Saturday, September 21, 2024

Oh, Mother

 


 Oh, Mother, why did you
let down your guard and think
Christmas would ever come?
I am now you twice and
Father had no answer. But to
travel to the ends of this
earth, the abyss, always
the same one, in a mirror,
through a gate or bridge
or bedroom door. Not a word
could cover it fully.
Not a syllable or sound.
And I held your hand as you
got your new marriage,
under Canadian skies,
over blue waters and
choppy waves. Canoes take
hard work, paddling, paddling.
The portage is endless now,
between Misty and Timberwolf,
I look for the crook
of a tree.

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Two Time Zones #2


 Two Time Zones #2

Can’t live in two time zones
at once straddling and thinking
straightly, about yourself and also kids.
It appears easy looking back but
the kids eternal now needs protecting
and joining, a joy, towards
this wider spanning so thin of
elder life. Not knowing better
of course, only coiled the same
but refraining and listening differently.
Echoes of ancestors where, on the flat?
I was torn off somewhere. I
should’ve written on the pages
booking it, stick it.

        Open arms again!
        This time with knowledge!
        The bird outside is whirring.

There aren’t the appropriate clothes
to wear any longer. Bring back
suit coats, bowties. Respect
for elders, in every way, because
of secrets, of poisons, of withholdings,
savings. Of things I know not yet.
Stunning things, new color
combinations from black and white
or choral voices in those
longed for chords.
The way my old friend was lying
there, poses natural and undying.
You can have me now,
it might be almost all used up.

The mist rises from the road and around it
marshes and boulders dropped by glaciers
I’m told. The further I go the harder it is to talk
to anyone except the animals. The real me, it seems,
the one without problems. Burdens all from
so far before, they are a dream I barely
remember, modern things explode
with a glowing banality. Flat earth returns steadily
a relative tsunami washing machine over
frightened faces.
Turn that frown
upside down!
Once tattooed
you’re committed to falling through.
Once a poet, always a poet.
Loving a good pen,
keeping pencils with their
tiny rubber eraser nearby.

We always want to say we’re sorry
when it’s too late. The gang
of us. Write smaller then
young Huey.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Bob's Last Tour

 No vision without
those glasses. A purple
pink brand. Over under
striped and repeating glow.
Letting go, I’m allergic,
like a lizard, teach
me how to be like
a human, its been so long
since anyone came around
this desert.
Friendly cactus.
Not a hugger.
A seer without glasses.
I try to meditate often
and share. Fell through
the floor. Dreamt big,
flew far. The sun aches.
The suburbs won. But
I wasn’t there. Forgot.
Listen, or I’ll tell you
the secret. The left foot
goes first in some dances.
Saying goodbye is not
hello, and hello comes
last in line, a bit tired
but eager. Too many
cars for me.
But only the poets would
understand the trade in,
so I’m doing music.
At least there’s a song,
a sing along, a Bob
Dylan, a Bob Marley.
His last tour I danced
in the back row, as if
he could see me.
But maybe the version
did me instead of me
doing the version.

Monday, September 16, 2024

the Whole Earth


 

 

 Half disconnected, the drain
is going strong it seems.
I reach for the switch and
it’s in the dark, a mouth,
the teeth gleaming.
So talk to me! But
I realize I’m
yelling at top level.
Nerves fraying fast,
I’m taking a chance
on you, resolutely
this time. Our fingers
touch. Our noses touch
like dogs.
To animals the only
cage is the
whole earth.

Saturday, September 14, 2024

The Mountain

 

 You can have
everything you want
if you just try
too hard and
fall down on
your face smashing
the fourth dimension
into a million pieces
of a 5,000 year old bowl
that some small child
filled once with flowers
in a meadow in the woods
near a mountain
that stood so tall it loomed
over the land
like fortitude breathing.

The small child brought
the flowers home to
Momma who put them
in the kid’s hair
and meanwhile
I got my face up
and went on…

Thursday, September 12, 2024

In the Apple Orchard



 If you can’t think
of something to do while
I’m here than
its leaving or going
that’s magic.
That’s all I know.
To wean off of Hollywood
and champions or
even romance it certainly
takes a dream, surreal,
falling from the skies of satellites
and missiles. Hate drifting
there, making heaven
look terrible, no haircuts
any longer, only tattoos.
What was your story?
A single stilt leaning
against a wall.
An apple orchard and
the moon above
all night. You would
get addicted. Freedom
never knew such bounds.
No flags, no dimes,
no drifting from the horizon.
All surprise.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Say 'Yes'


 

 

Say ‘Yes’ to Jesus once
in your lifetime and you’re
done for, like a bug
on sticky paper hanging
from the sky above.
Anywhere you go,
in other words.
Except and especially
underground or in houses,
even houses of the holy.
But those eyes, they
understand, and the wall’s
ears they hear, and
the great roar of trains
in tunnels speaks to you
like a chorus of angels.
Or any chorus even, since
you never go there do you?
Even the family is burning
now.
But you know there
is water.

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Doctor Death

 


 Bored terrified
hated drawn as
a cartoon…
Living wrong.
Underdeveloped
ego for sale,
needs water
and sunlight.
Needs a stone aged
clock-less social
life, one without
weapons, the Shakers
perhaps. A spirit
of simplicity leaning
towards transcendence.
I’m not aging gracefully
yet, all in all. No
one to save except
myself and I don’t
know how. Tai Chi.
And other sci fi novels
digitized under my
tongue, by way of
the nose. People don’t
even look at me, properly
invisible, especially when
journal writing. Filling
pages with snot. ‘Woke’
agony, a soup I made
in my twenties reappeared
in the frig, properly
spiced it might do for
my guest’s breakfast,
if they wake up
because I can’t.
I’m flat. Lost all
my friends last week
in the Battle of Mid
Century furniture vs
Gothic underwear.
Modern has never
even been seen in
these parts. Post
modern is next tho.
After my appointment
with Doctor Death.
He said, reinvent
yourself please, quick
before a slight breeze
blows you away.