Short and Sweet (Mostly)

* * *


100922

SENSE-LESS

I watch near-blinded as,
from the round of its bucket,
the sun drops molten light
onto evening waves.
I must be near-deaf as well,
hearing no hiss of steam.


100921

MELLOW

I feel peace
(though no push or pull)
and cannot say
whether I’m empty or full.


100920

“THE” ANSWER

It’s all
so simple, really—
so really simple,
I simply forgot.


100919

INCOMING MESSAGE

What fool would be awake
and writing at one a.m.?
Besides myself, I mean.


100918

CONFECTION

Love it all
for its own sake;
the peace of God
is a piece of cake.


100917

AHHHH – HA!

Brilliant!
Utter simplicity.
Why am I happy?
Because I want to be!


100916

MIS-HEARD

You didn’t hear
the thunderstorm?
No, I was asleep.

Dreamin’?
Uh-huh… freezing…
back in Korea…
and other demons, too.


ARRIVAL

Things come e-mail;
things come snail.
Things come true, too,
like that, from you.
(The check was in the mail.)


100915

MOTIVACATION

I know I care;
I care a lot.
I’m just not sure
what about.


100914

FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE

Friends, friends, friends—
whatever we’re in for,
we’re in it as friends.


100913

FORCED
REMOVAL

Cat gave
the bed
another douse—
that’s why
she’s now
in the doghouse.


* * *

Waiting, Thinking, Being

* * *


100912

LADY IN WAITING

Life becomes—as I grow old—
not too tame, not too bold;
not too hot, not too cold.
I’m holding onto a life on hold.


100911

FÊTE ACCOMPLI (for Brent and Lizzie)

Groom and bride
became husband and wife.

For family, friends, and community,
it was all a wedding should be—
a celebration of connection,
an affirmation of love and life.


100910

STILL NOT SURE

I’m not sure why.
I’m not sure how.
I got a job, a car, a mate,
a house to clean and decorate.
Meow, meow,
I got a cat.
I did all that.
Now it’s late.
What do I do now?


100909

NIGHTLY NOOSE

The world is dying.
What can I do?
The media says
I’m dying too.


100908

INTUIT INTO IT

Let me give you
some advice:
don’t think once,
much less twice.


100907

PARCHED

What's that sound,
I hope and wonder—
the approach of
distant thunder?


100906

MORNING MISSED

A sad morning.
The cat who always
escorts our
newspaper retrieval at dawn—
the cat who always
comes when called—
did not escort,
did not come.

Always is not
always always—
at least, is no longer,
which explains how
a sad morning gave way
to a happy afternoon.


100905

SAID AT SUNSET

Please teach me.
Teach you what?

What I need to know.
Why do you need to know?

Hmmm.
Please teach me that.


100904

DAYS DAZED

Time to do,
but little action—
lost my way,
my bearings,
traction.


100903

SYSTEMS ERROR

The downturn
will upturn,
the entrepreneur advisor
advises.
Be ready:
millions, billions
can be made
on one well-made trade.

Well,
why is it well
for any
to take so much
from so many?


100902

CHARMING

At one neighbor house
they quit feeding their pets,
leaving two mama cats
and three kittens to survive
or starve on their own.

Another neighbor
took up the slack.
Three of the cats
(two of them, babies)
have no tails—
he calls them minxes.


100901

SLOW PAY

Work,
no work,
work again.

Money,
no money,
money—
but when?



* * *

Yours, Mine, Hours

* * *


100831

LOVE ME, LOVE MY

Books, movies,
restaurants,
car shows, lectures,
favorite haunts.

Yours and mine,
mine and yours—
hours and hours
have made these ours.


LET IT FALL

September,
please
do.

Do not refrain.

Please,
September,
bring us rain.


HIATUS

A change of pace,
a time of grace—
a day with no
“to do” to do.
Except refresh.
Except renew.


100830

HELP! HELP!

“Here I come
to save the day!”

That means
that Mighty Muse
is on the way.


100829

FRISCO FEST

An August Saturday
with a touch of breeze;
a taste of fall.

We walk and walk
without regard to knees.
It’s a car show, after all.


100828

ENOUGH

Here I am.
Stopped.
Empty.
Alone with everything.
Understanding nothing.

Pain, puzzlement,
pleasure, peace—
indistinguishable.

To whom
do I sing
my death song?


100827

A PRINCE
OF A FRIEND (for Mike)

Spirit unbroken,
as body allowed
he ran his life’s course.

Now,
there’s a hole
in the world
in the shape
of a horse.


QUIT

To live:
to die
to death.


100826

RX: R&R

My brain
has lost its head
of steam.

Let it rest.
Let it dream.


“COMPLETE” JOY

Frisky as a kitten,
happy as a pup—
at least on this work item,
I’m at last caught up!


MIDDLE WHITTLE

Life keeps getting harder;
tougher day by day.
Some keep busy working
while others take their pay.


100825

WACKY WHACK

Summer heat got out of whack—
then, like some mad and mythic cat
that arched so high it broke its back,
it lost its power to attack.


100824

THIS TUESDAY

Days are like friends.
You have to know ‘em.
Be attentive; show it.

Here’s a day
that calls for a poem,
if you happen to be a poet.


100823

LIFE TIME

It’s all a gift.

No need or reason
to deserve it.

No way to save it
or reserve it.

No means to keep it
or conserve it.

Just enjoy it
and observe it.


* * *