Mundane Magic

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110305

DIM WIT

I searched my thoughts
and recognized
that they were not profound
and, further,
that what dimmed them
was my wanting to astound.


110304

DISSERTATION:
DEFINITION

Demonstrated mastery
achieved through slavery.


110303

A POINT I WANT TO MAKE (for Lauren)

Truth is where you find it—
and what, through art,
it can become.

What's okay for you
is what's okay for you,
just as what's Donne is Donne.


110302

HER FLUFFINESS

“Darlin’, you’re a fluffy cat.
Notice, I did not say fat!
Living large (your predilection)
can align with looking slim;
in fact, you’ll see this when I trim.”

“Why would you shear perfection?”


110301

MYSTICS’ MYSTERY

If everything were innocent,
how could anything be wrong?

And why, if this premise were right,
does it seem to most humans so wrong?


110230

SLEEPER (for Arianna)

Arianna needed sleep
and, at last, she got it.
Now she's its ambassador—
whoever would have thought it?


110229

TRADE WARS

Books,
overproduced and devalued,
have become the kindling
of their own immolation—
reduced, like their authors,
to a dwindling status:
used as loss leaders
in the battle for readers.


110228

NATURAL SHOCKS

Freely weep,
rail, moan.

Pain
is a runestone
in a language
not yet known.


110227

“GETTING” MY WAY

NO! to that.

OH! to this:
I’m happy and healthy
and strong and free and rich.

YES! to what is so:
the one and only bliss.


110226

OSCARS (for Paula)

When you have
a front-row seat,
life is good,
life is tweet.

[ASIDE: Reply to Paula Poundstone who tweeted:
“I’m gonna tweet the #Oscars like a goddamned bird.”]


YOUR OWN DECISIONS

Some will like them.
But, for those who won’t,
you’re damned if you do,
damned if you don’t.

[ASIDE: FB comment on other comments to an Oprah
OWN show announcement.]


110225

MORAL SUPPORT

Into judgment and pride I easily slide
but when I choose to let these errors go by,
my willingness gets amplified;
there, but for the God of Grace, go I.


110224

TRENDING NOW

A sort of quirk,
(I’ve lately noticed)
affects my social network:
more Facebook posts
and fewer Tweets
are penned.

Is there meaning
in this trend?


110223

WARM WISHES

Like and for
everyone—
all I want
is a place
in the sun.


HARD, HARD TIMES

Hard times are coming.
Nerves tense; pulses quicken;
we feel it in our bones.

Hard, hard times are coming;
no bones about it,
we feel it in our bones.

But we are poised to conquer.
Here's what we must do:
joined together as one body,
brain and heart and muscle through.


T.L.C.

Little One beside me,
softly making little purrs,
does the Great One
tend to my needs,
as I tend to tending yours?


MEDITATORS

You have to lose
your mind (said one)
to find just-breathing’s
so much fun.


OUT-SOURCERY

Even if God
didn’t care for us,
except through us—
that alone
would be magical.


* * *

Rough Seas

* * *


100820

‘TIS! – ‘TISN’T! (for Alan)

Who can see—you or me?
Which is right—day or night?
Which is wrong—short or long?
Who knows true—me or you?


100819

AS A HUMAN

This is my source
of conflict, pain and sorrow:
attachment to opinions
even I will change tomorrow.


100818

NO FRIEND
MORE TRUE

Mate and friend,
you’ve lived with me awhile
and always gone the extra mile.

Life with me can be a trial,
though I don’t mean it to—
to make amends, is there
something I can do?

Yes, you can.
Be you.


100817

THE DEFENSE
NEVER RESTS

You let us down,
they said today.
It hurts so much
what others say.

Sometimes it’s wrong,
sometimes unfair.
Sometimes it’s right;
that’s hard to bear.

It hurts so much
what others say.
I just want
to be okay.


JUST INFORMED

No. Not that!
My heart
went splat.


100816

SELF HEALING

You hurt bad
and don’t know why,
but this will help:
have a good cry.


100815

MAYBE IT IS FUNNY

My nose looks like
a case of rot
with sores that ooze
and will not clot
plus mucous
that I have to blot.
Snot can be
a real hot-shot
at healing sores,
but my snot’s not.


OVERBORED

Do not scout
the deck for me.
I’m lost.
I’m lost.
I’m lost at sea.

[ASIDE: Actually, less bored than challenged,
but still lost.]


100814

WANT ADS

CDL Driver.
No.
Tax Preparer.
No.
Dental Assistant.
No.
Message Therapist.
I’m on it!


100813

ASYLUM

A thought escaped
as I walked the hall:
“I love her.
God, I love her!
I love them all.”


100813

WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE

If penned up as a refugee,
I would have the sky;
if dungeon-locked,
a place to lie.

If the bounty I’ve been handed
were stripped off like a glove.
I would still have memory.
I would still have love.


FLAW IN MY CRAW

My work is good
(far from disaster).
If only I could
master faster.


SNAGGED

Next time you’re with your yogi,
rabbi, priest, or shrink,
ask him for me, will you,
how we’re supposed to think.

Do we stalk each nascent thought
like a hypochondriac a cough?
Do we wring the meaning out
or shut the darned thing off?


* * *