opening the door at the end of the car
the conductor who came in
wore a partially buttoned, baggy blue coat
with pocket flaps, a badge, official looking cap
that had air vents and a sticker on it,
he had a white beard,
his hands full, fiddling with things
stuffing bits of paper in his pouch
coming my way slowly, talking to passengers
as we thundered by snow capped shiny peaks, lakes and forests
he leaned over trying to adjust a window shade for some folks,
it looked like he broke it,
smiled at a full-breasted pretty girl in a
tight fitting t-shirt with a sports team's logo on it
chatted with her a while
maybe he knew her
finally got to me,
asked to see my ticket,
i got up to get my bag
as a happy man pushing a metal cart
clattered through singing,
selling coffee and sandwiches
with a metal change dispenser on his waist
we went around a corner and
everyone swayed left and hung on tighter,
a guy came down the isle talking kind of loudly
to someone six rows away,
a couple of large foreign looking people carrying
several worn cardboard boxes tied with string
were squeezing down the isle
i heard a guy ask what time we get to the next stop
and before i realized i turned to see the blue jacket
slip out the back door without ever checking my ticket,
this elderly, portly, wrinkled conductor on
my private train of thought
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
terminal velocity
scientifically speaking,
the slowest cycle
of the entire planet earth’s water movement
is called plate tectonics
unless you count grandpa taking a piss
but then, all the water of this planet
is already made
and then recycled
so tell grandpa to quit wasting his time
he’s not helping anybody
instead, this is about the nothing particle stuff
that gets sucked and sucked
up, up, upworthy into the sky
where it gets formed together and then
voila’!
is water again
okay, so,
then it comes down as rain
now do you know how far it falls?
a long, long, long, half a mile?
more?
it falls falling, falling
at terminal velocity when
the downward force of gravity
equals the upward force of drag
one drop rocketing directly into your eyeball
as you happen to look up,
well then, no wonder it makes you blink and sputter.
think about it!
and carry a damn umbrella, you knucklehead
the slowest cycle
of the entire planet earth’s water movement
is called plate tectonics
unless you count grandpa taking a piss
but then, all the water of this planet
is already made
and then recycled
so tell grandpa to quit wasting his time
he’s not helping anybody
instead, this is about the nothing particle stuff
that gets sucked and sucked
up, up, upworthy into the sky
where it gets formed together and then
voila’!
is water again
okay, so,
then it comes down as rain
now do you know how far it falls?
a long, long, long, half a mile?
more?
it falls falling, falling
at terminal velocity when
the downward force of gravity
equals the upward force of drag
one drop rocketing directly into your eyeball
as you happen to look up,
well then, no wonder it makes you blink and sputter.
think about it!
and carry a damn umbrella, you knucklehead
Labels:
practically science
Ron Paul
Ron Paul
just hearing his name
gets me thinking
and that's bad
these are not thinking times
just go along
boy, i say something
that doesn't conform
with the flow
and waves
hit the fan
don't you know?
just hearing his name
gets me thinking
and that's bad
these are not thinking times
just go along
boy, i say something
that doesn't conform
with the flow
and waves
hit the fan
don't you know?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
B-Plus Morning
this fine summer morn
we stood by the pond
frog was there
waiting patiently and calm
we made his noise
i did and she did
we did it together
then frog turned toward us
he watched and puffed a bit
then began his song
we repeated when he stopped
back and forth we talked
after five minutes all had enough
and stopped at the same time,
we wondered what the neighbors thought
if they had heard us
i rated this morning B plus
it would have been an A
if at the end of the concert
we all shook hands
we stood by the pond
frog was there
waiting patiently and calm
we made his noise
i did and she did
we did it together
then frog turned toward us
he watched and puffed a bit
then began his song
we repeated when he stopped
back and forth we talked
after five minutes all had enough
and stopped at the same time,
we wondered what the neighbors thought
if they had heard us
i rated this morning B plus
it would have been an A
if at the end of the concert
we all shook hands
Labels:
poems with frogs
gradually
gradually i have seen
in my lifetime everything, including
our environment, has changed
as the great wheel turns
is it more pollution
or my time on the planet
that makes it evident?
for i am aware it is not the same
of course there is evolution,
coal and diamonds weren't created in the beginning
a half billion years and the world keeps changing
animal, mineral, vegetable
some come, some go, yet we're still here
shoving to get ahead of you
what the hell is going on?
you exhale when you push
and inhale to smell the flowers
in my lifetime everything, including
our environment, has changed
as the great wheel turns
is it more pollution
or my time on the planet
that makes it evident?
for i am aware it is not the same
of course there is evolution,
coal and diamonds weren't created in the beginning
a half billion years and the world keeps changing
animal, mineral, vegetable
some come, some go, yet we're still here
shoving to get ahead of you
what the hell is going on?
you exhale when you push
and inhale to smell the flowers
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
the ultimate dilemma
the decisions of man are many
work to be done is plenty
we set off firm
and never yield
standing tall
for every cause
nothing, nothing
can give us pause
through every challenge
we'll bear the test
always upward
giving all our best
just one small thing
we'll never know
should we cut our hair
or let it grow?
work to be done is plenty
we set off firm
and never yield
standing tall
for every cause
nothing, nothing
can give us pause
through every challenge
we'll bear the test
always upward
giving all our best
just one small thing
we'll never know
should we cut our hair
or let it grow?
template fix
hey, tom
and i know i'm talking to you
cause everyone else is on
computer unavailability
i did a devastating attack on my blog template
customized it to Lourdes and back
now the only blog hits i record are those
arriving by stagecoach or Harley
the rest refuse to take
their shoes off to gallop through
the metal detector, good thing
you still ride au natural
and i know i'm talking to you
cause everyone else is on
computer unavailability
i did a devastating attack on my blog template
customized it to Lourdes and back
now the only blog hits i record are those
arriving by stagecoach or Harley
the rest refuse to take
their shoes off to gallop through
the metal detector, good thing
you still ride au natural
Bad Name
with a name repulsive enough
to cause grown men
to moan and turn away
poetry harbors grace and beauty
sometimes like tennis
there is a head nodding
back and forth
rhythmic iambic pentameter
unlike professional football or soccer
you generally won’t risk getting bruises
or breaking bones playing
poetry without a helmet
perhaps it would become more
appealing to the base masses
if only we called it
word slugging
to cause grown men
to moan and turn away
poetry harbors grace and beauty
sometimes like tennis
there is a head nodding
back and forth
rhythmic iambic pentameter
unlike professional football or soccer
you generally won’t risk getting bruises
or breaking bones playing
poetry without a helmet
perhaps it would become more
appealing to the base masses
if only we called it
word slugging
Labels:
poems on poetry
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Clean Water
dear people of the future
how are you, how’s it going?
look, i want to say
when i brush my teeth i think about
the people of the earth that live in areas
with a shortage of clean water to drink,
i worry about the clean water availability
not overly, but i am aware
of a potential problem of supply
so i turn the tap water volume down in the sink
when i don’t immediately need it
conservation has to matter,
look what happened to the buffalo
that once were bumper to bumper on the plains
and were shot for sport from passing trains
will water shortage be a problem for everyone
in a hundred years or twenty?
and while i am brushing i wonder who else
is thinking about water
water rights are being purchased
is that a “so what?” or not?
you could tell me
slip a note into my dream or something
can you do that?
how are you, how’s it going?
look, i want to say
when i brush my teeth i think about
the people of the earth that live in areas
with a shortage of clean water to drink,
i worry about the clean water availability
not overly, but i am aware
of a potential problem of supply
so i turn the tap water volume down in the sink
when i don’t immediately need it
conservation has to matter,
look what happened to the buffalo
that once were bumper to bumper on the plains
and were shot for sport from passing trains
will water shortage be a problem for everyone
in a hundred years or twenty?
and while i am brushing i wonder who else
is thinking about water
water rights are being purchased
is that a “so what?” or not?
you could tell me
slip a note into my dream or something
can you do that?
Labels:
practically science
Monday, July 28, 2008
loving a woman
loving a woman
for a man of errors
not big ones
not all of them
okay, some of them
yeah, a few
as a matter of fact
she divorced me
but we got married again
now our anniversary
is the 28th and 29th of July
now, that's a love story
for a man of errors
not big ones
not all of them
okay, some of them
yeah, a few
as a matter of fact
she divorced me
but we got married again
now our anniversary
is the 28th and 29th of July
now, that's a love story
Hollywood Times
large and colorful enough for a million poems
Vine down the street, the world of cinema on every corner
a palm treed cake walk everyday
nice cars, crazy people - dressed to prove it
the Labrea Tar Pits, museums, the beach
the Hollywood sign above on the hill
warm, dry wind and smog
everyone has star stories
they live and shop all around
walk the streets, some to be seen
those hills hide mansions
stand up comics pump gas
studios, writers, actors, technicians
and a whole lot of fans
locals remember earlier times
my friend played where they
later built the Hollywood Freeway
from the window where i worked on Sunset
i often saw Groucho taking is 9a.m. walk
an animal trainer friend used to stop at jimmy stewart's
house on Saturday for a chat as Jimmy washed his car
an impersonator i worked with did Peter Falk as Columbo
at the Hollywood Bowl, the audience thought
it was Peter Falk, there was a slip up and
the guy's name was never mentioned
and this nothing story is a drop in that Pacific Ocean
lights, cameras and
if that's not enough
they even put them in the sidewalk
more stars than the night
Vine down the street, the world of cinema on every corner
a palm treed cake walk everyday
nice cars, crazy people - dressed to prove it
the Labrea Tar Pits, museums, the beach
the Hollywood sign above on the hill
warm, dry wind and smog
everyone has star stories
they live and shop all around
walk the streets, some to be seen
those hills hide mansions
stand up comics pump gas
studios, writers, actors, technicians
and a whole lot of fans
locals remember earlier times
my friend played where they
later built the Hollywood Freeway
from the window where i worked on Sunset
i often saw Groucho taking is 9a.m. walk
an animal trainer friend used to stop at jimmy stewart's
house on Saturday for a chat as Jimmy washed his car
an impersonator i worked with did Peter Falk as Columbo
at the Hollywood Bowl, the audience thought
it was Peter Falk, there was a slip up and
the guy's name was never mentioned
and this nothing story is a drop in that Pacific Ocean
lights, cameras and
if that's not enough
they even put them in the sidewalk
more stars than the night
Sunday, July 27, 2008
In the woods
All that time in the woods and not much was put to words. Not then. Not while we were repairing, building, creating, learning. Being survivors. We were an hour from the nearest store, isolated on a far off dirt road above the Mojave desert, beyond Jawbone Canyon, left where the Platts lived and thirty bumpy minutes up the winding dirt road to our ten acres in the woods, high on the mountain.
It took two years searching the Sunday L.A. Times classifieds until I found it, and knew that if this wasn’t it, then the guy who placed the ad knew what I wanted and where to find it. It sounded like a dream, and it was. Lonesome Al sold it to me and became our good friend.
So I sold my L. A. home and bought gold when it was less than two hundred dollars an ounce, rode it up, and then sold at nearly at eight hundred an ounce to support our new lifestyle.
We carried our water from the ranger station, used coal oil lamps and used wood to cook and heat. It makes me smile thinking about our old miner’s log and plank cabins, our creek where she bathed for our wedding, the graveyard, two fallen gold mines, the spot where the post office used to be. It was our ghost town. Maybe not the whole thing, but enough, ten pine and oak covered acres of it.
There were only four other people who lived on the mountain, so we thought of it as ours. We did have fun. Lived by the sun up and down. The moon marked time for us. One battery powered radio was our touch with the world.
All that time, two years in the woods, and the words became quiet, because above the trees the open sky was bigger than our thoughts. The stars demanded attention without words. We could keep a fire going with just the right wood at the right time. She learned to cook on a wood stove and I learned how to cut wood, as the trees talked together. In great rushes the wind stirred over there then would grow and come around and come by together in a rush. There are no words in that sound. The prevalent sound being the hum of the earth.
Perhaps if I were a better investor, and the silver market hadn’t crashed, we’d be there still. Now, she just slowly shook her head and said to me, “It was a good thing to do while we were young.” And that's how I know, life is but a dream.
It took two years searching the Sunday L.A. Times classifieds until I found it, and knew that if this wasn’t it, then the guy who placed the ad knew what I wanted and where to find it. It sounded like a dream, and it was. Lonesome Al sold it to me and became our good friend.
So I sold my L. A. home and bought gold when it was less than two hundred dollars an ounce, rode it up, and then sold at nearly at eight hundred an ounce to support our new lifestyle.
We carried our water from the ranger station, used coal oil lamps and used wood to cook and heat. It makes me smile thinking about our old miner’s log and plank cabins, our creek where she bathed for our wedding, the graveyard, two fallen gold mines, the spot where the post office used to be. It was our ghost town. Maybe not the whole thing, but enough, ten pine and oak covered acres of it.
There were only four other people who lived on the mountain, so we thought of it as ours. We did have fun. Lived by the sun up and down. The moon marked time for us. One battery powered radio was our touch with the world.
All that time, two years in the woods, and the words became quiet, because above the trees the open sky was bigger than our thoughts. The stars demanded attention without words. We could keep a fire going with just the right wood at the right time. She learned to cook on a wood stove and I learned how to cut wood, as the trees talked together. In great rushes the wind stirred over there then would grow and come around and come by together in a rush. There are no words in that sound. The prevalent sound being the hum of the earth.
Perhaps if I were a better investor, and the silver market hadn’t crashed, we’d be there still. Now, she just slowly shook her head and said to me, “It was a good thing to do while we were young.” And that's how I know, life is but a dream.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
faces
we knew these faces well
Carol, Toby, Phillip and others
classmates we grew up with
some lie face up
in the faraway fields under stone
while a few remain connected
others run apart, neglected
gone astray, to other places
what can you say?
we've had fine times and new friends
danced to the music
moved to the drum
loved in the sun
that's what we've done
through all it's seasons
we've seen what has become
laughed and we've cried
oh, so hard we tried
while wandering, wondering and discovering
we're watching the time
what work need we do
before we're through
here's a salute to everyone, that's for sure
the old friends, the new, the soon to be,
now, the rest of you, come along,
just keep moving along
Carol, Toby, Phillip and others
classmates we grew up with
some lie face up
in the faraway fields under stone
while a few remain connected
others run apart, neglected
gone astray, to other places
what can you say?
we've had fine times and new friends
danced to the music
moved to the drum
loved in the sun
that's what we've done
through all it's seasons
we've seen what has become
laughed and we've cried
oh, so hard we tried
while wandering, wondering and discovering
we're watching the time
what work need we do
before we're through
here's a salute to everyone, that's for sure
the old friends, the new, the soon to be,
now, the rest of you, come along,
just keep moving along
train sounds
run to the stairs and hear the train
only softly it comes
a gentler horn sounds
softer than i have ever heard
it's like the Morse Code,
from the tapping of the horn
you can tell the nature
of the engineer
only softly it comes
a gentler horn sounds
softer than i have ever heard
it's like the Morse Code,
from the tapping of the horn
you can tell the nature
of the engineer
Labels:
trains
Friday, July 25, 2008
bees
jeeze, these big bees, boy
you should see them
buzz by
why they're big as my thumb
and don't even see me standing near
watching them gorge themselves
must get loaded on honey
when they stick their heads
in the flowers
for hours
jeeze oh pete
you should see them
buzz by
why they're big as my thumb
and don't even see me standing near
watching them gorge themselves
must get loaded on honey
when they stick their heads
in the flowers
for hours
jeeze oh pete
Labels:
poems of nature
Thursday, July 24, 2008
we lived on a boat
we lived on a boat
with our cat
and dreamed well
on gentle lapping water
smoothly rocking
to rhythms of the ripples
a boat passing in the channel
seagulls swoop and dive nearby
long rolling clouds and far stars
the moaning fog horn
then misty quiet dawn
softly beginning
with our cat
and dreamed well
on gentle lapping water
smoothly rocking
to rhythms of the ripples
a boat passing in the channel
seagulls swoop and dive nearby
long rolling clouds and far stars
the moaning fog horn
then misty quiet dawn
softly beginning
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
so long bob evans
full of local folk
working hard to make some money
and stay ahead in the game
but, the Bobster is giving me
too much rock and roll for breakfast
keeping it loud, no matter how many times
i've asked him to turn it down
the manager likes it that way, you see
forty year old rock piped blasting
you have to speak up over breakfast
then chew weaving to the beat
run 'em in
run it out
eat it up
now run along
we ran along
to the older Star Diner,
they provide a media vacuum
no music or TV
the sounds you hear are customers talking
and theirs is local food
the way you'd do it
how we like it
now this morning, who did we see
eating at the next table
but Diana the sweet, elderly hostess from Bob Evan's
I said, hello Diana
and should have remembered to add
a paraphrase of her greeting
"Welcome to the Star Diner"
working hard to make some money
and stay ahead in the game
but, the Bobster is giving me
too much rock and roll for breakfast
keeping it loud, no matter how many times
i've asked him to turn it down
the manager likes it that way, you see
forty year old rock piped blasting
you have to speak up over breakfast
then chew weaving to the beat
run 'em in
run it out
eat it up
now run along
we ran along
to the older Star Diner,
they provide a media vacuum
no music or TV
the sounds you hear are customers talking
and theirs is local food
the way you'd do it
how we like it
now this morning, who did we see
eating at the next table
but Diana the sweet, elderly hostess from Bob Evan's
I said, hello Diana
and should have remembered to add
a paraphrase of her greeting
"Welcome to the Star Diner"
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
in wood times
in wood times i've spent walking
gathering colors, tasting sounds
by ferns, tall grass, and animals
under the forest canopy, making rounds
flushing pheasants as i go
they streak off in a line
then to stop, a place i know
amid green berries on the vine
wild white rolling clouds above
reflect the light, contrast the blue
in nature's time i touch the love
and symmetry by which things grew
the wind plays light and sweet
with mint and closer scents
honeysuckle and wildflower complete
the multicolored firmament
at a small creek bank i pause to drink
and there, witness life within
a small plant reaches water's brink
the shoots are young and thin
where hours pass i cannot say
the sun marks shadows on the land
little voices beg me to stay
i promise trees, i'll come again
gathering colors, tasting sounds
by ferns, tall grass, and animals
under the forest canopy, making rounds
flushing pheasants as i go
they streak off in a line
then to stop, a place i know
amid green berries on the vine
wild white rolling clouds above
reflect the light, contrast the blue
in nature's time i touch the love
and symmetry by which things grew
the wind plays light and sweet
with mint and closer scents
honeysuckle and wildflower complete
the multicolored firmament
at a small creek bank i pause to drink
and there, witness life within
a small plant reaches water's brink
the shoots are young and thin
where hours pass i cannot say
the sun marks shadows on the land
little voices beg me to stay
i promise trees, i'll come again
Labels:
favorites
Monday, July 21, 2008
a butter year's worth
with one pass
may as well run like a wagging dog
wild in joy in the wind
and do what you can
with what you've got
when i wrote songs
i spent too many hours repeating them
trying to hold all of them in my head
keeping the old ones familiar
getting poems right seems more to the point
i can work words back and forth
don't have to play them in a straight line
and when i'm done they stay there
then anyone can pick them up exactly
not like a song
that you have to play or listen to
beginning to end
words you can play with
then take them along in your head
that's packing light
even a whole butter year's worth
may as well run like a wagging dog
wild in joy in the wind
and do what you can
with what you've got
when i wrote songs
i spent too many hours repeating them
trying to hold all of them in my head
keeping the old ones familiar
getting poems right seems more to the point
i can work words back and forth
don't have to play them in a straight line
and when i'm done they stay there
then anyone can pick them up exactly
not like a song
that you have to play or listen to
beginning to end
words you can play with
then take them along in your head
that's packing light
even a whole butter year's worth
Labels:
poems on poetry
roots
a tai chi master said
he'd live well
in a small jail cell
with only a few feet of space
to exercise and be happy
good for him, if he gets arrested he can try
although i understand his intentions
it's not my slice of pie
but, there is a lesson in what he mentions
tai chi takes very little space
and is good exercise
head space is a comfort when filled
with tranquility, understanding and kindness
however, when i find mental peace
i can remain in that place
until i open this mouth on my face, then off i go
why can't i simplify my pace?
give it away to find peace
give all to love is the root
it is an effort to get to the roots
this is why you have to dig for them
not lie on the beach
and dust them off when you get up
he'd live well
in a small jail cell
with only a few feet of space
to exercise and be happy
good for him, if he gets arrested he can try
although i understand his intentions
it's not my slice of pie
but, there is a lesson in what he mentions
tai chi takes very little space
and is good exercise
head space is a comfort when filled
with tranquility, understanding and kindness
however, when i find mental peace
i can remain in that place
until i open this mouth on my face, then off i go
why can't i simplify my pace?
give it away to find peace
give all to love is the root
it is an effort to get to the roots
this is why you have to dig for them
not lie on the beach
and dust them off when you get up
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