in the land of altered bodies/ i have green beans for legs

in the land of altered bodies
i have green beans for legs
arms of cinnamon sticks

royal jelly torso
mashed potato gravy hair
nuts for fingers & candy eyes

while i sonorously speak
you may admire my
fondant clothes

we'll wander along
under the asparagus trees
or on spun sugar shore

the lemon drop sun
shines above in peppermint
and blueberry skies

have you been to
cookie dough heights
or to the bottom
of an orange jelly sea?

at 3 o'clock
the ginger rooster crows
and we'll have our sumptuous tea



*

may there be a citadel / bright on top of a hill

may there be a citadel
bright on top of a hill
with a light at night
not lost in the dark


*

i want weeds / in the manicured lawn of my mind

i want weeds
in the manicured lawn of my mind
but i would not to suffer from any blemish

proving the idle
think they could have some flaws
to spice things up



**

Le Corbusier

the memorial of his grave
is a moment in you

sensing a wide and open horizon
usually vast as it is blue


***

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret

***

9.22.18

in this disturbed bliss
all blessings are possible

*

everything you thought
was crooked stolen lost or wrong

simply moody till
you rested in the kind of sight

that only brings comfort
and delight

*

now retread your path
see everything new




**

northern hemisphere / autumn equinox

northern hemisphere
autumn equinox
day and night
of equal length

the light paler
but the trees are
full of green leaves
some turning hint
yellow or red

the oaks stalwart
weeping willows
swaying over
pond that sheltered
faun and duckling

you might wonder
where they have gone
if you will see them
one last time tonight

peeping through
grasses and cattail
that are thinning


**

9/22/18
Heart Lake
MN

If your conduct follows the view ... Khenpo Tsewang Rinpoche

"If your conduct follows the view, you will end up a complete nihilist . . . If your view follows your conduct, your will never get out of duality. Therefore, view should be brave. Conduct should be timid."

-- Khenpo Tsewang Rinpoche

i am like a noun/ a quail's song

i am like a noun
a quail's song
the still
morning
with just we two
adjectives
young and keen
waiting for day's
warmth to gather
baskets
of verbs



*

away from home

i tried not being lost
but every place i stared at seemed untrue

the math was wrong
talking silly and songs were out of tune

what we really want
down to our core is a place called home

when you've gone
out of home's door and home's sight

every moment is a journey
full of trials and tribulations til you get back

some of us are fated
to wander and never return

others of us choose



***

for my father

mr sugary writes poetry/ of the sweetest kind

mr sugary writes poetry
of the sweetest kind
candied words like
caramel apples and
whole lines as if
marzipan or strudel

if only i could
craft a single slab
of peanut brittle



88

he dabbles in lies

he dabbles in lies
as if it were art

but the truth
is far beyond

his wasted
talents



**

9.11.18

9.11.18


so it has been 17 years
and i still can't think clearly
about what happened that day
some memories hang there
staccato moments
vibrantly in a jumble

the cabinet i was building
fell apart two heavy mirrored
rectangular doors falling
hurting me

then i heard that the
world trade center had been hit
by one plane on accident
or on purpose who
knew then

when most of were watching
the second tower was hit
by a second jetliner
it flew right into the skin
of the sky scraper
leaving a plane
silhouette

then an explosion
silent on live TV
you were shaking inside
as debris and burning
jet fuel fell earthwards

all flights in the nation
being grounded and a feeling
of anger sadness and horror
a feeling of helplessness
and betrayal

buying a flag
listening to radio stations
commemorating the dead
by playing the national anthem

being afraid ever since
saying at times i am not afraid
that terrorists will never win
raising kids and taking jobs
and being afraid ever since

that fear getting less and less
all the wars we fought
since then

knowing white tombstones
green lawns and endless
blue skies

feeling the world getting smaller
strangers being stranger
no jet is innocent

above all endless blue skies
all who believe in
all who love



***

this milkweed mind/ trifles yet always striving

this milkweed mind
trifles are always striving
i'd realize more but such is pride

asclepias asclepiadoideae
dogbane family apocynaceae
lowly yet the home of glorious butterflies

may i move slow
or not at all just trembling slightly
at recognition of grace winged befalling


***

movies make the unknowable / awkward and even frightening genius

movies make the formidable
awkward and even frightening genius
into delightful dreamers
wistful souls driven by elation

but some brilliant artists
were angry impossible magnificence
cannot be pasteurized
to sell cars wallpaper or tea




***

For Vincent van Gogh

poems as rejoinders / to the opinionated

poems as rejoinders
to the opinionated
tombstones that have
offended this live man

lazy ego

a stab of the fear of death
like a stroke of light
on
polished stone

goes
straight
into the eye


___

Colma CA

and this cannot / be my soul for

and this cannot
be my soul for
i seem to know it
when i am sleeping


**

at hat lake we have / our druthers

at hat lake we have
our druthers

some say these are
insulting

but if you listen
quietly

they turn out to be
crickets



***

Hat Lake
MN

nothing unexpected / every tree and branch and leaf in place

nothing unexpected
every tree and branch and leaf in place

all you can see
is not your own it never was just like blue sky

like saying
i own the blue sky or i am the blue sky

but it is true
you are everything you see and you are the blue sky




88

as we build a boat / named 'pussycat' to sail / to the moon

it is raining blue baby owls
they are hopping ones too
landing on the spoons in the yard
they eat the fresh day ice cream
that collects in the cusps
satisfied some even play
songs on the piano
light and catchy tunes
as we build a boat
named 'pussycat' to sail
to the moon



***

Hat Lake
MN

if i decide to have/ a positive attitude

if i decide to have
a positive attitude
without demanding anything
from you or the world
i have given myself
power of positive mind

and how often have i been
mistaken to think
such and such or so

when there really
was nothing wrong

ever



---

9.05.18

poet play my soul

poet play my soul

i am a rude fiddle

that would sing

like a stradivarius




6

No. 2 Poem 'waking up during'

waking up during
these negotiations
and i say to god

roll the closing costs
of my whole life
into the end

and i'll pay them
by making something
of myself you'll see

then waking up more
because life is funny
and makes no sense

all we have is happy
being happy
choosing happy


&&

waking up during / these negotiations

waking up during
these negotiations
with god i say

roll the closing costs
of my whole life
into the end

and i'll pay them
by making something
of myself you'll see

then waking up more
because life is funny
perfect sense

all we have is happy
choosing happy
this now


88

everything i discovered / i found

everything i discovered
i found

it was inside me
all

i had overlooked
it

so it was so keen
to know



---