
meanings get reassigned:
- holiday/workday
- time on/time off
Vices become versas.
091215
NON SOM
Call it the “night bubble”—
that wide-awake, fret-tending time
between episodes of
sleep-it-under-the-rug.
Mind is a fitful child.
Might as well rise
and take care of it;
might as well walk the floors.
091214
AS LONG AS IT TAKES
Give me a word;
I'll give you a rhyme.
I'll give you a poem
if you have the time.
TOUCH OF THE DIVINE
Thank you, thank you,
powers that be,
for this human-inborn ability
to apprehend divinity!
091213
FUNNING ON EMPTY
"I'm in a bind," the poet whined.
"On my quota, I'm behind.
If there's a poem in my mind,
it's a poem I can't find."
091212
NOT OLD ENOUGH
I was born three-score
years ago, plus one.
And so, for Social Security
I'm too young.
For Medicare too; too young.
I'm sixty-one and I don't care.
I'm sixty-one; still young!
091211
DOWNSIZING
Goodbye,
right eye;
goodbye, left.
Farewell,
today's tooth;
tomorrow's.
Bone, muscle, skin—
your services;
suspend.
Goodbye,
dear body;
farewell, friend.
091210
WANDERERS, SQUANDERERS
Wasting, wasted, living lost lives
(barren, enervated, unenhanced),
we sleepwalk through paradise
oblivious, numb, self-entranced.
091209
GIFTED
Angelic?
Devilish?
Madness?
Sanity?
Gift of divinity:
our humanity.
091208
SHHHH
noise
annoys
091207
NOCTILUCID (For Rick)
Weatherman, we love you dearly.
You scan the skies day-month-yearly.
You’re a wizard.
You’re a wit:
"Behold that cloud, night-lit!
It’s more than cirrus merely;
it's noctilucent, clearly."
* * *
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Scenes & Dreams
* * *
091206
HOW SUN BEAMS
In summertime
the day is long;
in wintertime
it's dusk and dawn.
SNOW MAN
Santa gives gifts,
but what does he get?
-Cookies and milk.
-Snowy, cold, wet.
091205
THERE IS A SEASON
Up around the corner from the
de-horned buck head lying centered
in the road this morning
is another deer head
lying centered in the road.
This is a residential area.
I imagine the message might be:
"Behold my prey, my mastery!"
I imagine the message might be:
"My kind will out-survive your kind."
I imagine the message might be:
"Boo! Ha-ha ha-ha-ha!"
Last week the herd at dawn
spooked when crossing the road,
skittering back and forth.
Vehicles stopped and lingered.
I imagine the message might be:
"Such wildness! Such beauty—
so vulnerable to me!"
091204
JUDICIAL RECUSAL
I don’t know why
you do the way you do;
your actions make no sense.
There’s no way to judge you
not knowing what you’ve been through
or what you’re up against.
091203
GRATITUDE LIST
Happy for happiness,
earned or unearned.
Glad for life lessons,
learned or not learned.
Grateful for friendship,
now and to be.
Thankful for moments
you share with me.
091202
UNSTRINGING THE BOW
Maybe it's a healthy sign
(one of life’s benign designs)
to follow work and weeping
with calm and over-sleeping.
091201
APPOINTED ROUNDS (for Jarrod)
I will be there. I'm a giver.
Come rain or sleet, I deliver.
Snow or no-snow,
I won’t be a no-show!
SLATED FOR A CLEAN SLATE
Prepare us, we said
to the much older couple.
What do we have in store;
what's likely to happen?
Well, she offered,
he used to forget appointments,
so I learned to remind him.
But now he forgets; then I forget;
and after that it's nice because
we both forget we forgot.
Later, when something reminds us,
we start over fresh.
We're old, but every day is new.
SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS
Emma is running upside down on the bed.
Both paws are twitching and,
under that fluffy tail, so are her feet.
I ran in my own dream last night,
one in which a cat was euthanized.
Supposedly, every dream-character
is really an aspect of the dreamer.
In the case of last night, that would
have me be very sad, angry, and dead.
I’ve heard this too—it works
to pose a question before sleeping
and expect an answer via the night’s dream.
Tonight I may ask about. . .
Well, that was quick!
But catnaps are supposed to be,
aren’t they, Emma?
091130
CHOICE
What is your wish,
asked genie of me.
Do you want to be good?
Or wealthy? Or free?
I have my wish!
I choose to be me,
trusting that me
is a good thing to be.
091129
WATCHING
THE GAME
quiet dim low
my light
i am angling for death
come on in
buddy
put your feet up
have a beer
091128
VISION OF BEAUTY
Query:
Online, your icon is a symbol
and your picture is an avatar.
Why don’t you use a photo?
Are you hiding something?
Are you ugly?
Response:
I look just like Audrey Hepburn
did in the movies.
Aside:
I open my eyes and take in
the scene.
* * *
091206
HOW SUN BEAMS
In summertime
the day is long;
in wintertime
it's dusk and dawn.
SNOW MAN
Santa gives gifts,
but what does he get?
-Cookies and milk.
-Snowy, cold, wet.
091205
THERE IS A SEASON
Up around the corner from the
de-horned buck head lying centered
in the road this morning
is another deer head
lying centered in the road.
This is a residential area.
I imagine the message might be:
"Behold my prey, my mastery!"
I imagine the message might be:
"My kind will out-survive your kind."
I imagine the message might be:
"Boo! Ha-ha ha-ha-ha!"
Last week the herd at dawn
spooked when crossing the road,
skittering back and forth.
Vehicles stopped and lingered.
I imagine the message might be:
"Such wildness! Such beauty—
so vulnerable to me!"
091204
JUDICIAL RECUSAL
I don’t know why
you do the way you do;
your actions make no sense.
There’s no way to judge you
not knowing what you’ve been through
or what you’re up against.
091203
GRATITUDE LIST
Happy for happiness,
earned or unearned.
Glad for life lessons,
learned or not learned.
Grateful for friendship,
now and to be.
Thankful for moments
you share with me.
091202
UNSTRINGING THE BOW
Maybe it's a healthy sign
(one of life’s benign designs)
to follow work and weeping
with calm and over-sleeping.
091201
APPOINTED ROUNDS (for Jarrod)
I will be there. I'm a giver.
Come rain or sleet, I deliver.
Snow or no-snow,
I won’t be a no-show!
SLATED FOR A CLEAN SLATE
Prepare us, we said
to the much older couple.
What do we have in store;
what's likely to happen?
Well, she offered,
he used to forget appointments,
so I learned to remind him.
But now he forgets; then I forget;
and after that it's nice because
we both forget we forgot.
Later, when something reminds us,
we start over fresh.
We're old, but every day is new.
SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS
Emma is running upside down on the bed.
Both paws are twitching and,
under that fluffy tail, so are her feet.
I ran in my own dream last night,
one in which a cat was euthanized.
Supposedly, every dream-character
is really an aspect of the dreamer.
In the case of last night, that would
have me be very sad, angry, and dead.
I’ve heard this too—it works
to pose a question before sleeping
and expect an answer via the night’s dream.
Tonight I may ask about. . .
Well, that was quick!
But catnaps are supposed to be,
aren’t they, Emma?
091130
CHOICE
What is your wish,
asked genie of me.
Do you want to be good?
Or wealthy? Or free?
I have my wish!
I choose to be me,
trusting that me
is a good thing to be.
091129
WATCHING
THE GAME
quiet dim low
my light
i am angling for death
come on in
buddy
put your feet up
have a beer
091128
VISION OF BEAUTY
Query:
Online, your icon is a symbol
and your picture is an avatar.
Why don’t you use a photo?
Are you hiding something?
Are you ugly?
Response:
I look just like Audrey Hepburn
did in the movies.
Aside:
I open my eyes and take in
the scene.
* * *
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving and Other Times
* * *
091127
NONE FOR ME, THANKS
Your banquet looks yummy;
so luscious and arty—
but my tummy’s in turmoil
from yesterday’s party.
091126
TODAY’S PRAISE
On this day, I’m thankful for:
Loving kin. A bed. A cup.
Sleeping till the sun comes up.
Ease of breath. Strength of limb.
Words and thoughts—like seraphim,
blunderbuss, marmalade and octopus.
On this day, I’m grateful for:
Time to see, to think, to write
and distill this world’s delight.
SO MANY FACETS!
Lauren and Lindsey:
sobriety, whimsey.
Lindsey and Lauren:
familiar, fresh, foreign.
[ASIDE: My friend's granddaughters;
wonderful girls.]
091125
BITTER, SALTY,
SOUR, SWEET
More pronounced
with passing years:
these four flavors
of our tears.
091124
WILD OATS, THEN OATMEAL
Dear underdressed and oversexed—
You're so cute!
Enjoy it while you got it.
Whether you were given it, earned it,
learned it, bought or thought it—
enjoy it while you got it.
Then, overdressed and undersexed,
enjoy what you get next.
091123
INVERSIONS
Sunny. Cloudy.
Sunny. Cloudy.
I'm managing okay,
but how is the weather?
091122
SOUL GOAL
To feel it, be it, flow it—
to love and be loved
and know it.
091121
GET OFF THE BUS
It isn’t business anymore;
everything’s a rush
of hurried-this, shortened-that,
acronyms, and such.
It isn’t business anymore.
Gee whiz, it’s biz –
it isn’t even bus!
091120
THANKS
It's hard-times times—
playing hide-and-seek
in the dark with fate—
but
I'm grateful to be grateful
for all that doesn't grate.
091119
WEEK DAZE
MON. No fun.
TUE. No clue.
WED. Half-dead.
THUR. Wake. Stir.
FRI. Fly high.
SAT. Fall flat.
SUN. So done.
091118
WHAT OUR COWORKERS SAID
“You’re the first people
that it happened to
that we’re really sad
it happened to.”
YESTERDAZE
Stories about feelings;
that is the past—
stories about feelings
about things that don't last.
COM-YOU-NICATION
"Dibs after you!"
It's smart,
even in a two-person household
to stake your claim.
MY BEST WORK
Besides background and references,
the company's director of communications
job application required six examples
of personally-written documents
as evidence of expertise.
For the sixth sample,
the kamikaze in me submitted a poem.
091117
WHAT, AGAIN?
Life keeps revealing to me
how absent-minded I am
through the many things
I forget to do
again and again and again.
091116
DISCERNMENT
Then, times were good;
prosperity came. We rode its crest.
Oh, how we were blessed!
Now, times are bad,
but gratitude is unrepressed.
Oh, how we are blessed!
091115
BIKINI GIRL
You think we’re the kind
who disapproves—
but we have news!
Hon, we too
had our time in the sun.
* * *
[ASIDE: Cleaned out old papers the other day
and found some poem snippets which became the basis
for some of the poems in this batch.]
* * *
091127
NONE FOR ME, THANKS
Your banquet looks yummy;
so luscious and arty—
but my tummy’s in turmoil
from yesterday’s party.
091126
TODAY’S PRAISE
On this day, I’m thankful for:
Loving kin. A bed. A cup.
Sleeping till the sun comes up.
Ease of breath. Strength of limb.
Words and thoughts—like seraphim,
blunderbuss, marmalade and octopus.
On this day, I’m grateful for:
Time to see, to think, to write
and distill this world’s delight.
SO MANY FACETS!
Lauren and Lindsey:
sobriety, whimsey.
Lindsey and Lauren:
familiar, fresh, foreign.
[ASIDE: My friend's granddaughters;
wonderful girls.]
091125
BITTER, SALTY,
SOUR, SWEET
More pronounced
with passing years:
these four flavors
of our tears.
091124
WILD OATS, THEN OATMEAL
Dear underdressed and oversexed—
You're so cute!
Enjoy it while you got it.
Whether you were given it, earned it,
learned it, bought or thought it—
enjoy it while you got it.
Then, overdressed and undersexed,
enjoy what you get next.
091123
INVERSIONS
Sunny. Cloudy.
Sunny. Cloudy.
I'm managing okay,
but how is the weather?
091122
SOUL GOAL
To feel it, be it, flow it—
to love and be loved
and know it.
091121
GET OFF THE BUS
It isn’t business anymore;
everything’s a rush
of hurried-this, shortened-that,
acronyms, and such.
It isn’t business anymore.
Gee whiz, it’s biz –
it isn’t even bus!
091120
THANKS
It's hard-times times—
playing hide-and-seek
in the dark with fate—
but
I'm grateful to be grateful
for all that doesn't grate.
091119
WEEK DAZE
MON. No fun.
TUE. No clue.
WED. Half-dead.
THUR. Wake. Stir.
FRI. Fly high.
SAT. Fall flat.
SUN. So done.
091118
WHAT OUR COWORKERS SAID
“You’re the first people
that it happened to
that we’re really sad
it happened to.”
YESTERDAZE
Stories about feelings;
that is the past—
stories about feelings
about things that don't last.
COM-YOU-NICATION
"Dibs after you!"
It's smart,
even in a two-person household
to stake your claim.
MY BEST WORK
Besides background and references,
the company's director of communications
job application required six examples
of personally-written documents
as evidence of expertise.
For the sixth sample,
the kamikaze in me submitted a poem.
091117
WHAT, AGAIN?
Life keeps revealing to me
how absent-minded I am
through the many things
I forget to do
again and again and again.
091116
DISCERNMENT
Then, times were good;
prosperity came. We rode its crest.
Oh, how we were blessed!
Now, times are bad,
but gratitude is unrepressed.
Oh, how we are blessed!
091115
BIKINI GIRL
You think we’re the kind
who disapproves—
but we have news!
Hon, we too
had our time in the sun.
* * *
[ASIDE: Cleaned out old papers the other day
and found some poem snippets which became the basis
for some of the poems in this batch.]
* * *
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Mostly Scaredy Things
***
091114
I’M SCARED, SOMETIMES
I’m scared of the playground
I’m scared of getting lost
I’m scared of loud noises
I’m scared of my parents yelling
I’m scared of dark places
I’m scared of what’s under that rock
I’m scared of bugs crawling on me
I’m scared of slimy things
I’m scared of pinchy things
I’m scared of thunder
I’m scared of the woods
I’m scared of spiders
I’m scared of numbers and counting
and being dumb
I’m scared of having to tell
I’m scared of bullies
I’m scared of smashed animals,
blood and stinky bodies
I’m scared of being left behind
I’m scared of icicles that might fall on me
I’m scared of Christmas trees that might burn
I’m scared of school
I’m scared to die
I’m scared of things I think up
I’m scared of being hollered at
I’m scared of some men who seem icky
and want to hug me
I’m scared of too much to learn
I’m scared of tests
I’m scared of forgetting
I’m scared of not knowing
I’m scared of the big kids
I’m scared of telephone poles
I’m scared of losing something important
I’m scared of not being picked
I’m scared of peeing in my pants
I’m scared of hurting my dog or kitty
I’m scared of getting sick
I’m scared of being ugly
I’m scared of scary stories
I’m scared of burning my hand
I’m scared of biting my tongue
I’m scared of losing my homework
I’m scared of falling in the water
I’m scared of trees that look like monsters
when the sun goes down
I’m scared of medicine
I’m scared of barking dogs
I’m scared of thorn bushes
I’m scared of turning out bad
I’m scared of money
I’m scared of no money
I’m scared of angry people
I’m scared of giving the wrong answer
Did I do okay?
IDIOT
It’s like this—
the past is a stack of coins
you had once and spent.
And now is the dime
you swore you’d turn on
when things got dicey.
And—why aren’t you moving,
you little beggar?
091114
POSITIVELY UNCERTAIN
While wondering about wonders
that this life can bring,
I wonder what would happen
if I said “yes” to everything.
091113
CLASSIFIED
The job ad
didn’t give all the particulars,
but enough—
Compensation:
commiserate with experience.
091112
WORKER TOLL
Business is booming
in crescendos of collapse.
Workers touch up resumes,
skills, and epitaphs.
091111
CHANGE MASTERY
Toying with a tidbit
picked up yesterday:
that habits of perception trap.
Want change?
Pay attention. Seek surprises.
Notice what is different.
Be alert to the extraordinary.
CALLED
“Come?” my friend asked,
in town for the night.
“Come!” I replied,
out the door in full flight.
[ASIDE: The call was to come to the restaurant
next to the hotel, for food and visiting.]
091110
OTHERS WITH SECRETS
You want to tell.
You want to explain.
You want one other person
to know your story
(not to carry your burden
but just to know you carry it).
Keeping silent anyway,
you realize or conclude—
Others valiantly harbor secrets.
It’s okay to admire yourself.
091109
HIT AND MISSED
Yesterday, guinea hens
roamed the highway,
where they'd never been before.
Now the flock is penned,
except for the stray
who, well, simply is no more.
091108
NIGHT WATCH
I’ve taken to
sleeping by day,
writing by night.
Our house is quiet now,
except for sea-surf sounds
from the other side of the bed.
091107
REVIEW
It was a good time to live.
A good place, too.
I made my
thousand-and-one choices.
I have no regrets,
that I know of,
yet.
It seemed wise
and courteous
not to bear children.
It seemed absurd
to take faith on faith.
It seemed that life
would get better and better
and it did,
for awhile,
for some.
It was a good time to live.
A good place, too.
A good life.
I have faith.
091106
COPING
Sometimes he crashes
and sleeps, like now.
Other times, I do.
Together,
whatever's past, future or now,
we'll get through.
091105
EXCHANGE
at eagle-cry:
people outdoors
cats indoors
091104
GRAY-SKY SCENE
buzzards
slowly
air-swirling:
connect-the-dot
funnel cloud
091103
MY POMES
My pomes are for me
an’, Darlin’-poo,
if you like ‘em,
they're for you.
091102
SOOTER
Awkwardly
an’ awkwordly,
brangin' odd gifts,
an' discombob’latin'
everthang,
crisis comes a'courtin'.
091101
GIVE?
Some
say soon
they might.
Some
already gave
their mite.
091031
DEJA VOODOO
Each October,
there's one night
of ghastly horror,
gore and fright—
if I remember right.
KOOKY MONSTERS
Maybe this sounds kooky,
but things are getting spooky!
091030
OKAY BY ME
it’s equally—
i don’t know why
when low low low
when high high high
i don’t care
if i live or die
091029
OPERATION OVERLOAD
Print was bad enough
in any form.
Now media onslaughts
are the norm.
091028
AT EASE
Home, free;
liberty!
Liberty;
home free!
091027
NEW SPRINT
Hurry! Hurry!
Narrow the topics,
the columns, the page.
Reduce the margins
and everyone’s wage.
Quickly Quickly!
Consolidate functions.
Restructure or merge.
Cut budgets and staff.
Don’t anyone splurge!
Now! Now!
Assuage the subscribers
by slashing each fee.
They demand a free press—
literally!
091026
FINIS
I’d better do my writing
while I still can hold a thought;
the day is fast approaching
when all I’ll have is naught.
091025
MUTANTS
My poems start out happy,
then they make a twist.
Somehow they turn sappy,
woebegone or pissed.
091024
HALT
You can stop death
and all heartbreaks.
Just stop nature.
That's all it takes.
091023
WITHDRAWAL
Did I blunder,
posting that first twit?
How long has it been?
Now I wonder—
can a “twitter quitter”
become anonymous again?
091022
THE END
No matter what I write,
if I polish it awhile,
when the piece is finished,
I finish with a smile.
091021
WRITTEN OFF
Barnes & Noble, Amazon,
Wal-Mart, Target, and so on—
everywhere one looks,
they’ve slashed the price of books.
Wait, here’s a coincider:
I’ve just become a writer!
***
091114
I’M SCARED, SOMETIMES
I’m scared of the playground
I’m scared of getting lost
I’m scared of loud noises
I’m scared of my parents yelling
I’m scared of dark places
I’m scared of what’s under that rock
I’m scared of bugs crawling on me
I’m scared of slimy things
I’m scared of pinchy things
I’m scared of thunder
I’m scared of the woods
I’m scared of spiders
I’m scared of numbers and counting
and being dumb
I’m scared of having to tell
I’m scared of bullies
I’m scared of smashed animals,
blood and stinky bodies
I’m scared of being left behind
I’m scared of icicles that might fall on me
I’m scared of Christmas trees that might burn
I’m scared of school
I’m scared to die
I’m scared of things I think up
I’m scared of being hollered at
I’m scared of some men who seem icky
and want to hug me
I’m scared of too much to learn
I’m scared of tests
I’m scared of forgetting
I’m scared of not knowing
I’m scared of the big kids
I’m scared of telephone poles
I’m scared of losing something important
I’m scared of not being picked
I’m scared of peeing in my pants
I’m scared of hurting my dog or kitty
I’m scared of getting sick
I’m scared of being ugly
I’m scared of scary stories
I’m scared of burning my hand
I’m scared of biting my tongue
I’m scared of losing my homework
I’m scared of falling in the water
I’m scared of trees that look like monsters
when the sun goes down
I’m scared of medicine
I’m scared of barking dogs
I’m scared of thorn bushes
I’m scared of turning out bad
I’m scared of money
I’m scared of no money
I’m scared of angry people
I’m scared of giving the wrong answer
Did I do okay?
IDIOT
It’s like this—
the past is a stack of coins
you had once and spent.
And now is the dime
you swore you’d turn on
when things got dicey.
And—why aren’t you moving,
you little beggar?
091114
POSITIVELY UNCERTAIN
While wondering about wonders
that this life can bring,
I wonder what would happen
if I said “yes” to everything.
091113
CLASSIFIED
The job ad
didn’t give all the particulars,
but enough—
Compensation:
commiserate with experience.
091112
WORKER TOLL
Business is booming
in crescendos of collapse.
Workers touch up resumes,
skills, and epitaphs.
091111
CHANGE MASTERY
Toying with a tidbit
picked up yesterday:
that habits of perception trap.
Want change?
Pay attention. Seek surprises.
Notice what is different.
Be alert to the extraordinary.
CALLED
“Come?” my friend asked,
in town for the night.
“Come!” I replied,
out the door in full flight.
[ASIDE: The call was to come to the restaurant
next to the hotel, for food and visiting.]
091110
OTHERS WITH SECRETS
You want to tell.
You want to explain.
You want one other person
to know your story
(not to carry your burden
but just to know you carry it).
Keeping silent anyway,
you realize or conclude—
Others valiantly harbor secrets.
It’s okay to admire yourself.
091109
HIT AND MISSED
Yesterday, guinea hens
roamed the highway,
where they'd never been before.
Now the flock is penned,
except for the stray
who, well, simply is no more.
091108
NIGHT WATCH
I’ve taken to
sleeping by day,
writing by night.
Our house is quiet now,
except for sea-surf sounds
from the other side of the bed.
091107
REVIEW
It was a good time to live.
A good place, too.
I made my
thousand-and-one choices.
I have no regrets,
that I know of,
yet.
It seemed wise
and courteous
not to bear children.
It seemed absurd
to take faith on faith.
It seemed that life
would get better and better
and it did,
for awhile,
for some.
It was a good time to live.
A good place, too.
A good life.
I have faith.
091106
COPING
Sometimes he crashes
and sleeps, like now.
Other times, I do.
Together,
whatever's past, future or now,
we'll get through.
091105
EXCHANGE
at eagle-cry:
people outdoors
cats indoors
091104
GRAY-SKY SCENE
buzzards
slowly
air-swirling:
connect-the-dot
funnel cloud
091103
MY POMES
My pomes are for me
an’, Darlin’-poo,
if you like ‘em,
they're for you.
091102
SOOTER
Awkwardly
an’ awkwordly,
brangin' odd gifts,
an' discombob’latin'
everthang,
crisis comes a'courtin'.
091101
GIVE?
Some
say soon
they might.
Some
already gave
their mite.
091031
DEJA VOODOO
Each October,
there's one night
of ghastly horror,
gore and fright—
if I remember right.
KOOKY MONSTERS
Maybe this sounds kooky,
but things are getting spooky!
091030
OKAY BY ME
it’s equally—
i don’t know why
when low low low
when high high high
i don’t care
if i live or die
091029
OPERATION OVERLOAD
Print was bad enough
in any form.
Now media onslaughts
are the norm.
091028
AT EASE
Home, free;
liberty!
Liberty;
home free!
091027
NEW SPRINT
Hurry! Hurry!
Narrow the topics,
the columns, the page.
Reduce the margins
and everyone’s wage.
Quickly Quickly!
Consolidate functions.
Restructure or merge.
Cut budgets and staff.
Don’t anyone splurge!
Now! Now!
Assuage the subscribers
by slashing each fee.
They demand a free press—
literally!
091026
FINIS
I’d better do my writing
while I still can hold a thought;
the day is fast approaching
when all I’ll have is naught.
091025
MUTANTS
My poems start out happy,
then they make a twist.
Somehow they turn sappy,
woebegone or pissed.
091024
HALT
You can stop death
and all heartbreaks.
Just stop nature.
That's all it takes.
091023
WITHDRAWAL
Did I blunder,
posting that first twit?
How long has it been?
Now I wonder—
can a “twitter quitter”
become anonymous again?
091022
THE END
No matter what I write,
if I polish it awhile,
when the piece is finished,
I finish with a smile.
091021
WRITTEN OFF
Barnes & Noble, Amazon,
Wal-Mart, Target, and so on—
everywhere one looks,
they’ve slashed the price of books.
Wait, here’s a coincider:
I’ve just become a writer!
***
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
In and Out of Time
***
091020
WITCH-DOCTOR'S ORDERS (for Kate)
Tell you what, my little Munchkin,
when your grades say you are flunkin',
when your life gets stink-stank-stunkin',
go dress up like an Egyptian.
Find a party, drink some punchkin,
plunk your head in apple-dunkin',
carve yourself a happy punkin'—
that's my Halloween prescription.
MYSTERY AT SEA
Am I the sea,
the bottle or the note?
Who is the messenger?
Who’s the message for?
Am I the wind,
the sailor or the boat?
What is the message?
Who wrote the note?
PARTNERS IN THE DANCE
Clouds float in air,
flow on air, with air.
Air floats and flows
on land, on sea.
Sea floats, flows, and glides
upon, against the land
which floats upon its
self-made magma sea.
Storms. Volcanoes. Ice and rain.
All is done by gravity
in a dance with levity.
Clouds and air, air and sea,
sea and land, the magma sea
float and flow, enfold, embrace;
in a dance of majesty.
Waves. Tides. Morning dew.
All is done by levity
in a dance with gravity.
[ASIDE: Well, it sounded okay at 1:00 am.]
IMPLEMENTATION
Pen, you will have to do
the writing tonight;
my basket-brain is empty,
sifted, drained—
except to the extent
of forming letters
and noticing that my implement
is a pencil.
Pencil, you will have to do
the writing tonight.
091019
SCHOOLED
What, my child, did you learn today?
Did you learn your numbers: 1-2-3?
Did you learn your letters: A-B-C?
Tell me what you learned today.
I learned, the same as yesterday,
how mistaken I can be.
MERCY!
When people die
horrible deaths
after, or not after,
horrible lives,
the tendency is to think
there must be
some horrible reason.
That’s horrible.
FRAGILE
Oh, little dew-drop world,
unto yourself enfurled,
soon, I fear, you’ll wink away—
heat and hate won’t let you stay.
RICHER BY THIRDS
A pome! A pome!
My kingdom for a pome!
“Now is the whiner of our discontent
made glorious summer-upper
of your tale, non-victorious.”
There you have your pome, your words.
My pay, like Gaul, divide in thirds.
ESCAPAIDS
One benefit of writing,
I’ve heard many a
published author say,
is linking to like-minded souls
who look at life your way.
Hmm, as I write these very words,
distracting myself
from chores and scares,
I envision a host of kindred souls
distracting themselves from theirs.
EPITAPPED
Empty, still, here I sit;
all my write done writ.
Quiet, still, here I lie:
I done writ, but why?
TIMEBOUND
Change has come;
swift, profound,
bizarre.
Nowadays,
clocks aren't wound—
we are.
STUDYING FOR FINALS
Let the school burn down!
When young, didn’t we wish it?
Lessons were so hard to learn.
Let the darn thing burn.
Let the world blow up!
Now older, don’t we risk it?
Home-and-classroom: let it blow?
Armaggedon? —No!
EVER’DAY POTE
I make a pome ever’day,
sittin’ home or on the roam,
seein’ woes a better way;
turnin’ ever’ gloom to gloam.
I make a pome ever’day.
I make ever’ day a pome.
091018
CRITIQUE
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
you reflect me not at all.
With the stresses weighed on me,
I should look a hundred three!
AT THE DOOR
Expecting Death
and my demise,
I open to his heavy knock.
“Your time’s not up,”
God’s workman sighs.
“I’ve come to wind your clock.
091017
CRUX
Enemies—
lovingly offer them
your hearth and your heart.
Love may seem a kind of death,
but there’s no survival apart.
091016
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
Sort the truth?
Let things be?
I wouldn’t care,
particularly—
except for how
the truth may be
particularly bad for me.
091015
NOTICED
Life is partly what I make it,
partly what I allow.
And how I experience my future
is how I experience now.
091014
OUTRAGE
These losses, these changes
(so feared and so hated)
should not occur!
But are we so sure?
Which cosmic laws
have been violated?
SCENE YESTERDAY
One crow
and three buzzards,
in circling flight.
Oddly, the crow
was picking a fight.
091013
AUTUMN EXCURSION
One slight departure
from our daily-duty itinerary
creates a further one—
taking us farther away,
looping us into the next,
and so on—
till we find ourselves lost
in each moment’s timeless speed,
gliding down a curving country road;
slipping into fall.
***
091020
WITCH-DOCTOR'S ORDERS (for Kate)
Tell you what, my little Munchkin,
when your grades say you are flunkin',
when your life gets stink-stank-stunkin',
go dress up like an Egyptian.
Find a party, drink some punchkin,
plunk your head in apple-dunkin',
carve yourself a happy punkin'—
that's my Halloween prescription.
MYSTERY AT SEA
Am I the sea,
the bottle or the note?
Who is the messenger?
Who’s the message for?
Am I the wind,
the sailor or the boat?
What is the message?
Who wrote the note?
PARTNERS IN THE DANCE
Clouds float in air,
flow on air, with air.
Air floats and flows
on land, on sea.
Sea floats, flows, and glides
upon, against the land
which floats upon its
self-made magma sea.
Storms. Volcanoes. Ice and rain.
All is done by gravity
in a dance with levity.
Clouds and air, air and sea,
sea and land, the magma sea
float and flow, enfold, embrace;
in a dance of majesty.
Waves. Tides. Morning dew.
All is done by levity
in a dance with gravity.
[ASIDE: Well, it sounded okay at 1:00 am.]
IMPLEMENTATION
Pen, you will have to do
the writing tonight;
my basket-brain is empty,
sifted, drained—
except to the extent
of forming letters
and noticing that my implement
is a pencil.
Pencil, you will have to do
the writing tonight.
091019
SCHOOLED
What, my child, did you learn today?
Did you learn your numbers: 1-2-3?
Did you learn your letters: A-B-C?
Tell me what you learned today.
I learned, the same as yesterday,
how mistaken I can be.
MERCY!
When people die
horrible deaths
after, or not after,
horrible lives,
the tendency is to think
there must be
some horrible reason.
That’s horrible.
FRAGILE
Oh, little dew-drop world,
unto yourself enfurled,
soon, I fear, you’ll wink away—
heat and hate won’t let you stay.
RICHER BY THIRDS
A pome! A pome!
My kingdom for a pome!
“Now is the whiner of our discontent
made glorious summer-upper
of your tale, non-victorious.”
There you have your pome, your words.
My pay, like Gaul, divide in thirds.
ESCAPAIDS
One benefit of writing,
I’ve heard many a
published author say,
is linking to like-minded souls
who look at life your way.
Hmm, as I write these very words,
distracting myself
from chores and scares,
I envision a host of kindred souls
distracting themselves from theirs.
EPITAPPED
Empty, still, here I sit;
all my write done writ.
Quiet, still, here I lie:
I done writ, but why?
TIMEBOUND
Change has come;
swift, profound,
bizarre.
Nowadays,
clocks aren't wound—
we are.
STUDYING FOR FINALS
Let the school burn down!
When young, didn’t we wish it?
Lessons were so hard to learn.
Let the darn thing burn.
Let the world blow up!
Now older, don’t we risk it?
Home-and-classroom: let it blow?
Armaggedon? —No!
EVER’DAY POTE
I make a pome ever’day,
sittin’ home or on the roam,
seein’ woes a better way;
turnin’ ever’ gloom to gloam.
I make a pome ever’day.
I make ever’ day a pome.
091018
CRITIQUE
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
you reflect me not at all.
With the stresses weighed on me,
I should look a hundred three!
AT THE DOOR
Expecting Death
and my demise,
I open to his heavy knock.
“Your time’s not up,”
God’s workman sighs.
“I’ve come to wind your clock.
091017
CRUX
Enemies—
lovingly offer them
your hearth and your heart.
Love may seem a kind of death,
but there’s no survival apart.
091016
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
Sort the truth?
Let things be?
I wouldn’t care,
particularly—
except for how
the truth may be
particularly bad for me.
091015
NOTICED
Life is partly what I make it,
partly what I allow.
And how I experience my future
is how I experience now.
091014
OUTRAGE
These losses, these changes
(so feared and so hated)
should not occur!
But are we so sure?
Which cosmic laws
have been violated?
SCENE YESTERDAY
One crow
and three buzzards,
in circling flight.
Oddly, the crow
was picking a fight.
091013
AUTUMN EXCURSION
One slight departure
from our daily-duty itinerary
creates a further one—
taking us farther away,
looping us into the next,
and so on—
till we find ourselves lost
in each moment’s timeless speed,
gliding down a curving country road;
slipping into fall.
***
Monday, October 12, 2009
Eclectic
***
091012
AAAAHMMM...
Make a face—
a smiley face!
Let smiley feelings come.
That’s one way to meditate.
Easy. Simple. Fun.
091011
LETHE
In the pantry of her brain,
the cheese
is her stored memories.
Lately it’s becoming plain;
some mouse
is nibbling at that cheese.
091010
POETRY READING
The chance to read
my pomes out loud
to one person
or a crowd
makes me humble,
glad, scared, proud.
“You want: me?”
When that chance comes,
I am wowed.
“Really? Me?”
091009
A TRUTH TO TRY
Then is just a story
made up by the mind.
Now is always friendly.
Now is always kind.
091008
APPROVAL
The mark
of endorsement
as a friend
is being entrusted
with other friends.
091007
BLESSINGS
When you’re young,
you’re smart
if you learn a thing or two.
There’s so much to see!
When you’re old,
you’re lucky
if you forget a thing or three.
091006
SENIORITY
Look! I made it to old;
not by being smart or bold,
or doing right instead of wrong—
just by being young too long.
091005
ZOMBIE
insomniac nights
maniac days
moonlit, sunlit
grays on grays
one long blur
of dismal haze
091004
IT
What is claimed,
I’ve not yet met—
but it is nearby,
beckoning.
091003
NEAR-FROZEN ASSETS
As talent, ambition,
even body grow cold—
how hold it together;
this life on hold?
091002
AS I AM
born
some several score
ago
born again
daily
a child, a child, a child
a baby
091001
NONEMPLOYED
Where can I find
a place to stay, a way to pay
(or even a reason to live)
when I can find no home
for what I have to give?
090930
"TREASURE"
No matter what it is,
if you like it or want it—
politicians are trying to grab it,
robbers to nab it,
elites to refine it,
gurus to seek it,
geeks to tweak it—
that’s what defines it.
090929
SILENT DRAMA
The picture window—
enormous, high, and therefore rarely washed—
frames a bright but overcast northern sky.
A spiderweb spans its peak.
The spider is enormous, too;
especially compared to the fly
that races up the pane toward it
in small erratic spurts.
This black-and-white melodrama,
absent of piano accompaniment,
is being played out for my private viewing.
This is not film. It is live theater.
There is no opportunity for intervention.
Higher and higher
the fly climbs;
closer and closer
to imminent doom.
All the while,
my witness role
becomes more and more
excruciating.
Just as the perimeter of the web is breached,
there is a shattering! An illusion falls in shards
as two scenes diverge, separated by a pane of glass.
090928
SOUP KITCHEN SOUP KIT
I count nine tomatoes,
three ears of corn, two onions,
and ten mason jars.
Also laid out
on the butcher-block surface
are squash, peppers, green beans,
spices and other soup ingredients.
"The idea," says the cook,
"is to go out into the garden,
pick anything edible,
put it into a big pot,
and cook enough soup
to make it through the winter."
Frankly, I suggest a recalculation;
he obviously hasn't counted
on drop-in guests.
090927
MAY BE BUSY
Today things went the other way
but yesterday was an ease-off day.
Tomorrow, well, who’s to say?
Tomorrow is another day.
090926
ETHICS
It’s so hard to be a person;
much less, a strictly-honest version.
“Daddy, is there a Santa Claus?”
“Not any more, if there ever was.”
BUGS
There’s always a bug
around somewhere,
everywhere you look—
a spider in a corner,
a cricket in a nook,
an ant, a bee, a fly, a flea,
a bookwork in a book.
LIFE-LONG FRIEND (for Kay)
She was that quiet, friendly sort
who smiles and works and pleases—
part Martha, part Mary;
devoted to us and Jesus.
ESCAPE ARTIST
Do you hear my pencil
scrapin’ on the paper?
Well, I’m makin’ me a pome.
I’m avoidin’ what’s annoyin’.
I’m markin’ paper—
scrapin’, scrapin’—takin’ time
to be escapin’ with a pome.
090925
BB&BBQ B&B
Rain threatened to put a “nix” on
this year’s Bikes, Blues & Barbecue.
But clouds parted!
Soon, bikes farted
along College and Dickson
and every available avenue.
My brother’s bed-and-breakfast
is hosting biker-friends this week;
that is, if they made it to Elkins
and if they ever sleep.
OLD HORIZONS
Do you have a thought for me;
to give, or share, or loan?
Do you have a thought for me?
I’m weary of my own!
SAYS WHO?
Before you impose your creed on me,
please confirm its authority.
If I’m required to defer to you—
how do you know you know it’s true?
Around what intangibles does it revolve
and which of these does it involve?
- Intuition
- Inhibition
- Interpretation
- Inquisition
Did an angel appear and tell you so,
or some preacher’s voice on the radio?
Is there a mother ship with you in tow?
How, pray tell, do you know you know?
***
091012
AAAAHMMM...
Make a face—
a smiley face!
Let smiley feelings come.
That’s one way to meditate.
Easy. Simple. Fun.
091011
LETHE
In the pantry of her brain,
the cheese
is her stored memories.
Lately it’s becoming plain;
some mouse
is nibbling at that cheese.
091010
POETRY READING
The chance to read
my pomes out loud
to one person
or a crowd
makes me humble,
glad, scared, proud.
“You want: me?”
When that chance comes,
I am wowed.
“Really? Me?”
091009
A TRUTH TO TRY
Then is just a story
made up by the mind.
Now is always friendly.
Now is always kind.
091008
APPROVAL
The mark
of endorsement
as a friend
is being entrusted
with other friends.
091007
BLESSINGS
When you’re young,
you’re smart
if you learn a thing or two.
There’s so much to see!
When you’re old,
you’re lucky
if you forget a thing or three.
091006
SENIORITY
Look! I made it to old;
not by being smart or bold,
or doing right instead of wrong—
just by being young too long.
091005
ZOMBIE
insomniac nights
maniac days
moonlit, sunlit
grays on grays
one long blur
of dismal haze
091004
IT
What is claimed,
I’ve not yet met—
but it is nearby,
beckoning.
091003
NEAR-FROZEN ASSETS
As talent, ambition,
even body grow cold—
how hold it together;
this life on hold?
091002
AS I AM
born
some several score
ago
born again
daily
a child, a child, a child
a baby
091001
NONEMPLOYED
Where can I find
a place to stay, a way to pay
(or even a reason to live)
when I can find no home
for what I have to give?
090930
"TREASURE"
No matter what it is,
if you like it or want it—
politicians are trying to grab it,
robbers to nab it,
elites to refine it,
gurus to seek it,
geeks to tweak it—
that’s what defines it.
090929
SILENT DRAMA
The picture window—
enormous, high, and therefore rarely washed—
frames a bright but overcast northern sky.
A spiderweb spans its peak.
The spider is enormous, too;
especially compared to the fly
that races up the pane toward it
in small erratic spurts.
This black-and-white melodrama,
absent of piano accompaniment,
is being played out for my private viewing.
This is not film. It is live theater.
There is no opportunity for intervention.
Higher and higher
the fly climbs;
closer and closer
to imminent doom.
All the while,
my witness role
becomes more and more
excruciating.
Just as the perimeter of the web is breached,
there is a shattering! An illusion falls in shards
as two scenes diverge, separated by a pane of glass.
090928
SOUP KITCHEN SOUP KIT
I count nine tomatoes,
three ears of corn, two onions,
and ten mason jars.
Also laid out
on the butcher-block surface
are squash, peppers, green beans,
spices and other soup ingredients.
"The idea," says the cook,
"is to go out into the garden,
pick anything edible,
put it into a big pot,
and cook enough soup
to make it through the winter."
Frankly, I suggest a recalculation;
he obviously hasn't counted
on drop-in guests.
090927
MAY BE BUSY
Today things went the other way
but yesterday was an ease-off day.
Tomorrow, well, who’s to say?
Tomorrow is another day.
090926
ETHICS
It’s so hard to be a person;
much less, a strictly-honest version.
“Daddy, is there a Santa Claus?”
“Not any more, if there ever was.”
BUGS
There’s always a bug
around somewhere,
everywhere you look—
a spider in a corner,
a cricket in a nook,
an ant, a bee, a fly, a flea,
a bookwork in a book.
LIFE-LONG FRIEND (for Kay)
She was that quiet, friendly sort
who smiles and works and pleases—
part Martha, part Mary;
devoted to us and Jesus.
ESCAPE ARTIST
Do you hear my pencil
scrapin’ on the paper?
Well, I’m makin’ me a pome.
I’m avoidin’ what’s annoyin’.
I’m markin’ paper—
scrapin’, scrapin’—takin’ time
to be escapin’ with a pome.
090925
BB&BBQ B&B
Rain threatened to put a “nix” on
this year’s Bikes, Blues & Barbecue.
But clouds parted!
Soon, bikes farted
along College and Dickson
and every available avenue.
My brother’s bed-and-breakfast
is hosting biker-friends this week;
that is, if they made it to Elkins
and if they ever sleep.
OLD HORIZONS
Do you have a thought for me;
to give, or share, or loan?
Do you have a thought for me?
I’m weary of my own!
SAYS WHO?
Before you impose your creed on me,
please confirm its authority.
If I’m required to defer to you—
how do you know you know it’s true?
Around what intangibles does it revolve
and which of these does it involve?
- Intuition
- Inhibition
- Interpretation
- Inquisition
Did an angel appear and tell you so,
or some preacher’s voice on the radio?
Is there a mother ship with you in tow?
How, pray tell, do you know you know?
***
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Fall and All
***
090924
ALARM
My clock (tock, tock)
and brain (thought, thought)
relentlessly go on,
anticipating dawn.
090923
SUNFLOWERS IN AUTUMN
shower-stall
shower-heads
old monks
in saffron robes
contemplating their navels
090922
LESSON OF THE DREAM
Death is not reality.
Death is just belief.
Love brings life to everything.
Love brings everything to life.
[ASIDE: DREAM -- I shooed some kittens away from underfoot.
Later, I found one killed, thoroughly dead and dehydrated, with a
crushed-in place at the base of the skull. Later, my mother and sisters
also discovered the body, wondring how such a thing could have
happened. I wanted to disown my part; after all, I had done
nothing violent, it was an accident. But, sorrowfully, I admitted
my carelessness. Later, when I caressed its broken body,
holding it against my chest, the kitten revived.]
090921
HORSE FLY
Big to the ears,
big to the eyes,
that fly buzzed near,
Clydesdale-sized.
090920
NINE TWENTY
9:20 on 9/20
it’s then
or thereabouts
or rather
it was then
when
this came about
090919
DOUBLE SURPRISE
Near some steps below the eaves,
underneath a drift of leaves—
ANTS on the deck; there shouldn't be any!
ANTS on the deck; way, way, WAY too many!
090918
DAZZLER
Trailing veils of misty night,
dawn arises pastel-bright;
a nameless color, almost white.
090917
SEPTEMBER SHOWERS
Overcast again; spitting rain
for seven/eight days straight;
nothing to bewail; no one to berate.
IS just is — and gray is great.
090916
NATURAL WONDERS
beside the highway,
some novelties;
each a stunning sight—
pair of hawks
on a power-pole bar,
stationed left and right
peacock at its ease
raccoon in frozen fright
090915
MERE PLOYS
Life keeps changing;
we can't hold on.
I guess we never could.
It doesn't help to be wealthy,
or influential.
It does no good to be good.
090914
SIDELINER
They're playing—
hear them laugh and shout?
Though I don't much
like the game,
I don't like being left out.
090913
AUTONOMOUS
The one you hate
(the only one you can hate)
is inside your skin.
It's a theory at least,
and means at least:
the one who hates you, doesn't.
090912
HIGH SOCIETY (for Cat and Harry)
Words on lives sublime;
words on lives on skids;
words on words, for heavens sake;
words well placed, well paced, well said
make poets
high on poetry
light up like little kids.
090911
LIKABLE
like breath,
like thought,
like joy
in the wings,
on the wing
nature awaits notice
like nothing else,
like everything
090910
GLUM
I can’t giggle, grin or chortle—
I’m too busy being mortal.
090909
NUMBERSTITIOUS
Oh, nine! Oh, nine! Oh, nine!
A number near-sublime
to those many (or those few)
who are oh-so-eager to
put twenty-twelve out of mind.
090908
MULCHING IT OVER
Here's a thought, for what it's worth—
death won't cause a dearth of earth.
090907
ONE LAST CHORE
Well, I b’leeve I’ll rite a pome—
it’s jest that time o’ day
Hey. Play. Way. Nay.
Home. Loam. Comb. Roam.
That’s pretty good, I say.
An’ now I’ll take a time-out, Pard,
‘cuz makin’s pomes is wundrus hard.
ENTERTAINING QUESTIONS
For life, for death,
back and forth we yearn.
How does the one we crave
become the one we spurn?
Of death, of life,
there is much to learn.
Is each one a gift,
or something we must earn?
090906
RISE AND FALL
Do you see the sun?
Do you see the moon?
Do you know. . .
where she goes at night?
where he is at noon?
Across the summer sky,
one passes high; the other low.
Against the winter sky,
they reverse how high they go.
Do you know this slow,
entrancing dance;
more pas de deux than do-si-do?
[ASIDE: "Rise and Fall" - a controlled raising and lowering
of the body while dancing.]
090905
FINALE
1. Ray, 2. Charles, 3. Steve,
4. Martin, 5. James, 6. Taylor, 7. Hank,
8. Aaron, 9. Paul, 10. Harvey, 11. Bill,
“Hey, what are you doing?”
12. Clinton, 13. Roger, 14. Miller, 15. Cole,
16. Porter, 17. Bob, 18. Dylan, 19. Harrison,
20. Ford, 21. Eddie, 22. Murphy, 23. Dean,
24. Martin, 25 Howard, 26. Dean, 27. Michael,
“Huh? Oh, just putting my affairs in order.”
28. Jordan, 29. James, 30. Dean. “Done!”
RECOGNIZE
Everywhere,
they shrink, hide, stare;
they glance or glare—
the angry, lost, or lonely ones.
Be alert, aware. Compare.
We are not the only ones.
090905
PROFESSIONAL (for Rick)
"I'd be the last one to let you down,"
he said.
You know it's true, but still you wonder—
did he come up with that line on his own
or did he read it in a book of phrases for
undertakers?
DEAR FAIRY GODMOTHER
I would like to be in charge—
like Cleopatra on her barge.
And be as smart. And be as pretty.
But most of all, I want a kitty.
DIGITAL COMPUTER
Let me count your fingers.
Let me count your toes.
Five, ten. Five, ten.
Twenty digits, in two rows!
TRAITS
Shorts, not pants.
Intent on toys.
Thin legs.
Round bellies.
Mischief.
Noise.
The older men get,
the more they’re boys.
AN OTHER
My guide is named 13:7.
Do not ask me why.
It's the name I was given.
Do not ask me how.
Maybe it's a pseudonym.
Maybe it's a lie.
I expected Abe or Jim.
I expected, well, a him.
What I got was—wow!
090904
MORE THAN FAMOUS
Little me, little I—
what little hope
of fame have I!
Sun and moon,
earth and sky—
what little need
of fame have I!
VETERAN
I am calm
when hardships come;
partly strong,
partly numb.
BENEFACTOR
give me the gift I need
I don't know what it is
but I know that you know
and I know that you always
give me the gift I need
TABLES TURNED
We encroached on their domain,
snatching up their riches.
Now they've returned to do the same—
those frikkin-sunza-bichuz!
WARZ AND WURS
Alone, not one would hurt a flea—
but what we do collectively!
090904
PULSATIONS
The heart is an entrepreneur,
always love-networking—
circulating, seeking, serving;
always tending its needs.
The heart has twin needs.
It needs to move.
It needs to be moved.
090903
AT THEIR MERCY
Fluorescent-lit:
- chrome
- porcelain
- plastics
- electronics
- crucifixes
- nurses
[ASIDE: Part of the hospital was greenery and warm colors.
Part was gray and sterile and physically cold.]
090902
TRAGICTORY
Childhood:
short, fast rocket-ride.
Adulthood:
long, slow suicide.
090901
POSITIVELY
Life. Beauty. Joy.
Once you remove
impediments,
that's all there is—
Life! Beauty! Joy!
LOST POMES FOUND
090810
CURIOUS
When I was young, I wanted to explore—
learn this and that, see more and more.
I wanted to know the name of each star;
what things were, what things were for.
I never considered how it might be
to be old and poor. Old. Poor. Me.
HOME ALONE
The house is mine
and mine alone—
how I love the feeling!
If I want,
I can—and will—
dance upon the ceiling!
***
090924
ALARM
My clock (tock, tock)
and brain (thought, thought)
relentlessly go on,
anticipating dawn.
090923
SUNFLOWERS IN AUTUMN
shower-stall
shower-heads
old monks
in saffron robes
contemplating their navels
090922
LESSON OF THE DREAM
Death is not reality.
Death is just belief.
Love brings life to everything.
Love brings everything to life.
[ASIDE: DREAM -- I shooed some kittens away from underfoot.
Later, I found one killed, thoroughly dead and dehydrated, with a
crushed-in place at the base of the skull. Later, my mother and sisters
also discovered the body, wondring how such a thing could have
happened. I wanted to disown my part; after all, I had done
nothing violent, it was an accident. But, sorrowfully, I admitted
my carelessness. Later, when I caressed its broken body,
holding it against my chest, the kitten revived.]
090921
HORSE FLY
Big to the ears,
big to the eyes,
that fly buzzed near,
Clydesdale-sized.
090920
NINE TWENTY
9:20 on 9/20
it’s then
or thereabouts
or rather
it was then
when
this came about
090919
DOUBLE SURPRISE
Near some steps below the eaves,
underneath a drift of leaves—
ANTS on the deck; there shouldn't be any!
ANTS on the deck; way, way, WAY too many!
090918
DAZZLER
Trailing veils of misty night,
dawn arises pastel-bright;
a nameless color, almost white.
090917
SEPTEMBER SHOWERS
Overcast again; spitting rain
for seven/eight days straight;
nothing to bewail; no one to berate.
IS just is — and gray is great.
090916
NATURAL WONDERS
beside the highway,
some novelties;
each a stunning sight—
pair of hawks
on a power-pole bar,
stationed left and right
peacock at its ease
raccoon in frozen fright
090915
MERE PLOYS
Life keeps changing;
we can't hold on.
I guess we never could.
It doesn't help to be wealthy,
or influential.
It does no good to be good.
090914
SIDELINER
They're playing—
hear them laugh and shout?
Though I don't much
like the game,
I don't like being left out.
090913
AUTONOMOUS
The one you hate
(the only one you can hate)
is inside your skin.
It's a theory at least,
and means at least:
the one who hates you, doesn't.
090912
HIGH SOCIETY (for Cat and Harry)
Words on lives sublime;
words on lives on skids;
words on words, for heavens sake;
words well placed, well paced, well said
make poets
high on poetry
light up like little kids.
090911
LIKABLE
like breath,
like thought,
like joy
in the wings,
on the wing
nature awaits notice
like nothing else,
like everything
090910
GLUM
I can’t giggle, grin or chortle—
I’m too busy being mortal.
090909
NUMBERSTITIOUS
Oh, nine! Oh, nine! Oh, nine!
A number near-sublime
to those many (or those few)
who are oh-so-eager to
put twenty-twelve out of mind.
090908
MULCHING IT OVER
Here's a thought, for what it's worth—
death won't cause a dearth of earth.
090907
ONE LAST CHORE
Well, I b’leeve I’ll rite a pome—
it’s jest that time o’ day
Hey. Play. Way. Nay.
Home. Loam. Comb. Roam.
That’s pretty good, I say.
An’ now I’ll take a time-out, Pard,
‘cuz makin’s pomes is wundrus hard.
ENTERTAINING QUESTIONS
For life, for death,
back and forth we yearn.
How does the one we crave
become the one we spurn?
Of death, of life,
there is much to learn.
Is each one a gift,
or something we must earn?
090906
RISE AND FALL
Do you see the sun?
Do you see the moon?
Do you know. . .
where she goes at night?
where he is at noon?
Across the summer sky,
one passes high; the other low.
Against the winter sky,
they reverse how high they go.
Do you know this slow,
entrancing dance;
more pas de deux than do-si-do?
[ASIDE: "Rise and Fall" - a controlled raising and lowering
of the body while dancing.]
090905
FINALE
1. Ray, 2. Charles, 3. Steve,
4. Martin, 5. James, 6. Taylor, 7. Hank,
8. Aaron, 9. Paul, 10. Harvey, 11. Bill,
“Hey, what are you doing?”
12. Clinton, 13. Roger, 14. Miller, 15. Cole,
16. Porter, 17. Bob, 18. Dylan, 19. Harrison,
20. Ford, 21. Eddie, 22. Murphy, 23. Dean,
24. Martin, 25 Howard, 26. Dean, 27. Michael,
“Huh? Oh, just putting my affairs in order.”
28. Jordan, 29. James, 30. Dean. “Done!”
RECOGNIZE
Everywhere,
they shrink, hide, stare;
they glance or glare—
the angry, lost, or lonely ones.
Be alert, aware. Compare.
We are not the only ones.
090905
PROFESSIONAL (for Rick)
"I'd be the last one to let you down,"
he said.
You know it's true, but still you wonder—
did he come up with that line on his own
or did he read it in a book of phrases for
undertakers?
DEAR FAIRY GODMOTHER
I would like to be in charge—
like Cleopatra on her barge.
And be as smart. And be as pretty.
But most of all, I want a kitty.
DIGITAL COMPUTER
Let me count your fingers.
Let me count your toes.
Five, ten. Five, ten.
Twenty digits, in two rows!
TRAITS
Shorts, not pants.
Intent on toys.
Thin legs.
Round bellies.
Mischief.
Noise.
The older men get,
the more they’re boys.
AN OTHER
My guide is named 13:7.
Do not ask me why.
It's the name I was given.
Do not ask me how.
Maybe it's a pseudonym.
Maybe it's a lie.
I expected Abe or Jim.
I expected, well, a him.
What I got was—wow!
090904
MORE THAN FAMOUS
Little me, little I—
what little hope
of fame have I!
Sun and moon,
earth and sky—
what little need
of fame have I!
VETERAN
I am calm
when hardships come;
partly strong,
partly numb.
BENEFACTOR
give me the gift I need
I don't know what it is
but I know that you know
and I know that you always
give me the gift I need
TABLES TURNED
We encroached on their domain,
snatching up their riches.
Now they've returned to do the same—
those frikkin-sunza-bichuz!
WARZ AND WURS
Alone, not one would hurt a flea—
but what we do collectively!
090904
PULSATIONS
The heart is an entrepreneur,
always love-networking—
circulating, seeking, serving;
always tending its needs.
The heart has twin needs.
It needs to move.
It needs to be moved.
090903
AT THEIR MERCY
Fluorescent-lit:
- chrome
- porcelain
- plastics
- electronics
- crucifixes
- nurses
[ASIDE: Part of the hospital was greenery and warm colors.
Part was gray and sterile and physically cold.]
090902
TRAGICTORY
Childhood:
short, fast rocket-ride.
Adulthood:
long, slow suicide.
090901
POSITIVELY
Life. Beauty. Joy.
Once you remove
impediments,
that's all there is—
Life! Beauty! Joy!
LOST POMES FOUND
090810
CURIOUS
When I was young, I wanted to explore—
learn this and that, see more and more.
I wanted to know the name of each star;
what things were, what things were for.
I never considered how it might be
to be old and poor. Old. Poor. Me.
HOME ALONE
The house is mine
and mine alone—
how I love the feeling!
If I want,
I can—and will—
dance upon the ceiling!
***
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Dog Daze
***
090830
SIMPLE GIFTS
Why rite daily pomes for you?
I got nuthin’ better to do.
SUM SICUT SUM
I think
(or am thought)
therefore I am:
I am as I am.
OBSERVATION
Work. Wealth. Weekends.
These mean nothing
to some people;
everything to others.
A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE
Up at four, I’m writing.
Done, at five, I sit.
Then I think of crickets:
how’d they know to quit?
POVERTY
Nay! Nay!
No. Nay. Nix!
Money isn’t the problem.
Money isn’t the fix.
090829
COMMENCEMENT
Speak and I will write,
no matter what you say.
For now, I know the way
is to clear the way.
090828
RESISTING GRACE
No! We do not want this.
No! It isn’t right.
Why must this affront us?
Get out of our sight!
090827
ESCORT
Death—it comes
as a friend.
Early. Late.
Again. Again.
090826
OPEN WINDOW
Moisture laden breezes,
starlit balmy nights,
slowly dawning mornings—
summer-end delights.
090825
LOOK AGAIN
The world is as it ever was.
The only change is you;
your insights and your attitudes,
your ever-changing view.
090824
NO DENYING IT!
At two,
he could not have a puppy.
He settled for a guppy.
At four,
he could not have a dog.
He settled for a frog.
Now, at six, it's settled:
by pleas or pouts or kicks,
he WILL have that puppy dog!
090823
PET CHOICE
Why have a dog instead of a cat?
There are two sides to this question:
the side that makes the dog choice
versus the side that makes the cat.
And neither would choose the other;
they'd rather choose a rat.
090822
DOGS
Some of the best people
are not people at all.
090821
A DOG'S WORLD
When a dog waits
till the just-right moment
before coming close...
When, at the next right-moment,
it sets its chin on your knee
or arm, or other just-right part...
And when it raises a brow,
drawing your glance
(and then your full attention)
with its upturned
deep, friendly-sad eyes...
When that happens,
the whole world feels just-right.
090820
THINKING ON DOGS
Another name for a dog
is a cur, but I've never
heard one called one.
Not once. No sir.
Dogs are noble.
Dogs have heart.
When it comes to dogs,
I've not always been smart.
(But usually the dogs were.)
090819
OVERPOPULATION
People have taken up
all the room: now dogs
are not allowed to roam
or cause a cat to scoot.
In fact, there is so little room
that cats have made
themselves at home,
and given dogs the boot.
090818
DOGS HAVE
GONE TO THE DOGS
In bygone days
dogs were large;
even as a pup.
They fed on game
and buried bones,
which later they dug up
Nowadays,
dogs eat pellets
and fit inside a cup.
090817
MADE FOR EACH OTHER
Child brings home puppy, all agog:
"Mother, may I, please?"
This statement's true,
not lame or wild:
Every child should have a dog,
and every dog should have a child.
090816
CEREAL THRILLER
From crows to finches,
has the bird been born
that doesn’t have
a taste for corn?
***
090830
SIMPLE GIFTS
Why rite daily pomes for you?
I got nuthin’ better to do.
SUM SICUT SUM
I think
(or am thought)
therefore I am:
I am as I am.
OBSERVATION
Work. Wealth. Weekends.
These mean nothing
to some people;
everything to others.
A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE
Up at four, I’m writing.
Done, at five, I sit.
Then I think of crickets:
how’d they know to quit?
POVERTY
Nay! Nay!
No. Nay. Nix!
Money isn’t the problem.
Money isn’t the fix.
090829
COMMENCEMENT
Speak and I will write,
no matter what you say.
For now, I know the way
is to clear the way.
090828
RESISTING GRACE
No! We do not want this.
No! It isn’t right.
Why must this affront us?
Get out of our sight!
090827
ESCORT
Death—it comes
as a friend.
Early. Late.
Again. Again.
090826
OPEN WINDOW
Moisture laden breezes,
starlit balmy nights,
slowly dawning mornings—
summer-end delights.
090825
LOOK AGAIN
The world is as it ever was.
The only change is you;
your insights and your attitudes,
your ever-changing view.
090824
NO DENYING IT!
At two,
he could not have a puppy.
He settled for a guppy.
At four,
he could not have a dog.
He settled for a frog.
Now, at six, it's settled:
by pleas or pouts or kicks,
he WILL have that puppy dog!
090823
PET CHOICE
Why have a dog instead of a cat?
There are two sides to this question:
the side that makes the dog choice
versus the side that makes the cat.
And neither would choose the other;
they'd rather choose a rat.
090822
DOGS
Some of the best people
are not people at all.
090821
A DOG'S WORLD
When a dog waits
till the just-right moment
before coming close...
When, at the next right-moment,
it sets its chin on your knee
or arm, or other just-right part...
And when it raises a brow,
drawing your glance
(and then your full attention)
with its upturned
deep, friendly-sad eyes...
When that happens,
the whole world feels just-right.
090820
THINKING ON DOGS
Another name for a dog
is a cur, but I've never
heard one called one.
Not once. No sir.
Dogs are noble.
Dogs have heart.
When it comes to dogs,
I've not always been smart.
(But usually the dogs were.)
090819
OVERPOPULATION
People have taken up
all the room: now dogs
are not allowed to roam
or cause a cat to scoot.
In fact, there is so little room
that cats have made
themselves at home,
and given dogs the boot.
090818
DOGS HAVE
GONE TO THE DOGS
In bygone days
dogs were large;
even as a pup.
They fed on game
and buried bones,
which later they dug up
Nowadays,
dogs eat pellets
and fit inside a cup.
090817
MADE FOR EACH OTHER
Child brings home puppy, all agog:
"Mother, may I, please?"
This statement's true,
not lame or wild:
Every child should have a dog,
and every dog should have a child.
090816
CEREAL THRILLER
From crows to finches,
has the bird been born
that doesn’t have
a taste for corn?
***
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Love and War and In-Between
***
090815
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Whether choice or fate,
will you take the bait?
How big a mistake
are you willing to make?
090814
SIDE BY SIDE
Easy lives and hard,
concern and disregard,
life and death—
go side by side
breath by breath.
090813
BOND OF BROTHERS
Friends of freedom:
friends we are,
though our countries
be at war.
090812
SLOW AT WRITIN’
Ain’t writ no "pome" in awhile.
Ain’t twittered none, at least.
Wanna git fast an’ versa-tile
a‘fore I git de-ceased.
090811
HUH? SAY AGAIN?
Lots of telemarketers lately.
After the ring, hello, and long pause
and before hanging up, he says,
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but
no one at this house has diabetes."
090810
LOVE LOVES
all that is
as it is
090809
EGGS-PONENTIAL
Eggs!
One. Three. Four.
Next time we look,
there may be more.
Sitting the nest
is setting the stage
for many too many
birds in the cage.
Eggs from birds!
Birds from eggs!
Way too many
birds and eggs!
090808
COMPOUND LESSON
We are here to learn.
We are here to love.
We are here to teach.
We are here to learn
to love to teach ...love.
090807
QUANDARY
Is intuition
the way to go?
My best guess
in this case—no.
090806
AN OLD STORY
Young and raw,
setting out, full of pride;
he was on his way
to somewhere.
Young and raw,
taken in, set aside;
she was on his way
to somewhere.
090805
IS IT SAFE YET?
each newborn life
(it well may be)
begins both innocent and free
and if no elder interferes
does not assume
our age-old fears
090804
SEA OF GREEN
You occupy my heart.
You occupy my mind.
Through you, Iran, I find:
all mankind is intertwined.
090803
LOVE NOTE
Love to all I used to fear,
till late.
Love to all I used to hate
(to hate to try to please).
Love to
friends-slash-enemies.
090802
THAT’S WHY
Why am I not sleeping?
It’s way past time for bed.
Because I’m tired…
of keeping thought-bits
in my head; that’s why I write
so late at night.
090801
VISITING HOURS
old lady daughter
old lady mother
recognizing
and not recognizing
each other
090731
RAIN!
mid-morning
mid-summer rain—
cool hand
soothing
fevered brow
090730
TANKA
daffodils this spring
bloomed as surprisingly as
surprise lilies now—
not in either neighbor’s’ yard,
but in the wasteland between
[ASIDE: Japanese form with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count.]
090729
THE WORK (for Katie)
Think any thought
that bothers you:
chances are, it isn’t true.
090728
COCOON
each day's life
spins its own shroud,
readying for sleep
090727
ATTENTION!
To save a life
may require as little as this—
become conscious
that lives are in jeopardy.
090726
ARRIVAL
I know to expect it;
still, it gives me shivers—
how quickly,
how accurately
the universe delivers!
THE DAY'S EVENTS
Dead at road edges today,
more than twenty feet apart:
two moles and a brim.
No buzzards.
I fed the ducks.
Dogs followed me home.
090725
IT’S “WHOA-WHOA” TIME
In another part of the house,
he is talking to the cats—
admiring them, asking questions,
commenting on the day.
I can’t make out his words,
just the happy hum.
[ASIDE: Afternoon feeding time coincided,
when it was first established,
with the opening refrain of the TV Oprah show:
“WHOA-oh, WHOA-oh, OH-prah!” which evolved
into something shorter.]
090724
NWARSP (for Donnie)
The talk you gave was more than grand—
you helped us all to understand…
Company culture is a choice
twix one thing and another:
“One for all and all for one!”
or “Mash and crush and smother!”
True leaders let no chance slip past
to pay respect to crew and cast.
[ASIDE: This was a candygram accompanied by:
100 GRAND, TWIX, 3 MUSKETEERS,
CRUNCH bar, BUTTERFINGERS and PAYDAYS]
090723
THE FABLE OF LABELS
The fearful, the harmful,
the foreign, the unclean—
I’m learning by unlearning
what everything means.
090722
DREAMY
Bananas:
high-fiber, low-cal,
filling and creamy.
Fresh or frozen;
oh, so creamy!
What other food
is like that? Sweet!
090721
PARACHUTING OUT
Severance pay—
whether you want to go
or want to stay;
this is the way
to make severance
pay.
REFUGE
Take my money, take my home,
take sun, moon, sky, and birds;
I will bless you with a pome,
for I will still have words.
***
090815
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Whether choice or fate,
will you take the bait?
How big a mistake
are you willing to make?
090814
SIDE BY SIDE
Easy lives and hard,
concern and disregard,
life and death—
go side by side
breath by breath.
090813
BOND OF BROTHERS
Friends of freedom:
friends we are,
though our countries
be at war.
090812
SLOW AT WRITIN’
Ain’t writ no "pome" in awhile.
Ain’t twittered none, at least.
Wanna git fast an’ versa-tile
a‘fore I git de-ceased.
090811
HUH? SAY AGAIN?
Lots of telemarketers lately.
After the ring, hello, and long pause
and before hanging up, he says,
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but
no one at this house has diabetes."
090810
LOVE LOVES
all that is
as it is
090809
EGGS-PONENTIAL
Eggs!
One. Three. Four.
Next time we look,
there may be more.
Sitting the nest
is setting the stage
for many too many
birds in the cage.
Eggs from birds!
Birds from eggs!
Way too many
birds and eggs!
090808
COMPOUND LESSON
We are here to learn.
We are here to love.
We are here to teach.
We are here to learn
to love to teach ...love.
090807
QUANDARY
Is intuition
the way to go?
My best guess
in this case—no.
090806
AN OLD STORY
Young and raw,
setting out, full of pride;
he was on his way
to somewhere.
Young and raw,
taken in, set aside;
she was on his way
to somewhere.
090805
IS IT SAFE YET?
each newborn life
(it well may be)
begins both innocent and free
and if no elder interferes
does not assume
our age-old fears
090804
SEA OF GREEN
You occupy my heart.
You occupy my mind.
Through you, Iran, I find:
all mankind is intertwined.
090803
LOVE NOTE
Love to all I used to fear,
till late.
Love to all I used to hate
(to hate to try to please).
Love to
friends-slash-enemies.
090802
THAT’S WHY
Why am I not sleeping?
It’s way past time for bed.
Because I’m tired…
of keeping thought-bits
in my head; that’s why I write
so late at night.
090801
VISITING HOURS
old lady daughter
old lady mother
recognizing
and not recognizing
each other
090731
RAIN!
mid-morning
mid-summer rain—
cool hand
soothing
fevered brow
090730
TANKA
daffodils this spring
bloomed as surprisingly as
surprise lilies now—
not in either neighbor’s’ yard,
but in the wasteland between
[ASIDE: Japanese form with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count.]
090729
THE WORK (for Katie)
Think any thought
that bothers you:
chances are, it isn’t true.
090728
COCOON
each day's life
spins its own shroud,
readying for sleep
090727
ATTENTION!
To save a life
may require as little as this—
become conscious
that lives are in jeopardy.
090726
ARRIVAL
I know to expect it;
still, it gives me shivers—
how quickly,
how accurately
the universe delivers!
THE DAY'S EVENTS
Dead at road edges today,
more than twenty feet apart:
two moles and a brim.
No buzzards.
I fed the ducks.
Dogs followed me home.
090725
IT’S “WHOA-WHOA” TIME
In another part of the house,
he is talking to the cats—
admiring them, asking questions,
commenting on the day.
I can’t make out his words,
just the happy hum.
[ASIDE: Afternoon feeding time coincided,
when it was first established,
with the opening refrain of the TV Oprah show:
“WHOA-oh, WHOA-oh, OH-prah!” which evolved
into something shorter.]
090724
NWARSP (for Donnie)
The talk you gave was more than grand—
you helped us all to understand…
Company culture is a choice
twix one thing and another:
“One for all and all for one!”
or “Mash and crush and smother!”
True leaders let no chance slip past
to pay respect to crew and cast.
[ASIDE: This was a candygram accompanied by:
100 GRAND, TWIX, 3 MUSKETEERS,
CRUNCH bar, BUTTERFINGERS and PAYDAYS]
090723
THE FABLE OF LABELS
The fearful, the harmful,
the foreign, the unclean—
I’m learning by unlearning
what everything means.
090722
DREAMY
Bananas:
high-fiber, low-cal,
filling and creamy.
Fresh or frozen;
oh, so creamy!
What other food
is like that? Sweet!
090721
PARACHUTING OUT
Severance pay—
whether you want to go
or want to stay;
this is the way
to make severance
pay.
REFUGE
Take my money, take my home,
take sun, moon, sky, and birds;
I will bless you with a pome,
for I will still have words.
***
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Free As Air
***
090720
NAILS
My thumbs' and fingers'
are painted pink.
Those on my toes are rose.
090719
VISITATION (for Ado)
You lived and died so gracefully.
Please, be here now with me.
Every way you did and were—
I want to do and be.
090718
RESPITE
Life seems funny lately.
Everything brings a smile.
This won't last forever;
just for a blessed while.
090717
ASHES AND DUST
Away around the world somewhere
people like me are fighting—
for something that should be free as air;
for life to be a little more fair.
That’s why people are fighting.
090716
AMASSING HEALTH
“I’m hungry—
for food,” I used to say,
and far too often.
It’s a phrase I’ve learned
to soften—or redirect into
a weapon of mass destruction
that requires no stealth.
Now I say, “I’m hungry—
for health.”
090715
TWO TO ONE
Feathered and furred:
one, cat; one, bird.
For one brief moment,
neither one stirred.
090714
GATEKEEPER
Don't push yer luck,
growled my muse,
getting all irate.
Seven clues is enough fer youse—
don't hang around my gate
fer eight.
090713
SLEEP THERAPY
My dreams—the kind that come
when you lay your body down,
close your eyes, and nod off;
not the idealized, unrealized
versions of a proposed future—
are more compelling than my current life.
Today, I drowsed after lunch,
started to rouse near suppertime,
compared sleeping-dream to waking-dream,
nestled back into the covers,
and blissfully slipped away.
My mind recalls not a single detail,
but my body is grinning.
090712
WHO’S IN CHARGE, HERE?
God—let’s call you that—
when I look at the world, or it intrudes,
I can’t block out the unhappiness—
no; the agony.
And where does it come from?
From you! If not directly, effectively.
People clobber each other in your name—
your names, rather,
Your names are legion
and their clashes diabolical.
Are you aware? Do you care?
Regardless,
your reputation needs an overhaul.
Somebody’s doing a terrible job of P.R.!
090711
POME PALS
Potes! Who open minds
and hearts and throats,
I stuff my ballot box for you!
You have my votes!
ON CALL
Whenever writing lays its claim—
no matter how conveniently,
and whether early or late—
my response is always the same:
humbly, gladly, steadfastly,
I capitulate.
CONTRARY TO APPEARANCES
Reality is ecstasy,
as mystics comprehend.
There is no hell, they contend:
all is well all is well.
TAKING LIBERTY
Freedom’s highest glory
and freedom’s greatest shame,
paradoxically,
are one and the same—
freedom to take it for granted.
090710
TO SUCCEED, TAKE HEED:
Bills unpaid? Hair all mussed?
Cluttered desk? Cobwebs? Dust?
Here’s advice that you can trust.
“Do the things you ought to do!”
and you’ll neglect the things you must.
090709
INSISTENT
That cricket-chorus rhythm
rattles through my brain,
like railcars entrained,
settling in for the long haul.
Its cadence is a call:
Let me punch your ticket.
Let me punch your ticket.
Let me punch your ticket.
FADING AWAY
So amazingly designed
is this body going blind
and this ever-dimming mind.
When death comes, I won't care.
I won't even be aware.
FOXY MORON
My mind is mad,
but I don't mind.
I'm too lazy to go crazy.
090708
CAST OUT
Your Eden has ended.
You cannot pretend.
You know
where your meat comes from
and where your garbage goes.
You know.
You can only pretend
to pretend.
INEFFICIENCY BREAK (for Ginnie)
It’s nearing end of day,
and I haven’t earned my play.
Go ahead and call me crook;
I’m stealing time with a book.
LESSON: GROW!
Being phototropic,
plants send up their shoots.
Being geotropic,
they send down their roots.
When oppositely attracted,
don't become retracted,
settling for an either-or.
Like the plants,
choose more-and-more.
090707
PROFUSION OF CONFUSION
Religions explain
inscrutable things like war.
No wonder they are
equally bizarre.
CARD FOR VICKI
For your birthday, happily,
I send you pearl and ivory
(these rose bouquets and filigree).
Also, words of poetry
and boundless love to you from me.
090706
WORLD.WIRED.WEB
Such a day, such a day—
all the world’s atrocities
shared at vast velocities!
Healing, too, twitters through;
no more than a touch away.
***
090720
NAILS
My thumbs' and fingers'
are painted pink.
Those on my toes are rose.
090719
VISITATION (for Ado)
You lived and died so gracefully.
Please, be here now with me.
Every way you did and were—
I want to do and be.
090718
RESPITE
Life seems funny lately.
Everything brings a smile.
This won't last forever;
just for a blessed while.
090717
ASHES AND DUST
Away around the world somewhere
people like me are fighting—
for something that should be free as air;
for life to be a little more fair.
That’s why people are fighting.
090716
AMASSING HEALTH
“I’m hungry—
for food,” I used to say,
and far too often.
It’s a phrase I’ve learned
to soften—or redirect into
a weapon of mass destruction
that requires no stealth.
Now I say, “I’m hungry—
for health.”
090715
TWO TO ONE
Feathered and furred:
one, cat; one, bird.
For one brief moment,
neither one stirred.
090714
GATEKEEPER
Don't push yer luck,
growled my muse,
getting all irate.
Seven clues is enough fer youse—
don't hang around my gate
fer eight.
090713
SLEEP THERAPY
My dreams—the kind that come
when you lay your body down,
close your eyes, and nod off;
not the idealized, unrealized
versions of a proposed future—
are more compelling than my current life.
Today, I drowsed after lunch,
started to rouse near suppertime,
compared sleeping-dream to waking-dream,
nestled back into the covers,
and blissfully slipped away.
My mind recalls not a single detail,
but my body is grinning.
090712
WHO’S IN CHARGE, HERE?
God—let’s call you that—
when I look at the world, or it intrudes,
I can’t block out the unhappiness—
no; the agony.
And where does it come from?
From you! If not directly, effectively.
People clobber each other in your name—
your names, rather,
Your names are legion
and their clashes diabolical.
Are you aware? Do you care?
Regardless,
your reputation needs an overhaul.
Somebody’s doing a terrible job of P.R.!
090711
POME PALS
Potes! Who open minds
and hearts and throats,
I stuff my ballot box for you!
You have my votes!
ON CALL
Whenever writing lays its claim—
no matter how conveniently,
and whether early or late—
my response is always the same:
humbly, gladly, steadfastly,
I capitulate.
CONTRARY TO APPEARANCES
Reality is ecstasy,
as mystics comprehend.
There is no hell, they contend:
all is well all is well.
TAKING LIBERTY
Freedom’s highest glory
and freedom’s greatest shame,
paradoxically,
are one and the same—
freedom to take it for granted.
090710
TO SUCCEED, TAKE HEED:
Bills unpaid? Hair all mussed?
Cluttered desk? Cobwebs? Dust?
Here’s advice that you can trust.
“Do the things you ought to do!”
and you’ll neglect the things you must.
090709
INSISTENT
That cricket-chorus rhythm
rattles through my brain,
like railcars entrained,
settling in for the long haul.
Its cadence is a call:
Let me punch your ticket.
Let me punch your ticket.
Let me punch your ticket.
FADING AWAY
So amazingly designed
is this body going blind
and this ever-dimming mind.
When death comes, I won't care.
I won't even be aware.
FOXY MORON
My mind is mad,
but I don't mind.
I'm too lazy to go crazy.
090708
CAST OUT
Your Eden has ended.
You cannot pretend.
You know
where your meat comes from
and where your garbage goes.
You know.
You can only pretend
to pretend.
INEFFICIENCY BREAK (for Ginnie)
It’s nearing end of day,
and I haven’t earned my play.
Go ahead and call me crook;
I’m stealing time with a book.
LESSON: GROW!
Being phototropic,
plants send up their shoots.
Being geotropic,
they send down their roots.
When oppositely attracted,
don't become retracted,
settling for an either-or.
Like the plants,
choose more-and-more.
090707
PROFUSION OF CONFUSION
Religions explain
inscrutable things like war.
No wonder they are
equally bizarre.
CARD FOR VICKI
For your birthday, happily,
I send you pearl and ivory
(these rose bouquets and filigree).
Also, words of poetry
and boundless love to you from me.
090706
WORLD.WIRED.WEB
Such a day, such a day—
all the world’s atrocities
shared at vast velocities!
Healing, too, twitters through;
no more than a touch away.
***
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Happy and Free
***
090705
JUST CAN’T REFRAIN
Why can’t I?
Let me tell you why—
I just can’t get a break.
- Can’t spot a fake.
- Can’t stay awake.
- Can’t keep a friend.
- Can’t underspend.
- Can’t hold on tight.
- Can’t win a fight.
I just can’t do things right.
UNCOMPLICATED (for Abraham)
If you’re happy,
you’re enlightened:
stay that way.
SELF-HELP
I hurt.
I lack.
I disapprove.
I fear.
Phooey!
Change focus.
Be happy.
Accept no substitutes.
FREE, FLOATING
The more my health
and wealth are gone,
the less I base
my happiness on.
RAINY DAY SPENDINGS
I love paid vacations—
feeling wild and free—
even this vacation,
being paid by me.
ARRIVAL
Am I happy?
Yes, oh yes!
That is my
complete success.
090704
FAITHFUL AND PROUD
I pledge allegiance to my Muse—
my trusted higher power
who is the flag that I salute
and, of whatever state I’m in,
motto, song, and flower.
FIREWORKS
Freedom unearned
can be celebrated
but not enjoyed.
POLITICAL DIVIDE
“Don’t try to help!
Nothing will help that you can do.”
“Forgive me then;
for being proud of you.”
WE, THE PEOPLE
How can we be “enemy”?
We seek each other’s liberty!
090703
UNDER HEAVEN
Down and out?
Feeling pain?
Life brings loss, but with it, gain:
sacred blessings that sustain
like winter sun and summer rain.
BEAT NIX
Rhymes, rhymes, rhymes.
Oh so loved—
in other tymes!
090702
LAUNCH OF “LIFT-OFF”
We and the cats
have gone into
conniption fits.
Finches are tiny;
imagine their eggs!
Our hatchling utterly
begs description—
pink grape;
eensie stubs
for wings and legs.
WHERE’S MY VOTE?
If I were Iranian,
I wonder what I’d do?
Perhaps I’d meekly raise my voice—
and be deprived of further choice.
090701
HEART-MATES (for Marilyn)
Tomorrow I will see my friend.
Then we’ll separate again.
Apart, then together;
together, then apart:
the push and pull of friendship,
like blood, flows through the heart.
CAREFUL!
Don’t put too much on your plate—
things are about to escalate!
***
090705
JUST CAN’T REFRAIN
Why can’t I?
Let me tell you why—
I just can’t get a break.
- Can’t spot a fake.
- Can’t stay awake.
- Can’t keep a friend.
- Can’t underspend.
- Can’t hold on tight.
- Can’t win a fight.
I just can’t do things right.
UNCOMPLICATED (for Abraham)
If you’re happy,
you’re enlightened:
stay that way.
SELF-HELP
I hurt.
I lack.
I disapprove.
I fear.
Phooey!
Change focus.
Be happy.
Accept no substitutes.
FREE, FLOATING
The more my health
and wealth are gone,
the less I base
my happiness on.
RAINY DAY SPENDINGS
I love paid vacations—
feeling wild and free—
even this vacation,
being paid by me.
ARRIVAL
Am I happy?
Yes, oh yes!
That is my
complete success.
090704
FAITHFUL AND PROUD
I pledge allegiance to my Muse—
my trusted higher power
who is the flag that I salute
and, of whatever state I’m in,
motto, song, and flower.
FIREWORKS
Freedom unearned
can be celebrated
but not enjoyed.
POLITICAL DIVIDE
“Don’t try to help!
Nothing will help that you can do.”
“Forgive me then;
for being proud of you.”
WE, THE PEOPLE
How can we be “enemy”?
We seek each other’s liberty!
090703
UNDER HEAVEN
Down and out?
Feeling pain?
Life brings loss, but with it, gain:
sacred blessings that sustain
like winter sun and summer rain.
BEAT NIX
Rhymes, rhymes, rhymes.
Oh so loved—
in other tymes!
090702
LAUNCH OF “LIFT-OFF”
We and the cats
have gone into
conniption fits.
Finches are tiny;
imagine their eggs!
Our hatchling utterly
begs description—
pink grape;
eensie stubs
for wings and legs.
WHERE’S MY VOTE?
If I were Iranian,
I wonder what I’d do?
Perhaps I’d meekly raise my voice—
and be deprived of further choice.
090701
HEART-MATES (for Marilyn)
Tomorrow I will see my friend.
Then we’ll separate again.
Apart, then together;
together, then apart:
the push and pull of friendship,
like blood, flows through the heart.
CAREFUL!
Don’t put too much on your plate—
things are about to escalate!
***
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Lunacy and Grace
***
090415
L’ESSENTIEL EST INVISIBLE
Today, when speaking to my friends,
I closed my eyes ...until the end.
I opened them with such a start!
I'd been speaking from the heart.
090414
MAYOR AND GUEST (for Bob)
When the conference was done
I savored most in memory
the human kindness of the one
who smiled and held my chair for me.
090413
SOUND OF GRACE (for David)
No wayfaring stranger—
nor poor in any way—am I.
Once lost, now found,
I revel in the rich embrace
of precious and amazing grace—
How sweet the sound!
***
[BIRTHDAY CARD]
Birthdays have their time
and place—
There’s no doubting
that one bit.
Some of them
deserve embrace.
Some of them
are full of…
[inside]
…grace.
090412
SPRING FLING
Welcome to your party?
Thanks,
it’s been a while
since I dressed up fancy;
since I wore a smile.
090411
CORRESPONDENCE
Year after year,
I wrote to the air.
Dreaming like bear,
I lay in my lair—
when I peeked out,
it gave me a scare.
Out in the daylight,
out in the glare—
if I go out,
how will I fare?
But kinship is there!
For that, I will dare.
090410
POMES 5¢ (forDusty)
Before you decide
to peddle a book,
go stand on some
street corner awhile
selling apples.
BUNNY HOPPEN (for Michelle)
When there’s somethin’ to be done—
Leapin’ in!
Springin’ into action.
Jumpin’ in to help. Creatin’ satisfaction.
Spreadin’ round some mirth.
What is all that Hoppenworth?
Almost anything on earth!
090409
STRAW VOTE
Old haybales are arguing
heatedly,
in the otherwise empty
summer pasture,
for and against the proposition
that the absence of livestock
is permanent.
090408
LEARNING GRATITUDE
What I had is now supplanted.
What I had, I took for granted.
Night sits heavy on my chest.
Morning comes, but brings no rest.
All it takes to be so tense
is something to compare against.
What I have will be supplanted.
Nothing will I take for granted.
090407
EMMA’S EYES
Emma’s eyes
are clouding—
each day; less clear,
less bright.
(Near death,
when just a kitten,
Emma lost her sight.)
Now she “sees”
in other ways
as her eyes grow white.
Emmas’ eyes:
they help me see
all that is—as right.
SELF-DECEIVED (for Pam)
Said the writer:
Poetry
I do not do—
I can’t say “boo!”
to a haiku.
090406
WHO WANTS TO KNOW
What this means
I’ll come to see,
or not:
that’s the deal.
I may not be immortal.
I may not even be real.
But, scanning through the
portal of my memory
brings a certain certainty:
I have always felt like “me.”
090405
TEA PARTY
Life is cup and saucer.
Happiness is tea.
Please,
won't you come soon?
Share a cup with me.
090404 (for Gary)
GOOD NIGHT,
JUNG LOVERS,
WHEREVER
YOU ARE
I wish we may,
I wish we might
dream dream dream
good dreams tonight.
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Life is abundant.
There is plenty for all.
Life is simple and fun.
Don’t worry. Be happy.
Follow your bliss.
How is a person supposed to
deal with ideas like these?
To test them, you would first
have to adopt faith in them,
and then
continually reinterpret their basic terms:
abundant, simple, bliss, life.
That would take lifelong commitment.
Is it worth the gamble?
???????????????????????????????
Epilogue: The first version of this poem
was lost to a computer crash. Dang-
dang-dang, I said, (or something like that)
as just-written words evaporated and
likely repair bills loomed.
As usual, life was offering me an opportunity
to answer affirmatively: Do you really
want to live in the way you propose?
090403
USE YOUR “INSIDE VOICE” (for Sandy)
A-gor-a-phobia.
It’s some fancy therapy-name
that makes it sound like you’re afraid
of being a bull-fighter.
Well, my bull is my brain, I guess.
But I’m learning to matador it.
Hey, I can even teach you a few things.
Last week, I had a major triumph.
You should have seen my doctor’s face
when I told her.
“I went outside on my own,” I said,
and not just to come here.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Ha! Yes I did. Went outside to a party.
A cocktail party!”
She was speechless.
I don’t think she believed me.
So I let her know that I have
therapy ways of my own.
“It was so easy, once I
paid attention to my Inside Voice.
It told me to go out my door
and just watch my feet move.
A while later,
it said to follow some other feet
that were going inside a building.
I came to a room where everybody
was making a lot of noise.
That scared me—a lot—
being in the middle of everything.
But I found a chair, and the voice said, sit down.
Then it said,
turn yourself into a tunafish sandwich.
It was great: nobody even noticed me.”
Doc was impressed—
said she’d never heard of
Tuna Stealth before.
090402
SINCE YOU ASKED
The reason I’m home so early
from the “read-around” is this:
they told me they’re a “writers” group
and they don’t want poetry anymore.
Wait! Sorry! Wrong!
April Fool’s was yesterday.
(But, it’s nice to see you so riled.)
090401
SPRING SPREE
Lunacy rules—
it’s April, fools!
***
090415
L’ESSENTIEL EST INVISIBLE
Today, when speaking to my friends,
I closed my eyes ...until the end.
I opened them with such a start!
I'd been speaking from the heart.
090414
MAYOR AND GUEST (for Bob)
When the conference was done
I savored most in memory
the human kindness of the one
who smiled and held my chair for me.
090413
SOUND OF GRACE (for David)
No wayfaring stranger—
nor poor in any way—am I.
Once lost, now found,
I revel in the rich embrace
of precious and amazing grace—
How sweet the sound!
***
[BIRTHDAY CARD]
Birthdays have their time
and place—
There’s no doubting
that one bit.
Some of them
deserve embrace.
Some of them
are full of…
[inside]
…grace.
090412
SPRING FLING
Welcome to your party?
Thanks,
it’s been a while
since I dressed up fancy;
since I wore a smile.
090411
CORRESPONDENCE
Year after year,
I wrote to the air.
Dreaming like bear,
I lay in my lair—
when I peeked out,
it gave me a scare.
Out in the daylight,
out in the glare—
if I go out,
how will I fare?
But kinship is there!
For that, I will dare.
090410
POMES 5¢ (forDusty)
Before you decide
to peddle a book,
go stand on some
street corner awhile
selling apples.
BUNNY HOPPEN (for Michelle)
When there’s somethin’ to be done—
Leapin’ in!
Springin’ into action.
Jumpin’ in to help. Creatin’ satisfaction.
Spreadin’ round some mirth.
What is all that Hoppenworth?
Almost anything on earth!
090409
STRAW VOTE
Old haybales are arguing
heatedly,
in the otherwise empty
summer pasture,
for and against the proposition
that the absence of livestock
is permanent.
090408
LEARNING GRATITUDE
What I had is now supplanted.
What I had, I took for granted.
Night sits heavy on my chest.
Morning comes, but brings no rest.
All it takes to be so tense
is something to compare against.
What I have will be supplanted.
Nothing will I take for granted.
090407
EMMA’S EYES
Emma’s eyes
are clouding—
each day; less clear,
less bright.
(Near death,
when just a kitten,
Emma lost her sight.)
Now she “sees”
in other ways
as her eyes grow white.
Emmas’ eyes:
they help me see
all that is—as right.
SELF-DECEIVED (for Pam)
Said the writer:
Poetry
I do not do—
I can’t say “boo!”
to a haiku.
090406
WHO WANTS TO KNOW
What this means
I’ll come to see,
or not:
that’s the deal.
I may not be immortal.
I may not even be real.
But, scanning through the
portal of my memory
brings a certain certainty:
I have always felt like “me.”
090405
TEA PARTY
Life is cup and saucer.
Happiness is tea.
Please,
won't you come soon?
Share a cup with me.
090404 (for Gary)
GOOD NIGHT,
JUNG LOVERS,
WHEREVER
YOU ARE
I wish we may,
I wish we might
dream dream dream
good dreams tonight.
YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Life is abundant.
There is plenty for all.
Life is simple and fun.
Don’t worry. Be happy.
Follow your bliss.
How is a person supposed to
deal with ideas like these?
To test them, you would first
have to adopt faith in them,
and then
continually reinterpret their basic terms:
abundant, simple, bliss, life.
That would take lifelong commitment.
Is it worth the gamble?
???????????????????????????????
Epilogue: The first version of this poem
was lost to a computer crash. Dang-
dang-dang, I said, (or something like that)
as just-written words evaporated and
likely repair bills loomed.
As usual, life was offering me an opportunity
to answer affirmatively: Do you really
want to live in the way you propose?
090403
USE YOUR “INSIDE VOICE” (for Sandy)
A-gor-a-phobia.
It’s some fancy therapy-name
that makes it sound like you’re afraid
of being a bull-fighter.
Well, my bull is my brain, I guess.
But I’m learning to matador it.
Hey, I can even teach you a few things.
Last week, I had a major triumph.
You should have seen my doctor’s face
when I told her.
“I went outside on my own,” I said,
and not just to come here.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Ha! Yes I did. Went outside to a party.
A cocktail party!”
She was speechless.
I don’t think she believed me.
So I let her know that I have
therapy ways of my own.
“It was so easy, once I
paid attention to my Inside Voice.
It told me to go out my door
and just watch my feet move.
A while later,
it said to follow some other feet
that were going inside a building.
I came to a room where everybody
was making a lot of noise.
That scared me—a lot—
being in the middle of everything.
But I found a chair, and the voice said, sit down.
Then it said,
turn yourself into a tunafish sandwich.
It was great: nobody even noticed me.”
Doc was impressed—
said she’d never heard of
Tuna Stealth before.
090402
SINCE YOU ASKED
The reason I’m home so early
from the “read-around” is this:
they told me they’re a “writers” group
and they don’t want poetry anymore.
Wait! Sorry! Wrong!
April Fool’s was yesterday.
(But, it’s nice to see you so riled.)
090401
SPRING SPREE
Lunacy rules—
it’s April, fools!
***
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