Thursday, May 29, 2008

morse code



in the days when i was a
ham radio operator i liked
the Morse Code best and spent my time
sending and receiving dots and dashes

send out a call to anyone who
was standing by out there
and someone replies
then a conversation began

some hams used big rigs
large antennas and fifteen hundred watts of power
or illegally more and could shake passing car windows
mine was the basic unit
a light bulbs worth of power

from Northern California i talked to
Antarctica with my one hundred watts
once i made contact with a guy in Philadelphia
who was using a rain gutter as an antenna
and ten watts of power

it's strange that you know
if you like the other person
just as quickly as when
talking to a stranger face to face
there is never any doubt
you get along with the other, or don't
not by what they say, just by
how they send the dots and dashes



Of course, even poets have a point of view, and as
with Morse Code, you can read the person in there
cause we can't hide ourselves, although we think we do.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

meri cut the grass

meri cut the grass then worked
in her garden while i sat
on the stone step
and watched some
drinking a soda pop

she does good work
sweats some, and i am ready
to hop right up and help her
but then the heat is telling me to watch a bit more
just then the library calls

kim said they have a book
for meri and i, it sounded like a trick
so i asked if it was one book
she laughed and said no
so then it is books we have!

i happily replied i'd do something about that
she told me there was no rush
we have until next monday, so i sat back down
thinking - now, today is only wednesday
of course we'd be in before next monday

did she think we'd come running
or was she being kind
or is that what they do at the library
call people on the telephone?
well, hats off to everybody!

wind's work

who watches the wind's work
sorting through a row of bushes
plucking dry leaves
i do
follow the swirl
see the swath as it's winding

there are indicators for life
signs that point the direction to follow
pathfinder

a something on the sidewalk
where is the tiny cause for concern
overlooked in haste?

a trip on the stairs
a dab of sleeve and mustard
an offhand thought turned remark
the song on the radio
how do accidents happen?

mark your words as they go by
point into the wind
stay alert and be keen to listen

don't save up for life
like rain in a bucket for water on a fire

the setup is now while the joke
may be years down the road
don't forget to laugh when the time comes

dust on the counter
a veiled layer of disuse
clues are a sidestep
to the rhythms of life

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

get up

609, 611, 614 a.m.
how many times i've seen
those same red numbers
day after day
what do you know, what do you say
it is an abrupt start from dream
to dawn on another day

what does it all mean?
that is the question of all time
look around, it is the same
familiar, home, sweet . . .
as i stretch out of bed
shake the cob webs outta my head
waking slowly
getting showered and dressed i catch
a glimpse of myself in the mirror and wonder
should i cut my hair or let it grow?

what is this stuff
do i really like dry cereal making noises
make a note: why doesn't it play music?
now, what do i need to take with
oh, don't forget my keys
then, out the door
wait, did i lock it?
i did

three peas

three peas balanced
on the blade of a butter knife
one is you
one is me
one is eternity

Monday, May 26, 2008

thunder in the pass

yonder there's a net
over the pond
much of it
elevated a few feet
waving just enough and
flashin' like a star

so, long before sundown
blue heron came flappin' in
sauntered right alongside
lookin' for trouble

caught him gazin' round over the rocks
like they was tombstones
but he twitched, got nervous
didn't like the looks of it
then up and left town

big frog is there
sitting on the side
on a rock above the water
puffed up on a lotta pride
kinda grinnin'
and the fish are swimming again
feeling safe
practically dancing

peace has been restored
just plain yup

a bite

of poems
i thought a thousand would do
though time has passed
i'm still not through

i could load you up
pour out my treasured best
you'd be stacked high in aces
with too much to digest

one at a time is better
so if you stumble through and snatch a few
that'll do
like the bird that occasionally
flies in an open window
who should have paid more attention
to catching insects
may find something to nibble
if he doesn't panic
and the cat doesn't find him first

perhaps some other day
there'll be a thought right for you
not too much, a line or two
even a bird flying with mouth open
is hoping, and sometimes catches a few

Sunday, May 25, 2008

poetry lesson

on poetry
know the rules
there are no other rules

start writing and then finish
or just do part
then do some more later

editing is importance
sews spelling
an rhymes good

whether you start each line
with big or small letters
is to the authors perverse discretion
so i heard
but you hear a lot of contradiction

now go for the throat
oh, and read what you wrote
too cheek four ears

i found it useful to title poems
with names coming from the heart
so as they stack up
you can still tell them apart

Saturday, May 24, 2008

justice on the pond

the fish have stayed low
for several days now
afraid of something
blue herons on the prowl
maybe ten fish are gone
so i bought a net
covered the pond
no more will they get

now i worry about the frogs
maybe they're gone
but rain comes in two days
i've got to raise the net
i want everyone safe
and frogs travel in the rain
pond stuff takes time
but peace i'll maintain

a walk to the pier

stroll north and we've reached the lake
with a chill breeze blowing in
it's a good day to have a jacket and your collar up
humidity i was born with
it is either a familiar comfort hanging in the air
or i'm just used to it

we have a long stone pier
the fishermen use it
they say it's a mile long
i don't know, it could be
in rome i told robert how long it is
and he looked very suprised
the pier is something we take for granted

part way out used to be a range light on a tower
it was torn down when they fixed the pier
added a lot of cement to it
i was just limestone blocks before
when we used to swim out there
only the seagulls are still around

it's the local custom to walk the pier
at least halfway, as far as the blockhouse
so, come on, i'll take you out there
see how the fishermen and women are doing
they're out there sitting and waiting
that looks to be the most of what they do
and hopefully catching a keeper once in a while

a guy moves around to look in his tackle box
and then check his poles
patiently sitting in the open is what they do
that's the sport, i suppose

these two have lanterns and blankets
looks like they've been here all night
hooking perch, walleye or catfish

the suns out now
the wind is lighter
and it getting warmer
we've had our walk

Friday, May 23, 2008

on the river

the river runs through town
and though it has changed
being near brings the
comfort of the familiar

no more the line of wooden fish houses
Heymann's, Kishman's and Zimmerman's
where full and weathered boats docked
to empty the catch from their nets
pack the fish in ice in wooden crates
then truck it off to market
or you could buy some right on the spot

no one knew they were leaving a memory
like a stain
that a local kid would carry away
into the future

to write it down revives their voices and laughter
fishy smells and tar-stained foul weather gear
the heavy crates and ice on dirty boards
that i can see and hear with my eyes closed

restaurants are made now that are imitations
to scenically characterize what we lived
right here
in our town on the river

Thursday, May 22, 2008

violets

on damp mornings
in early spring
flashing color on the ground
shining through
all wet with dew
the violets

such tiny things
amid the myriad fields of green
there are many underfoot
i hardly pay attention

tireless to trampling
some may say
but i don't think so
cause nobody likes
getting stepped on

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

a cabin

i'm building a cabin
somewhere high
a mountain retreat
that touches the sky

and the mountain has a sound
something low that i can feel
a stillness massive, full
of the earth

counting logs, the hours pass
snowflakes melt on window glass
fire logs insides roar out red
imagination is my bed

foggy windows

we have some foggy glass
so i called my old schoolmate tom
to see if he was still selling windows

years before he measured
and sold us some good new ones

he's still working part-time
so i made arrangements for him to drop by
we need three replacements

"you're still a business magnet, tom" they'll say
and he'll feel good
and we'll get new windows

friends are friends
and business with friends
is always my first choice

fish sense


a great blue heron as tall as i
was around the pond today
okay, he was a little shorter than me
twice i chased it away
i haven't been able to count the fish
they' still hiding
alerted to the danger

how did they know
he would eat them?

i guess if you're a fish
it's obvious

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

the trains

the train rolls through at night
as it has all my life
and the whistle goes long and hard
dah-dah-dit-dah

i was an amateur radio fellow and learned
the morse code starting with that familiar letter q
there's a plaque in roma where sam morse lived eleven years
across the alley from our favorite luncheon spot, pasquali's
for me, the sign was a touch with home and the trains

if light winds blow up from the south and the bedroom window
is open the sound of the train whistle can wake me, shake me
most of the town, i am sure, curse when they fall out of bed with
the horn blast - morse code for the letter q

i asked my friend the engineer and he knew nothing about
the morse code, said the signal was not the letter q
just two longs, a short and a long

i thought the train signal began back when the
telegrapher was the wiry old man in the funny hat
who sat out there in the lonely shack and bridged east to
the west with information

i checked the internet and found the train whistle signals
have no connectin witht the morse code
except in the one coincidence, the instance of passing a crossing

a life long belief has shattered
and the late night trains roll on
long - long - short - long

Monday, May 19, 2008

spring off

as Ohioans we are accustomed to temperature extremes
i remember my mom telling me that in 1937 it snowed on
the fourth of july
weather change is the wild goat that lurks before it charges
now this year spring is May
we can go ahead and pencil it in

after winter's farewell snow
on gusty winds entered the warmer air with a
deep blue sky as backdrop for mammoth clouds tumbling fair
unleashing lawns, trees, bushes and flowers, nesting birds and buds
fresh and underway
nature reborn
this new season has begun

you can water golf courses and keep them pristine
but it's nothing, nothing like the clean
gleam of full young spring

the ultimate in automation

here they are
there are no others
nothing like them
god bless them
suspenders

you want to wear your pants loose
and keep them from dragging on the ground
you got it
the one and only
nothing tight around your waist
hold 'em up to the heavens
suspenders

the very name emits dream

plase note: while the british call them braces
they also drive on the wrong side of the road
they also think suspenders
hold up womens garter belts
so be it
i like women either way
with or without

invented in 1822, thanks you Albert Thurstoon
a.k.a. galluses (not Thurston - suspenders)
galluses is a variation for gallows
let's stop there

Sunday, May 18, 2008

fixin' out of the box

oh, how you doin'?
i didn't see you slip in
i was just checkin' under the hood of this baby
it's doin' pretty well, but it's got some kinks
just keepin' and eyee eye on it tit suppose it could use a bit of attention like we all . . .
now did you see that?
that's what i mean
that spellin' thing keeps gegttin' fouled

say, when i get this all fixed up i'm goin' to measure it up
i bet you thought i was going to say i'd invite you over
but why in hell's name would i do that?
you got cher space n' y gitts mine
now the dialecter is going haywire on this thing

do you see? do you see what i'm dealin' wif here?
tricky bidness tricky
plan ahead, what i always say
well, i think about it, i'm not on the plannin' committee or nothing

baby steps, i say that too
remember that movie with that bill murray guy? hah, he cracks me up
hey, that's enough jibber jabberin'
let me get back to what i was doin' here
good seeing you

Saturday, May 17, 2008

beginning

every part of the globe
has a theme and pattern

in ohio
seasons are incredible
winters frozen dead
then spring begins and grows quickly from nothings
enough said

it is beyond our abilities to invent such magnificence
a sole creator came up with the idea?
it is a large complicated thought
i see why greeks, romans and others
thought it was a team
it is so much like a dream

Friday, May 16, 2008

blackbirds

a couple were out there last night
about seven
still light
they were looking around in the yard
like they lost something
they don't have pockets in their little black suits
so whatever they found they were stuffing in their mouths
to eat then or later
i don't think they'd just be looking around for the fun of it

they went around the rocks, the wall
and the stones around the rose bush
quite serious
diligent, i suppose
up to something
one was tossing rejected bits away
fast like he was going through a trash pile

i'll have to keep an eye on them for a few days
to see what they're up to


our friend blackie was the winner
he was worth a little story
i never had to keep an eye on him
he looked for us

Thursday, May 15, 2008

robins in bird world

robins are the hardest workers
they run as much as they fly
moving quickly in early spring

always searching on fast feet
for fast food
or twigs to build their nest

later it's take home food
to feed the children

then they'll train the kids to hunt
and pick
and run around
the way the big ones do

spiders

everythng in ohio has a season
for spiders it's the month of may
then when you see your neighbors
you don't say hello
just, how many did you kill today?

satie

a mystery who wrote simple lines
master of slow time
fellini with hidden wires

i hear his melodies again
and never know i heard

calming, soothing
sweet as a quiet body of water under moonlight
weeping in blessed solitude

a carnival without clowns
weaving a stitch at a time
slipping subtly by as the dolphin
in a quiet, dark ocean inlet


to hear his work
click this taste of eric satie

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

the pond

some years ago behind our house i made a pond
for me and the mostly goldfish
they live there
i'm just the caretaker

spring means cleaning
passing a net through the water
in slow sweeping motion
to capture debris
last year's leaves
small bits that have collected
from a long winter's winds

so for hours i move the net along
slowly sifting the waters
like a gentle moving song
making myself familiar again to the fish
and the frog

oh, yes
every year there's at least one frog
that hangs around for a few months
until it is time for him or her to move on
where frogs come from, where they go
i suppose i'll never know

maybe it's an old person thing
or at least a calm person's task
to patiently go over the pond
again and again until the job's well done

to start over in another place
with a new pond
would be work intense
i've got this pond
and perhaps now, a bit more sense

there is enough work here
for me to do
but i started the job
so i'll see it through

indian shoes

one year
grandma lulu sent me indian shoes
moccasins just like the real ones that indians wore
i don't know where she found them
maybe at the store
cause she lived in arizona

and then she sent me a second pair another year
i must have said i lost them
but found them later under the bed
cause how can you lose slippers?

now i have two pair
and wear them everywhere
in the house, of course
they wear well and shuffle quietly
do you think she would send me a horse?

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

homecoming

what am i doing here?
i was born here, isn't that enough?
my wife has her garden
and i have my stuff

saw my friend and
heard the story of the past year
her son has a job
the neighbor had a couple more back surgeries
and her mother has dementia
at least the grass is green
and her pond has two frogs

i've been back a week
M. worked pulling dandelions
i have nothing to write
and my computer has fatal errors

my friend in roma hears nuns sing in the morning
i went to Bob Evans had oatmeal
heard the same thirty year old rock music
that every Bob Evans in the country has
tap your feet while you eat
ain't it neat?

house on the hill

the little old house has nearly fallen
it has been going down for years
even when i was young it turned shabby
but held strong character beyond its peers

at one time it must have stood quite charming
a handsome work of craft in wood art
designed and erected quite carefully
but, sadly neglected and now falling apart

years ago it was abandoned
the shutters fell first
then windows broke and chimney tumbled
as it went from repairable to worse

now i still recall it in those better times
and that's how i'll remember it well
the dear little house on the hill in the country
that slowly died and went to hell

Monday, May 12, 2008

la gallina liberata - the liberated hen

in a corner on the ouside wall
in the centro storico of the ancient town narni
is ambra's new restaurant
la gallina liberata - the liberated hen

she named it for a chicken in her yard
that was stuck somewhere
struggled and got free
she had to call her restaurant something

ambra is a good cook, organizer and host
has friends to support her offorts
the amibiton and perseverance
to realize her projects

spring arrived

wore my big coat the other day
spring arrived just yesterday
it blew in on silent wings
and hovered above the neighborhood
before wrappinig down around us

now it's hot, in a t-shirt today
i heard the boys call outside playing
there are green buds
and singing birds nest building

it's sometimes still winter
after the snows melt
but i'm sure
it's steady spring at last
when i leave a window open

Sunday, May 11, 2008

the cooper hawk and the squirrel

from the window i saw a cooper hawk
and a small grey squirrel sitting very close
on a wire with a telephone pole between them
one of them hiding from the other

the hawk was scouting for prey
twisting his head to look about
the squirrel was quiet, unseen, motionless
didn't even flinch his tail

setting my book aside i watched for several minutes
after i looked away briefly. the great hawk was gone
the squirrel stayed in place a safe while longer
someone else would be invited for lunch this day

Saturday, May 10, 2008

tell someone

tell someone i'm out here
tell someone who cares
hold warm thoughts around me
keep me in your prayers

no mystery

poems should not be a mystery
i want you to know
what the words are saying to you

easy to follow as a cleared path
in a well-kept country garden

go on, meander step by step
by fruit and flower
pine wander
an hour

a discovered treasure
will be my pleasure

just beware the sprinklers

Friday, May 09, 2008

monster hits

we were talking about hit songs
the ones you sang along with
got you moving

remember walking down the street
it was practically coming out of the ground
flowing in front of you
out every open window
in every store
fragments from passing cars when they whizzed by
on peoples faces, their lips, filling them

then she and i started mentioning a few
where we were when such and such
first i'd say one, she'd say another
we'd agree a bit, then top the other

the result was a list of the big ones
hits we loved dearly
that picked us up and carried us with great joy
ignited us
that's the magic of the hits

i know you can agree with this poem
but if i get specific, start mentioning names well, your list is different than mine

Thursday, May 08, 2008

skyped

don't do it often
this week with a change of zones in a major way
i've made a few skype calls from ohio

maximo a traffic guy for rai radio
this time working the night shift called from the station
gave me a visual tour of his office and co-workers complete
with large maps of italy on the wall

the second i hung up captain z. called from poland
just back from a basketball workout and maybe a beer
first mate rafal, a teammate, gave his regards

i gave both a walk around outside tour and when out front
the moment i pointed my camera at the street
m. drove in and waved

then called daughter c. in california
it ended with her taking daughter and a neighbor kid
to musical theater class
(we didn't do that when i was five)

the video calls took us around the world
with something for everyone

flight details

i got to the airport and this time didn't leave my computer in the taxi
checked in for the flight and went to the waiting gate
i overheard tourists telling other tourists what towns they saw
listing off names of places, nothing about what was there
the others listened and nodded approvingly
been there, been there, okay, okay

the lobby restroom is designed so that when i am standing there peeing at a row of urinals i look over my shoulder and see the entire lobby looking back at me

the coffee bar from hell was up and running barely
it only stays open because there is no competition
a kid could open a lemonade stand and wipe them out

i walked around back to use the restroom a second time
this time the womans door is on the right and i'm standing there on the inside, but my invisibility shield was activated cause i stepped back out unnoticed
i guess they were all busy

back at the gate a lady walked by panning around doing a thousand dollar narration into her four dollar camera saying things like, "here is the lobby, you can see all the people"

oh welcome delight, they called us to board early so three hundred people were cramming and making a jam of it to get in front of the others in the line
then after about five minutes of shoving
someone changed their mind and said would you please sit down again and we'll board at our regular time instead

then i saw an old schoolmate
my god, i didn't know whether to laugh or cry
the memories came flooding over me
the sock hops, the heartaches, the laughter
nearly in tears, the years
then i saw it wasn't her and felt relieved
one less thing to do

then they called for zone one to board
after they called zone two and three i checked
i was zone one

why can't people board the airplane and sit down? what is so tough? it's like beavers caught in an ice jam... no, i am sure beavers would do it quicker
a lady stopped in front of me and took five minutes to slowly load her overhead compartment
when she finished she turned to me and said thanks
as she let me pass
i went by her wondering why thank me?
what were my choices?

i noticed at 36 thousand feet the restrooms become a lavatory
which may relate to the fact that the higher you fly
the faster you go

over the alps a jet below us going the same way an increasingly shorter distance below us
was anyone aware?
i was ready to jump up and run tell someone, maybe the guy in the seat behind me, i guess you can't get to the pilot easily these days, maybe it was a lack of sleep that had me alerted for disaster, or maybe it was the three airplane disaster movies on tv the week before my flight
airport one and two and the jet with the pointy nose
the names aren't important

hungry i am prepared, brought the cookies she said to buy
i should have paid more attention to how she opens them at home
struggled and finally started looking for something sharp after nearly rolling on the floor i used her sewing thing i carried and they didn't take away from me

i had carrot sticks my wife cut a week before
i ate a pound of carrots but didn't eat them all and had to surrender the last three sticks and a ziplock bag in philly
they marked my card and put me though a special security check cause i admitted i was carrying an apple
they took it
but let me into the country

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

dear US Airways

i left my socks on your plane
maybe you heard about it

it could have been the lack of sleep
i tried to get comfortable
i listened to the safety instructions and wanted to do it right and didn't inflate my life vest until i deplaned in philadelphia
i didn't know the plane had to crash or you couldn't use it
and wondered why the others didn't follow instructions

the guards were very nice
i did everything they said
and took my shoes off when i walked through that big magnet thing
that's when i saw i had no socks

i don't think anyone took them when i was sleeping
cause i didn't sleep much
they wouldn't let me back aboard to look for them
instead they gave me coffee

i thought i took everything with me when i "deplaned"
my shoes made it home and should fit again in a few days
thank you for the plane ride
i hope you find my socks

Monday, May 05, 2008

edit me?

friends,
i've got to get up in two hours and fly to the o on the ends and high in the middle
these people will take care of you now until i get over my jetblog, i mean jet lag
i'd have links on the right side of my blog, but i can't even remove the junk that is there, like what is that stuff? i need a ten year old computer wiz
my comment on the derby is: in the best interests of all, turn off your tv
there are interesting things coming out of your computer

if you're riding the road on your harley and you look over and see tom, don't ask him for a smoke.

she's been in mexico three quarters of a year and they still haven't named any churches after tanyariffic.

say, isn't that water coming out of the top of your head, giant waiting person?

righting history

fifteen years ago i used the restroom above angelo's coffee bar
with no sign, only regular patrons knew a bathroom was added
in a small room above in the building
that dates from the sixteenth century

to my surprise the stairs and turns and side rooms,
ceilings, walls and floors remained as they were made
i remember having been in awe of the old rooms
so well conserved in their original state

last week i asked to use the bathroom
my primary reason was to visit the space
and then perhaps return again to take photos

to my disappointment it had been modernized
the terra cotta floors replaced, the old wood and walls
painted over in haste
angelo had the money and perhaps a volunteer
and the intention of doing the few clients that go there
the favor of beautification, after all
it was looking quite out of time, hence out of place

unfortunately, what was done made a shabby renewal
this transformation is the fate of much of old roma
good intentions have destroyed the past
because anachronisms are odd

Sunday, May 04, 2008

an outside table

a moderately large multitude, though i've seen more
on sunny roman mid-afternoons
its germans and the spanish now
seasons pass so soon

you'd think each country had an appointed time
to take in the sights and weather
for whatever group that next appears
they seem to come together

from a table outside of angelo's
i sipped my wine as they rushed by
numbering thousands by the hour
better them than i

Saturday, May 03, 2008

this internet

I.
this internet
the new greatest show on earth
information galore
slimy, quick cheap, down and dirty
pivotal, pointed and prostituted

how much do you want
how much do you need
how much can you take
how much do you care

II.
a blog is something that must be worked
tilled and toiled over
not like paying money
to name a star after yourself

now ready for that
i'd rather stand by the sea
wait for a fish to jump
and say, "that one is jack"
(that one is me)

III.
this little piece of cyber space
i'm going to measure off as mine
then work on it, lay it out
to make it shine, shine, shine, shine, shine

Friday, May 02, 2008

on the streets

on a mission for pistachios
absorbed in filtered exhilaration by the beating heart of the city
i waited for a bus
i had on a black t-shirt
an artists bag over my shoulder

an italian couple approached
"do you have a cigarette?" he asked
i held up mine i was smoking and said, "this one. I'm quitting."
then she asked bus information to via nationale

a couple in a passing car stopped on the busy street to shout over a demand for directions to the termini
i must have looked like the information guy

then a pair of french women in passable italian wanted to know how to get to the coliseum as my bus, seventy, approached
theirs, the eighty-seven, was right behind
"take the eighty-seven" i pointed

the final query of the day came later as
i left the old esquilino market
this from an older unkempt guy holding something, a pamphlet?
i nodded him off when he asked if i was a roman

though i like to talk
what he had to say i didn't need
it is necessary to qualify even the inquisitors
while bearing the necessary resignation of existence
on the streets of roma

old corners

through turning alleys of old roma
weathered angles i know well
old corners repainted
some bearing visible repairs

around me italian faces change
yet remain the same over ages
above church bells chime the hours
rolling below the great river flows

Thursday, May 01, 2008

perspective

born in the winter of forty-five
franklin roosevelt was still alive
had a pair of six-guns the day i turned five
that was a long time ago

When I was a kid my friend's grandmother kept her father's old civil war uniform cleaned and pressed, hanging in the closet. The memory got me thinking so I added it up recently and discovered I was born eighty years after Lincoln died. Sixteen years after Wyatt Earp died in 1929.

Now to put it into perspective for you, kid, because someday, someone will say to you "Wow, you were born B.G. Before Google."
Google began in 1996.
Let me hold your arm to steady you.

off-day

passed fontana di trevi and recalled
two weeks ago when friends were here
we were twelve deep from the rail
all the way around the fountain and down below
today you could have driven a large bus through there

a light-sprinkle off-day in roma
is like a cornfield after the first snowfall
the crows go home
to spend the day watching crow television
eating micro-crow popcorn

for tourists a sprinkle
creates a museum day

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

the Ritz, our town theater

how could you resist
the photos out front pulled us in
we were guided to our seats with flashlights
older folks lined the back in the soft seats
as voices of kids on the hard wooden ones
echoed all the way from the front row
a while ago

now torn down and way gone
not a brick or stone remains of that space we still have in our heads
that place we watched the big screen
ate the popcorn
heard the big themes
sang and danced to the stars
laughed at the clowns
fell in love on the beach
and rode west with cowboy heroes

where has it all gone without a trace
i'm sure there are others who recall and smile
so, for them and for us
here's a salute to long ago and very far away
that special place

when i woke

when i woke i had you on my mind
i must have sung your song ten thousand times
and every time i start
it's like cannons in my heart
going off half-cocked
while i'm half blind

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

roma sunlight

yesterday i again noticed
the appealing angle of roma sunlight

how golden is the morning at eight
in late April by the river

you cannot avoid the glow
you wouldn't want to

morning bird

there is a bird in the morning
quite loud and near
i thought he was caged
in spring he returns
like blackie who visited for years

who would have imagined we'd find a new bird associate in the heart of roma
best friends you take when they appear
and birds are the same

paolo above us leaves at six ten like a ghost into smoke
then the soldier above him closes, loudly locks his door and clomps down the stairs in heavy military boots
the floor below ours has a broken step
he hits it everytime
then slams the front door and shakes the building

the bird in the morning
starts before paolo
and leaves before the soldier

Monday, April 28, 2008

hard as stone

To the store. It's eleven a.m. and she's in the air out'a here. To the store. I need water.

At Despar, as in desperate, I got milk for cereal and orange juice. They didn't have the water I wanted and with one cashier and fifty people and a couple dogs in line, I put back the milk and orange juice, pulled my empty cart home, then passed another half mile to the other side of our neighborhood to our least favorite store.

When I got there workmen were cementing the wall in the middle of the entrance and exit isle. The other three hundred shoppers jammed in the doorway didn't seem to notice.

I got milk. They didn't have skinless. Got orange juice in a strange set of containers that I couldn't see cause they were wrapped up in dark plastic, and I got water. Again, not the kind I wanted, but there were six of them and I brought the cart to get it home.

I waited in line with twenty-five older shoppers, and I didn't call them old ladies cause I know they're tough and if you blink or quit paying attention they'll squeeze in front of you. When it was my turn to go for the register on the left, straight or to the right I saw a guy come out'a nowhere and go left, so I went straight and was third in the new line. Nobody said anything about the line cutter, including me, cause we all know we'll do it when we have the chance.

When the clerk tallied up my stuff I gave her a fifty bill cause it was all I had. They usually ask for exact change but she took it and gave me over forty-five euros in change. They don't, can't or won't count back change ever. So when I saw my purchase cost less then five euros I took it and stuffed it and the receipt in my pocket wondering how I faired today. Years ago I would have counted it and helped the clerk out if she gave me too much, but that was years ago. Now I take it and hope for the best. For all the torture they put us through going shopping it is worth a good break once in a while.

I am supposed to have low calcium for my kidneys. The water I bought probably builds strong teeth and bones and maybe hardens cement for highways.

At home I had to use pliers to open the water, so the guy who fills the bottles out back with a hose must use glue on the lids so you feel it's really sealed.

I added up the figures on the receipt and found it correct. I didn't make any extra today, but I'm home and she's still flying. Next week she'll go shopping cause she always thinks ahead. I can wait around and see what we're going to eat and I know we will cause she gets hungry first.

Sail on, silver girl.

spectacular trash

very colorful, looks great
that's why they pass it out or mail it
you don't lack a pack, do you?
i have extra

what's the use
i'm cleaning up the scraps
the museo di roma in trastevere
printed well, nice pictures
two brochures on quality paper
my expired bus pass
a restaurant receipt
another thing from who knows where
on and on, taking up space

trees are cut and turned to mush
so we can rush this stuff home
put a happy face sticker on it
and throw it away
have a nice day

Sunday, April 27, 2008

double up

a break in tradition from
the occasional chinese food luncheon
this sunday we went to bufetto due
meri had a salad
i ordered the giant house pizza

thirty seconds after my pizza arived
i was cutting it when it did
an involuntary triple axle grand slam
inverted one hundred eighty degrees
and smashed itself face down into my lap

after lunch we walked to the stone benches
in front of palazzo farnese and sat a few minutes
i was examining the pizza stains on my pants
when a bird flew over and shit on my hands
both of them

how was your sunday?

nico's day

my friend nico is ninety-five today
if i see him i'll greet him

this guy is full of love for the world
and energy

the bridge - ponte

the weather is fine
no jacket needed
just shoulder pads
what a crunch

so friday was rome's birthday
i asked a roman why saturday was packed
it's the ponte, the bridge
you don't just have a day
you have a season

they always need a day or more
on either side of a holiday
to get into it
and to recover

like a dream

it must have been our age
because it was as if the radio had just been invented
we knew the tunes and they had our number
how well i remember the hits of '58

fifty years ago i was thirteen
the edsel, the hula hoop and BOAC
began the first transoceanic service
we looked both ways before crossing

we had our heads on properly
were looking at life right straight ahead
mom had to keep telling me
not to slam the screen door

Saturday, April 26, 2008

i feel like you

i feel like you
that doesn't mean that i feel as if i like you
it means i feel about as you feel
but not completely
i don't wake up groping for the keys to your car
in my pocket or anything
i don't feel like that
now i'm not sure what i mean
or how i feel about it
so forget it
how do you feel about that?

listen, some of the stuff i write is crap
i know that, that's what writers are good at
the point is
it's not like i'm hiding it
i put it out with a purpose
two more, juliano. yeah, the red.

like you, i can recognize a good poem
and wonder how many did emily dickenson or robert frost leave buried in a drawer
sarah teasdale, i like her work also
geeze, i mention a couple of poets and feel like i've got to keep naming them

what i want to say is that
everyone has a different voice
every poet makes that choice
and when words work hot it's a kind of magic
when not - more like deforestation - nearly tragic

we'd learn if we could read
the partial poems the poets put aside
examine what was rejected
those things the great ones let slide
most often go undetected

so now this one is lying there like road kill
so enjoy it like sneaking through someone's refrigerator

Friday, April 25, 2008

ok start here

meditation is a discipline
who needs all this laughter
and funny stuff
just give me some boredom
and a book to read

i am old cause i don't get fashion,
style, mode, loud music
mr. humblegger, your table is ready
who cares

lincoln speak

i had a friend, jordan, whose grandfather was a slave
he told me that when his grandfather was a boy
in the south people gathered on a hill somewhere
to hear abraham lincoln speak
the grandfather was blind since birth, and an old man
when he told jordan
how he heard lincoln's sharp voice, high-pitched, clear like a trumpet over the crowd
i can let those words set
and ring in your head
like lincoln's must have done
to that boy who knew he was hearing the president

Thursday, April 24, 2008

poetini

sure i keep it short
you have a life, right?
it's nice you take a look
but i'm not going to keep you

there - a couple of lines
you read it
fine, like that, okay, forget it
and we're both out'a here

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

birthday

"eeeeeeeyeow" screached a low swooping gull
over trajan's market by the forum
crowds were downtown last night
roma is celebrating birthday number 2761
how about that? two thousand seven hundred sixty-one

an old cat was walking around the ruins looking harmless
but the seagull thought otherwise and kept squawking
the feline eventually got the hint and departed
we were street level above the ruins, looking down on them

the official roma birthday day day is 21 april
nothing happened then, it was just selected as the day
meanwhile festivities will go on until 9 may

that's like roma, no quick birthday
people are out there now, concerts are going on
and that tells you a lot about how this city operates

in brief, like everything,
they make it up for the occasion
and do whatever they want

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

volume

the settings in roma
for speakers in airports
in buses, in buildings, outside
anywhere announcements are made
are: "on" or "off"

"on" means blasting to the fullest extent possible
nearly improbable
unbelievable, absurd
distortion is a synonym

"off" means broken
or someone forgot to turn it on

the pyramids

who built the pyramids
back then

do you think we could
do it again?

Monday, April 21, 2008

a non-fiction guy thing

it's true
could happen to you
i put mayonnaise in my suitcase
the next day she found it in my shoe

I admit i didn't check the lid
that's the worst i did
so what can a fellow do?
if not me, then who?

but nothing gooey came out
that's how the story ends
with promises to do better
we're still friends

(i think she's watchin' me)

taste

in the vatican museum i noticed the floor
and thought when target and others makes new tiles
why not do decent copies of beautiful tiles from history?

why produce new inferior designs?
sure, new sells, but you can sell anything

some old stuff is incredible
don't buy into fashion when it is base
why not remake old cars, old clothes
old everything that was beautiful and loved
using modern materials

let's cut the trash and clean the globe
with a bit of taste

Sunday, April 20, 2008

a second good idea

how about that smart car
and now that's done
let's move ahead far
bring on the stupid one

extra wide, extra long, gas guzzler
one tiny window, under-inflated tires
no mirrors, sluggish manual steering, no muffler
also runs on coal fires

music to my knees

it nearly brings me to my knees
would you play it as gently
again, if you please

you know, somehow
and this i don't mean lightly
that melody touches me

extemporaneously?
how did that come about?
it was not planned, merely stumbled upon?

what i hear in that
takes me up somehow
turns me 'round

i want it with me
to carry away, to take home
bring out when i'm alone

i need to listen again
to learn what it is saying to me
so i can respond properly

i want to respond
i know i can
it is talking to me

Saturday, April 19, 2008

same sea

the next day
no wind at all
hardly the same sea

a gentle roll
this pearly morn
quiet lapping at the shore

waiting for the small boat fisherman
to bring up his net by the red buoy
i want to catch him
at his solitary work and live vicariously

Friday, April 18, 2008

auto-overdrive

i dreamed on automatic overdrive
the mediterranean was sweeping waves of long green stems
with yellow flowers
and it all broke on the shore
i was neck deep and flopping

karolina made the hotel beds in polish military fashion
we were bound like mummies
using shrink wrap
to keep us in place
three thousand years

yesterday she wore her cupcake howitzer bra
mounted on twin staggered gun mounts
one aimed high, one covering the field
in the lobby as she turned my way
i prudently took a step back

Happy is the acting hotel director
how could you name your son Happy
and not get what you'd expect?
Happy, shut up. Happy, sit down.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

waves

all night out of phase
waves broke air bubbles
that cracked and crunched

i thought it was shore rocks
sliding in and out
in the morning i saw few rocks, mostly sand

it was the power of water
of air grinding, popping
let’s harness that power

Monday, April 14, 2008

some day
these will be the good old days

Sunday, April 13, 2008

without a net

on our way training down
south of roma, south of napoli
the pearl of the med
to get sand in our shoes
a sleepy place with nothing going on
after three days we’ll be friends with the guy who drives the local bus to town where the pizza is good
we’ll be there
with no net, no kidding, and too cold to swim

but the hotel remembers us
not actually, of course, unless they have chips
this one doesn’t even have rice crispies
something for the kids of the future to look forward to
chips implanted in hotels so it remembers you
“Oh, not you again, you little...”

back in this time warp
we like carolina, she’s the polish worker
she will be the only one there
the old lady has something with the bones in her foot
can’t get shoes on and won’t be there
we’ll be the only guests
our terrace is large
right on the beach

nothing to do
a tv in the lobby, hardly on
only the lapping of the mediterranean
on and on, rolling back and forth
dragging rocks on the shore

space to read, write, draw and observe
then while walking the shore
looking far off, out to sea or toward the clouds
i’ll think of you

stuff with the big guys

if we could stuff basketballs
soar way over the rim and drop it in
we’d make millions on a two year contract
pose for picture so countless others
could hang it on their wall

sign an autograph if we had to
have a driver take us around
get the best seats everywhere
and get all the drugs we need before we have to
leave our place in the sun for a few days to testify

Saturday, April 12, 2008

climate


it's time we
quit calling it global warming
and say it like it is
global climate change

when in rome

1952 audrey hepburn and gregory peck filmed roman holiday
that was good, however
mary kate and ashley olsen's movie
when in rome , filmed in 2002
was meridith's international film debut

they shot a scene on our street, via dei cappellari
where the girls walked by
at the same time meri stuck her head out of our window
to see what was going on down there

and is clearly seen for one second in the film

she did it in one take
without a rehearsal or makeup
and they didn't even have to ask her to look out the window

when they send the first million
we'll split it with you
(you notice i've got my hand on it already)

Friday, April 11, 2008

day starts quickly

day starts quickly
without hesitation
the orange ball is up, on its way
for another loop through the heavens

i rapid shower and dress
my wet hair’s a mess
an hour swiftly passed, no more
coffee down, i’m out the door

Thursday, April 10, 2008

grim riders

silent-trance bus riders
in blank, unblinking stare
look ahead, deep, slow eyed and unseeing
haunting with their faces

seated facing me was one of those
of the impermeable, inpenetrable void
not knowing
just there
set in icy stone
an uncaring, unforgiving dead grim gaze
born of fear and oppression
passed by generations
that witnessed gladiators fight to the death
sons turn cold
and heretics burn at the stake
a locked down scowl that will out wait hell
refuses happiness exists, or hope a possibility

moments before her stop
she mysteriously transported herself
from the dark ages to the modern era
having readjusted her face, she left the bus


Wednesday, April 09, 2008

rubbish


a ball of rubbish
the size of texas
is floating in the sea

it’s not science fiction
who’s cleaning this up?
not you, not me



Tuesday, April 08, 2008

the writer's life, both of them

the little woman is telling me
a writer’s life’s too narrow
sighted only on what he can see
i see it like a winged sparrow

while the powerful princess whacks away
i’ve got to write my own, you see
let’s lift our hats to the writers work
without the mcmurtrys where would we be

the saga ends all to soon
give me the great stories and actors to play
winter’s gone, it’s nearly june
be content writers know what to say

the words fly on like a wounded sparrow
as thought lines soar, rush and dart
nearly downed by the random arrow
coming to rest, so near the heart

i’ll labor on long as i am able
the ship goes down while runs the rat
i hear her say, “supper’s on the table”
now tell me, how’d she do that?

Monday, April 07, 2008

times are a changing - right now they are

friends came to roma from california
had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the colosseum
at least three or four employees spoke english
ten years ago none would have

Sunday, April 06, 2008

parliment

the first saturday of the month the italian senate is open for visitors
we waited in line forty-five minutes in light rain
this former residence where the government works
is palazzo madama

built upon the ancient baths of nero
the palace was completed in 1505 for the medici family
two medici cardinals who later became popes lived here
the painter caravaggio worked and lived here for five years

the large stone structure was redone again in 1650
four stories with hundreds of rooms
the enterior is elaborate, ornately decorated in the period and splendid

both government houses meet and many have their offices here
the corridors are long, the ceilings high and ornate
impressive is the large chamber where the senate convenes
we saw it from above in the audience gallery

that chamber is on the tv news every week
it was a nice change of pace to be in the seat of the government
all we had to do was wait patiently in a light rain


Saturday, April 05, 2008

talking with eagles

what i mean is
talking with egos
nearly the same, isn’t it

to review (and avoid confusion)
eggos were some artificial egg food
leggos are toys to build with
and egos are yet to be determined as to function

although i am quite sure it has
something to do with artificial intelligence


Friday, April 04, 2008

return to roma

the paris metro to charles de gaulle
packed like i’ve never seen
barely had space to stand

ibid.a.

we got on the metro
just barely cause it was packed
i don’t like to say, but it’s true

we were that old expression
packed like canned fish

it was rush hour and we were rushing
to the airport

those poor people who do it everyday
are at their limit
there are too many of us


at the airport we got in easily

ibid.b.

saw a couple of old farts
standing outside smoking
before entering the terminal
don’t they know better?
how in the hell do they
expect to live forever?


our flight was delayed
the number of people in the waiting area
was more than i’ve ever, ever seen

i went down to the restroom
entered the air france first class lounge
had a fine coffee
pocketed a set off cookies to share with meri

took off late
sat by the window and heard people ooohh
when we flew over the alps
the lady in front of me took about
eight flash photos into the sun
before she turned off the flash

i then saw the L-like where land went west to france and south to italy and roma

coming in we circled around roma
the vatican stood up like an ice cream cone

then we swung over the turquoise med
came in and landed

this morning at nine we left for the airport in paris
at five p.m. we were in our roma apartment
it took nine hours for a less than two hour flight

the eagle has landed
and will sleep in his own bed tonight

some paris along the way

a lot to see
style and art abounds in this city paris
from the top of the arc de triomphe there is quite a view
i’m dipping my morning toast in coffee
thinking about it

initial plans were sketchy but we happened to be
there on the street when the taxi showed up with
my one-time little kid now with a family of his own
everyone has grown

saw, walked, laughed and talked for a couple of days

we flew in, we fly out
they go on their way
while time is always flying
happened so fast

Thursday, April 03, 2008

paris notes, more

down some city street
a lady hurridly walking by
dropped her reading glasses
seemed to throw them nearly at my feet

as she quickly stopped
bent and reached to retrieve them
she kicked them a little
so they skidded a few feet

back up then kneeling a second time to pick them up
noticing i saw it all
she looked toward me
and half-smiled self consciously
at the impromptu comedy of errors

paris ride

leisurely viewing the city
coming back from versailles
the bus stopped several times
some people left, while some arrived
still others scampered to change seats
moving like mice in a maze
until all were satisfied
what we had this morning
was a scenic nice ride

with son and his family - notes in paris

two young daughters
charged for travel
kept up with four adults
or we kept up with them

through the d’Orsay museum
yes, the art is great
but so is the most interesting building
then to sacre coeur, mont martre

up and down the metro stairs
so many times, how did they do it?
i know we climbed
three eiffel towers worth

not a whimper, conflict or complaint all day
but unaccustomed to minding the store
the quiet little voices burnt our candles at both ends
one for each of them

back at six p.m.
to take a nap, that’s us
while mom and dad hold the fort
the kids are still going strong


Wednesday, April 02, 2008

paris impression

got up early
slowly taking our time
decided not to rush
we’re here, all is fine

after breakfast we began to search for what means paris
out there
larger than we knew

got into it, walked, bused
and the city kept up with us, kept sprawling
so clean, elegant and alive

it does move along
like the rapid seine goes through it
with not buses enough
or artists enough
to paint the whole collage

stately, fluid in motion
needed a mime like marcel marceau
to interpret a bit

how paris is
depends which table you get
if the sun’s in you eyes
or the towers at your back

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

paris note

flew to paris today
under two hours from roma

took longer to and from the airports
missed lucky lindy by eighty-one years

well, didn’t miss him
never knew the guy

lindy was years ahead
but wait, i’m still checking it out

Monday, March 31, 2008

our little bit

for sure the world is big
when checking the maps
or traveling around you see
there are places on our globe
for everybody

the net and the news and the information
makes it smaller
with more than we need to know
more than anyone can ingest

as exponentially it expands
the good side is that if we each do
our little tiny part to make it better
that good also grows exponentially

Sunday, March 30, 2008

used to dress

there was a time
people dressed for ball games
women in dresses and hats
men wore suits and ties

i was a kid when i saw ted williams
step to the plate at cleveland stadium
that game it was the first pitch he slammed
giving that ball a good-bye ride

uncle pat ran the beer concession
dad took me to see uncle pat

the brits were in roma today for a big soccer game
walking the streets drinking beer
dressed as if for a sleep over
or cleaning the basement

not like it was
the way we do
as times change
we do too

Saturday, March 29, 2008

market today

a new flavor in the market today
call it near spring
sun at mid day divides the piazza
leaving something for everyone

with winter run away
warmer air
brings new modes of dress

flowers and vegetables gleam
to outshine each other
new faces, as always
“ciao, jack”
and the regular venders
“ciao pio.”
it’s new air to breathe
“marcella, stai bene?”
a new day, a great day
“tut’okay”
she smiled
“va bene”
va molto bene

Friday, March 28, 2008

laughing gas

five minutes before my appointment
i slip into my shoes and walk over
that’s something positive about living in the inner city

perky dentist helper has been cleaning teeth for fifteen years
does it well
firm, delicate, yet no holds barred

she says do i want gas
talking to me, of course
maybe she was talking to herself
but i heard her plain as day

sure, fill me up
and this rubber scorpion from a sci-fi movie
was plugged over my face
after a while i claimed no affect
and got her to turn up the juice

suddenly dentist appears
fools around doing this and that
then before i know it
he got ready to do a cavity, mine

then pulled out an extra long needle
waved it around and warned this is going to hurt
that’s too bad for someone i thought
then looking around i knew he was talking to me
cause the dentist helper wasn’t there anymore
and i let him drive that thing through my gums
into the dark recesses of my now vibrating skull

the more i develop through life experience
the scarier it gets, i visualize too much
because i see tiny errors in judgment, chinks
in good guys in white hats and white masks armor

the dentist speaks five languages
is known as very skilled
however, as we spoke i suggested
and admittedly knowing nothing about dentistry

perhaps, perhaps, perhaps it would be keen
if he said x per cent of the patients
find the needle into the gums uncomfortable

instead of scaring the shit out ‘a me
by telling me it was “liable to be really painful”
two seconds before ahab rams the harpoon into my skull

no wonder he wears a mask

Thursday, March 27, 2008

cold as a frog

when i wake these days
for the first moments i’m
definitely cautious with my movements

it’s only mid march
not yet spring, got my socks on now
the last of winter’s holding on, it seems

still dark
when i start
the coffee and computer

there’s a chill in my bones
as i glance toward the window from my chair
to observe the colors of progressing dawn

calmly i’m working on getting up to speed
will get underway soon as i can, but tell me,
it’s frigid these days in the early hours, isn’t it?

and either this year’s colder
or it’s merely another effect
of getting older


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

dark prognosis

terrible times
endless pain, not now
just thinking about
the dentist

ping, ping
whacka, whacka,
whirrr, grrr
a carpenter in my mouth

if he were only a neighbor
i'd have to say hi
and i'd get used to it
after a while, i suppose

but i have to go there
and talk him out of it
blood everywhere
extraction

then the phone rings
it's his secretary confirming the appointment
i heard laughter hidden in her voice
they must know i'm thinking bout it

other than that it's a fine day
except for tormenting wind, spattering rain,
foreboding clouds, horrible chill
and a forecast for more

lost in blogland

some entries i want to stay out front
the buffalo i wrote 45 years ago and it stands today
it was posted jan 21 on my blog

here is a link to peppy grillo's blog
listen to the words of robert kennedy linked on his blog

note how politics and visions have changed

money, what happened

it didn't use to be money
not when i was a kid
oh, money was the thing for some
not as widely pursued as now

the mothers stayed home
the fathers went to work

we had other things
we had love and family
and stuff we liked to do
other than watching the tv

and the golden rule
you remember that don't you?
do on to others
as you want them to do unto you

old folks kept us in line with a glance
and we respected them
that's how we were taught

and it wasn't bad
we got along
we used to be in this thing
together
hey, i'm just saying

Monday, March 24, 2008

menu

she is worried about my cognitive ability
because i can’t read a menu

i haven’t been able to read a menu for thirty years
ever since john belushi on saturday night live
did that hamburger, cheeseburger, pepsi skit

when i get a menu i want one choice
take it or leave it
i don’t want to sit and read atlas shrugged

if i want something special
i’ll ask for it
“could you give my onions to the cat, please?”

the kiss principle- keep it simple, stupid
let’s remember that
i go to restaurants to eat
when i want to read i’ll go to the library

pope

What is the pope doing playing politics? I understand politics within the church to get elected, but end it there. He’s not a politician on the international scene. In the U.S. there is some kind of division between church and state and I think it should be that way.

Captain Z. is a sea captain, but he doesn’t make hints to Tiger Woods how to putt the ball.

This blob was going to be all poetry and i am crossing the line. Until I get a firm direction I will continue to wander. I am thinking about another blog site for poems, one for art and one for tips on wiping your butt. What am I doing here?

Sunday, March 23, 2008

z, on the road

z & company on the road
is quite a show
now you’ve been told

picked us up in bari
took us back to monopoli
a little town on the adriatic

our apartment building was very old
just down the street from z and iwona
the ceilings i estimate as eighteen feet high
tall windows and period furniture were the highlight

narrow stone streets
great vegetables in the outdoor market
the old port was one alley over
quiet as it should be

and full of the local fishing boats
of all kinds and shapes
the italian monterrey was among them
most boats were painted the
traditional blue and white

the nice stone walk around the port
was flat and smooth as the rest of the town
this place has been cared for
we saw it with the locals still there
before the money speculators arrived

friday evening before a big religious ceremony
i stopped at a market
though we are 98 percent vegetarian i
broke our food tradition
bought a ham and cheese sandwich

a chance to enjoy the local cuisine
and was eating it when z. and company arrived
they reminded me it was good friday

as we walked toward the cathedral
to see the local event of the season
i stayed in the back of the group
and ate quickly
stuffing it with both hand
like a squirrel eating a nut

meri walked up front with the group
acting like the sandwich was all my idea
thus assuring her place in the good heaven
i licked my fingers only to rid mayonnaise traces

paint

i'd open a window
but it's cold, better wait
anyway, on a scale from one to whatever
paint is an eight


I like painting
i was painting the walls
i am, can you smell it

i am a paintist
i will march with the painters
and become a member of the paintist party

i belive in paintiscism
holy mother of paint
paint with us painters
now and at the hour our can is dry


it has a fragrant bouquet
i wonder if paint
is safe to eat
and they are just not telling us