Tuesday, November 15, 2016



2016 super moon, bright white
and larger; nearest until 2034.
got up at 2:00 and saw it a minute;
went back to bed. slept through most of it.





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Sunday, November 13, 2016



you can yell at the dog
he'll feel bad
and not remember
why you're yelling at him.



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Saturday, November 12, 2016




two horses
in the small corral
stand in extreme opposite corners,
though horses like company.

these two must have been
together long enough;
each knows
what the other has to say.



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Friday, October 28, 2016

waiting in rome



the function of bureaucracy
is to make you wait
to show who is boss
to keep you little people down,
in place, engaged

there is a seat, take it
it will be a while
take a number
grasp the ticket
no one will look at it
but it gives you
something to hold on to



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Sunday, October 23, 2016

nothing doing




from fifty yards away, black and white,
serene on the banks of a placid pond.
i watched for fifteen minutes
fifteen geese taking life easy

they sat or stood in the sun,
a few briefly walked a tight circle,
then sat again. content with time off
from what they do when they're busy


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Tuesday, October 18, 2016



october wind and warm/
still, pancakes for breakfast were just right/
u sure?/
wait...there aren't two voices in a poem./
tell Shakespeare/
his were different/
and yours is the same?/
well, not the same...You know i made your part up, don't you?

Thursday, October 06, 2016



by request -
hey, tomc
okay, hey
it's national poetry day

i'll wait for intergalactic poetry day
and the new planet they found,
where life has just begun
a mega-gazillion miles away/

so after a giga-zillion years
it's not spinning on it's axis/
there it's still ten in the morning - day one/
what fun. spinning takes practice.

went to Oregon
bought marijuana in a store.
smoked a joint. it took three days.
didn't finish it all.
best i felt in years.
$9, it was fine.
couldn't bring any back to Ohio.
come on, America.
the young can bang heads playing football;
we old want to sit in a chair, relax
and feel good.


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Monday, September 26, 2016




fog in the morning,
we used to say thick as pea soup.
now, perhaps it's broccoli du jour
jesus crimney - i mean it



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Saturday, September 17, 2016

rain louder than the train




harvest moon so soon it seems,
though it's been a year;
this night i stayed in bed, didn't open the curtain to look.

Then a brilliant flash at three
and i counted the seconds eight, nine, ten, eleven...rumble.
again a flash - i counted to nine that time.
nine miles away.

i imagine the storm diminished
as i slept gain
until rolling thunder when i woke at six.
left to right, across the sky.
and the rain was louder than the train...two trains around seven.
pouring hard on and off this morning.

This night i slept well,
wrapped in good thoughts and dream.
how about you...how'd it seem?



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Sunday, September 11, 2016



that place without time

where i go in dreams
is all...it seems/

boundless, sweet love



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Thursday, September 08, 2016




went to the grocery store
bought a ham sandwich they make there.
carried it home where she she cut it in two.
i asked which half was mine.

while cleaning up the last of the mustard
that she blew all over the floor
she zeroed in when she said,
"take the half that doesn't have a bite out of it."

there wasn't any mustard on it either.


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Saturday, September 03, 2016



old friends are special;
if you can deal with old coots.







.



i hear the softest melody
when i think of you.






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Sunday, August 28, 2016



my, it's hot. even
inside where it is air conditioned;
dampness creeps the walls
and clings to you.

not a day to stroll shady woods.
skip that. they say it'll be cooler tomorrow.
why not sit down, relax;
sip green tea.



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Friday, August 26, 2016



when it's warm out
and work is done
i'll sit quietly
and wonder.


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Tuesday, August 23, 2016




The whistle seemed a good idea
lets people know a train is coming.
first a guy invented the whistle,
another said, "I can make it louder."

we live a half mile away from the tracks,
over the hill and down a bit.
every morning after the train runs through town
i have to straighten the pictures on the wall.

addendum

Someday they'll find
those early morning,
ultra blasting train whistles
blew America's mind.

Thursday, August 11, 2016



already summer is moving on.
don't have a final tally
the garden's given many veggies.
now, it's yours to rally.

took the wire from the garden.
come on, boy, don't chu dally,
we win, we do; and you do too -
we'll call it bunny valley












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Monday, August 08, 2016

geeze cake


seek and enjoy.

when you find, and we found
a breakfast spot, another
not a big corporate job...
a little ma an' pa,
and this one had cheesecake.

ok, not your usual breakfast fare but, how about it...
four different kinds, brought from Cleveland.
cherries, blue berries, straw berry and another..
call it a wonder berry...I can't remember.
oh, yes, to look at them is fattening. What a way to go.
I tried a piece...no, not tried, I ate a piece.
As good as I imagined...as good as you can imagine.
hmmmmmm...cheesecake.

Saturday, August 06, 2016

spinning




two eggs, two pancakes, i ordered.
the chubby waitress, embarrassed
about her glasses; still cute and kind.
and the world goes on spinning;

sipped coffee by the window.
i see giant nimbus clouds roll by.
geeze, big as old sailing ships.
thought of mocking-birds, used to hear them.
Uncle Clifford's hand pump well,
and fresh, clean, country water splashing.

then outside, a drunk on a bicycle stops traffic.
he's old enough to know better.
and the world goes on spinning.
i'm glad there is nothing for me to hang on to
or i'd write the same poem every day.