nxt!

giraffes have the same number of neck bones as humans
nxt, yr nxt
sorry, machine I was just reading . . .
nxt!
make your selection and insert coins in slot
nxt!
give me a minute, i was reading the instructions
out of order!
wait, I put my money in
nxt!
you took my money
nxt!
what is the disturbance here?
oh, nothing, officer, but this machine just took my money
machines don’t make mistakes, come with me, civilian
don’t handcuff me, is that a taser?
pick him up and drag him to the wagon
nxt

bags

nineteen years of collecting, saving,
stashing, borrowing and not returning,
quite a load hidden in a field
plastic bags enough to build
a small water proof home with
attached two car garage

eight thousand year shelf life
stores well without refrigeration
completely inflatable home, need only
figure how to keep it from blowing around
and getting stuck on trees and fences
or perhaps melting in the sun

notes on heaven

cobblestones are laid smooth
with grass growing between,
all rivers shall run clear,
here i noticed the Tevere yesterday
golden brown, like a shiny pie crust,

back to heaven,
if you have to park, the meters will
give you money, all birds and animals
and people speak the same language,
sounds like Chinese but isn’t

i can hold you

down by the river
little children
see us walking
holding hands now
like we’re lovers
we’re just friends though
there’s another,
i’m just hoping
when you’re older
you’ll discover
i can hold you
i won’t let you go
i will love you so.

time is passing
hear us laughing
all together
we’ll deliver,
love and kindness
will remind us
like the river
we keep rolling
i can hold you
i won’t let you go
i will love you so

and we won’t stop loving

Buttons Up and Dancing

walking around
i found myself
looking for buttons on the ground
that’s her thing
she’ll be here soon

on the bus, next to me stood three,
a guy in the middle of two women,
head back, pontificated endlessly
they should’ve left him on the bus
and followed me

walking to the corner, a rash of vivid electric
green grew between the cobblestones
made it harder to see the buttons
she’ll be here tomorrow, and find them
just wait, you’ll see

M and i

M and i get much done,
she does much, i do some
much some, some much
i think i’ll make a sandwich

Din River

he was walking, selling
mediocre prints of nature
we had stopped face to face
near the fountain

he, with the solid cheerful
light of a star about him,
though you wouldn’t suspect from his manner
surely his road had not been easy

when i asked where he was from, he replied Africa
i added “Senegal” as he said it in the same instant,
he put in my hand a porcelain thumb size
elephant, trunk up for luck, a gift, he said

recognizing my nature, he didn’t try to sell me anything
i put some change in his hand for the gift,
because I knew it would help reciprocate
for his time away from his labors

we each parted content, and perhaps in some way
changed for the better, a result of
our brief connection that took us farther along
the din river of humanity

thunder

I woke to thunder,
one powerful, ominous, natural disruption
produced by this planet
and I love it

even when it scares me
makes me shake,
or nearly brings me to tears,
giant bears are wary and they ought to be

no one’s going to blame them
not for fear of thunder
of course, distant fuzzy rumbles are best
and the farther away the better

druthers

reaching for it
not following a prescribed order.
that’s how I like my things,
usually

in Thomas Kincade paintings
little storybook candles glow fuzzy inside,
while in the rest of the picture
it’s the middle of the afternoon.

some love it and some hate it,
that’s why we all have our druthers,
i’d druther do it,
i’d druther not.

like mixed vegetables,
a little of everything,
You takes your picks,
and you takes your chances.

points of order

my winter pockets laden
in good order, or nearly so
to be able to find things
when i want them, in a hurry

learned a new word, wrote it
on a note for my pocket
a shoulder pouch is beyond the pale
for i have tried, but will have nothing more to carry, please

i want it all strapped tightly to my body
hidden behind zippers
never in the back pockets
don’t want to sit on it
must be free as leaping deer through the brush

i make notes as dad did
while he used cigar box lids, among other things,
i stick with folded scraps of paper
yet, do retain some of his old cigar boxes
with scribbled notes as indecipherable as mine
or visa versa, because his were first
i made note of this and put it in my pocket
to extricate later and put to use

wild geese and eagles envy me
for they have no pockets

life's song

what am I doing with life?
there is so much going on,
I know this morning I enjoyed
frying a little breakfast

and hummed a little song
just like I wasn’t on fire inside missing you,
in my life everything was worth it,
it just didn’t last, or take that darn long

hoese warming poem

someone found my blog by misspelling house
which reminded me, my wife was putting
the garden hose away for the winter
and put it into the shower first to . . .

well, I don’t know why she had to do it
but if you knew her you’d know
there’s a reasonable explanation,
it must be a gardener thing

moonlight

moonlight on my hand
woke me up,
this is good
if you must be woken in the night

better moonlight through the window
than waking from
the distant squeaking of
truck brakes

though being near the lake
i could always pretend
the squeaks
are the calls of mating seagulls

change

as it took a while for nature,
changing morning, noon and night,
mistakes while growing happen
before one can get it right

ahead in the distance

thanks Tom
hey, i needed some input, that's why i asked
i'm not making ten cents a word here,
just cranking it out

last night when i wrote to you
it was about ten p.m. i was going to bed
got up now for a second
and right away got on line,
it's four a.m. here in Italy

i think it's seven at night,
last night where you are.
well, it's still Sunday for you in California,
that's last night for me

say, i'll tell you if anything interesting
happens as long as i'm
living in the future anyway
you tell me if you see any
former distant cousins riding wild horses

mousetrap

when the perfect mouse catcher
is complete, here's what i think,
they’ll find another lecher
and all mice declared extinct

when chips are down

on a whim i brought you home,
laughed, devoured you and made a mess,
how silly of me
today, on impulse i retuned to find a new one,
that old bag tickled my fancy,
but clearly is empty

sitting quietly, I see you there looking good
in your eye-catching luminous wrapper,
although, desire now has left me, i realize
i was searching for the old zing, like the first time,
I’m sorry it turned out that way, don’t think bad of me,
let potato chips fall where they may

the key to bored

went to buy a keyboard, maybe,
so far so good, i had a plan,
got lost three times on the metro
right way, wrong way, back again

when i rose up from out of the dark i was lost,
no problem, stay on target, nearly there, found it
nice store, looked around, must be fifty keyboards,
priced about the same, now what?

they all function you would think,
i walked around them, until i got tired,
keyboards all look a like, i’ll think about it,
so why does my wife think shopping’s fun?

Cancelleria in Roma

near the center of old Roma is the
Cancelleria, a tall three story building
owned by the Catholic Church, that
still owns much property in Roma

through most of history they
controlled most all of Rome, the large
building is ivory colored travertine
scavenged from nearby Theater of Pompey

seemingly erected recently, it is the
first building in Renaissance style,
completed three years after Columbus
sailed to the new world, 1495

my friend Cesare used to do furniture
restoration for the building, and got me
in for a peek in the basement, on one
side is a field of scattered human bones

on the far right corner is a large pond,
about modern swimming pool size, a worker
told me they are now have begun restoring
a pre-Christian church found down there

roma metro

like Paris morning rush
didn’t have to hold on
couldn’t move my arms
all could breathe, just not at the same time

canned fish tipped on the side,
stood well, our feet were down and touching
saw Bruce Willis wearing a baseball cap
not tall, but does a good subtle self-satisfied smirk

filing up the stairs with every step in unison
a retreating Sci Fi army,
was lost, and stayed that way
until the crowd and i popped out of the metro