what a fine summers day

all trees have plans

to put roots through

our corpses

*

samsara

one ton of happiness

is very light

one ounce of misery

unbearable

what we think is happiness

or misery 

is interchangeable

weather-vane like mind

--

as your father/ i must say

as your father

i must say

this holy thing

all fathers say

and you know

beforehand what

all fathers say

but for some reason

you still will not

turn off the light

in the room

you just left

-----

Pants

"Put your pants on!" he said to his kids, after 2 PM on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

"Why?" they asked. 

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" 

"BUT WHY!?!?" 

"BECAUSE PANTS WERE INVENTED AND YOU SHOULD WEAR THEM AFTER  2 O'CLOCK ON A SATURDAY." 

"OK. We'll wear our swimming suits."

"Fine." he said after thinking about it and deciding it wasn't worth fighting over anymore. 

___ ____

on this june day

on this june day

what do you have to say?

the birds and the trees 

in full force

the squirrels in the yard

faster than the cats 

but nothing quicker

than an unsatisfied mind

and for what

remembering lost games 

where you landed

on boardwalk

*

i let my thoughts come and go

i let my thoughts come and go

i don't stare at my thoughts

that would be rude

_______

Hat Lake

MN

LEW

he had a booming voice

a personality like fireworks 

loud applause or thunder

organizing poetry at the cafe

he built a podium with a light

out of unvarnished wood

the podium was straight and tall

master carpenter

you had to step up onto it

as he ran a tight ship in readings

scrupulously fair about how long

you'd be able to read 

poetry was his ideal and his life

he was as impressive as irritating

gracious as impetuous 

courteous singing brash

and rude vibrant gloating graceful

remembering forgetting but

never for a moment 

regular boring

or ordinary 

"joy was his song and joy so pure

a heart of star by him could steer"

'My father moved through dooms of love'

ee cummings 

Lew Gardner

1931 - 2018

there's poetry that lasts

there's poetry that lasts

too bad we can't hang out forever

get sick of each other's opinions

more than we are now

because there's something intimate

about being annoyed at your thoughts

how i derailed some of your readings

or made you cry 

-----

all night you eat ghosts

everything is normal

though we do feel beat up by sleeping

all that traveling

through billions of places

every fleck and mote of dust

super real and will be there forever 

people 

all night you eat ghosts

in the morning you shit them

*

God on a Bicycle

Out walking in the rain, I see God on a bicycle coming down the road, taking his time. He's a black man, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and smoking a cigarette. 

I nod to him politely, as he rides by. 

"Have a great day, my man." says God.

"You too!" I reply. We are both in a good mood. 

God keeps going down the road, I see he has an old cardboard box wrapped in plastic on the back of the bike. God might have a pair of shoes in the box, or a few books. Or a lunch. He rides easy into the storm, as I am walking away from it. 

Later, I know I'll be walking into the wind and rain, when I have to make my way back. 

-----

St Louis Park

Chung Tzu: Phantom Cup & Real Water

Chung Tzu and I are in the backyard, on the deck in the first warm sun of spring. We are facing the alley.

"After all these years, I see." I say.

Chung Tzu looks at me sideways, just past the edge of the newspaper. 

"Truly, I see."

Chung Tzu rustles the newspaper, goes back to reading. 

"I will start to stop trying." 

"AHEM!" says Chung Tzu, as if to the squirrels. "Phantom cup! Real water."

----

South Florida Street

St Louis Park

after several weeks living / working from home

after several weeks living
working from home
i was suddenly furloughed
from reality

i found in this
i was always inexplicable
as far as my yard was concerned
or whatever i could see in the sky



***

now this poem isn't going to be about anything

now this poem isn't going to be about anything
it will be several lines of letters about the same length
except the middle line will be slightly longer



**

a wise man said something once

a wise man said something once
it was probably very inspiring
unless you were stupid

but people i think are stupid
say profound things too



**

"Well, that's not bad." says Chung Tzu, as we are sitting in the basement.

"But it also is too bad you think you think." says Chung Tzu.


------

St Louis Park

not a single cloud is ordinary

not a single cloud is ordinary
they are resplendent
vaunted by the light


yet as a mist brings the rainbow
or we turn to an old favorite game
such is the cloud or a thought



***

i have sunk me

i have sunk me
and i don't mind it

a wreck
three fathoms deep

with cats
swimming above me

saying give
it is 5pm let's eat



__

we alone carry our ends and our beginnings

we alone carry our ends and our beginnings
thank goodness no one else can carry them

this means we are free never chained from the beginning

the molten coils i struggle with through endless nights
is from the light turned in and because i shut my eyes tight

and difficulties of all sizes gave me courage if i let them

we carry our own burden but let me help you if i can
with a kind work or an example in some way how it can be done

look everywhere with me and find it there inside a stone
or in sky mansions full of stars or even in the heavenly fields above these



for Deborah

the morning is so beautiful

the morning is so beautiful
there's nothing left, nothing at all
all is well with this morning

2 years ago you died
it makes sense to hurt
to be happy with such sunshine

- for my father

****

dreams never stop if i can recognize my face in a dream

dreams never stop if i can recognize my face in a dream
then a dream can recognize my face during the day

then we will have met thank goodness thank goodness
in the sky in the earth applauding in the wind that sighs



-----

I was all out of commas.

I was all out of commas.



---

St. Louis Park
4-19-20