Sunday, September 08, 2024

when i tuned 18

when i turned 18
i had a view of the world 

where everyone i met & knew
had their assigned place 

but now over time i see
we really are not set 

in any slot or role 
but we flow through pain 

we sail even higher
on joy 

but how did i see
between the two 

how did i find
what was really what

by asking looking 
making up my own mind

sometimes being lost 
but always moving up

and i do believe everything
i did well or wrong

added up for the best
because i am kind

and so are you 


----

for Daniel 

Sunday, June 23, 2024

stained with sage and gold earth

i climb to the top of the hill under a perfect blue sky fill my pockets full of sage and a handful of fine yellow earth a place of uninterrupted bliss i know i can't collect or keep stained with sage and gold earth under sky and a bright sun what is the difference between ideals and the most elaborate dream both transcended by this natural perfection

---


Monday, May 20, 2024

did you ever mock a stranger / mercilessly in your life

did you ever mock a stranger
all unknowns were angels 
and you made such a great sin 

but you can find redemption
always being kind
by that way even
crude fools like you become clear

thus is perfect freedom 
of great ignorance 
through facing fears 
surrender them and transform

every obstacle and trap
liberated in itself 
in muck and stain
hovers view as lucid as a rainbow 


---

For Jetsun Milarepa

Friday, April 26, 2024

i called the time of my father’s death

i called the time of my father’s death

now i remember it every april 22nd

the moment is in the morning

looking clear but it also might rain

there’s a strong breeze flying clouds

.

i’m the clock with a brain and eyes

noting how his last breaths go in and out

his pursed lips as if he were taking air

under water through a reed

each breath a little less and a little less

to the point where i had to lean over

and listen & listen all receding into silence

then nothing how could he be so still

.

later we had a wake and cut slices of cake

there were sunflowers

he loved sunflowers

i never knew

there was much about him

i never knew

.

we flow from moment to moment

in this life like we are fixed here

or as if riding on a gentle stream

but the current is deep

and it ends in oblivion

but enough of that

enjoy the scenery with me today

look at the banks of the river

the sky and all the things we can see

choose to enjoy it despite the fact

it ends in so many ways

though exalted and amazed 

in what you receive 

everything granted

is also being taken back

tut tut let go let go

breath

breath

breath

....

...

..

.

.

.

love this 

and you will 

find freedom


----


for my Father

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

i say i will

i say i will 
not shudder

but i do 

and i feel 
a certain injustice 

that says more about me 
than you 

and you 
knew this 

and i do
too

Monday, February 19, 2024

men and women see places in the night differently

men and women see places in the night differently
men see doors and the kind of entrances and exits
women look to the windows and all the glittering 
i lingered by the base of the tarpeian rock on a winter evening
and i imagine the kinds of shadows and echoes that floated
high over plaster ceilings with oil lamps held by slaves 
and the ramparts supposedly secure a night owl calling to another

we are responsible for everything we do hero or villain
the response and magnifications of the world are harsh 
even absurd to the level of myth that keeps one forever wondering
when were we truly innocent &
trying to remember all the feelings
when one was 
that way  


*
 


"Honey, Mr. Bee is not from dimensional space ... "

 "Honey, Mr. Bee is not from dimensional space, so his attempts at humor will be different from ours. But he is not harmful. He never has been." 

"Yes darling, but when he turned your face blue, it was just for an afternoon, and Mrs. Simmons wasn't bothered by rhyming every other word over that 3 day weekend. She said it felt novel. She is a poet, after all, and she still teaches him poetic theory on Wednesdays."

"I will talk to Mr. Bee and remind him, most firmly." 

The caller then noticed me, after he had placed his phone in his pocket. "I do apologize if my conversation was too loud." 

I shook my head.

"In any case, our lab is funded though the public, and anyone is welcome to attend ... a totally open and above board program, with no hidden agendas." 

I nodded.

"Here is my card, you are welcome to drop by anytime and talk to the Departments."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, the Departments? Time, Space, Novelty, Linear Theories, Circular, Things, Clouds, Weather, and Harmony."

The train pulled up to the station.

"Goodbye!" said the caller with the card.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

at dusk i hear a man whistling




at dusk i hear a man whistling
just a few notes 

he's going somewhere
on the sidewalk up front 

the sound of the tune
has to bounce just right 

to reach my ear 
in the very back room 

as i type

.

.

.

but how do i know
he's a man or he's going?

or they are whistling
a tune?

i go to the front
and look down

no one is there


*

say i am thinking about nothing




say i am thinking about nothing
i say i am thinking of nothing

what i am thinking about is how we take on new names
i am thinking about when separated we all get older

i am thinking about the soft shock sometimes when we meet
after many years and what that would be like magnified by never dying 

vast trees and mountains with a view of the sea never move except for growing 
what is seen is always in sight for them so they are not disturbed this way

i will never be immortal nor will you always coming and going 
meeting and remeeting each other over waves and foam of beginningless beginning

we should become like little birds that ride on the tides of becoming & destruction 
never ruffled or afraid or feeling away from home as the swell goes up or down

even when time seems to break into a storm 
full of prayers we go along

and then when the air is calm no concerns


**