in a straight-back, lightly-cushioned chair
in the front room, in the sun,
i can spend the noon hour
thinking of how time has run.

.

challenge

waitress poured me a coffee
so high in the cup
to make it a challenge to balance a sip.

.

It's written there -
Seven, the year of it … how grand.
from dull white into passing age's smoke,
the breath of shouts, fires, and exhaust.
vapors on weathered alabaster turned the chalky blanched monument
the tone of parched and dirty fog.
worn, pocked,portions missing, others in danger of falling ...
this solemn icon known the world over:
The Colosseum

.

Borghese

A camera man setting up,
sun is bright, the day cool.
an hour to go.
fractions of quiet words in many languages
...
all wearing 21st century casual,
there are no dresses.
a few flash haircuts, to the scalp on one side.
the parade passes in masses, then thinner
by the start of the hour to begin
into the Borghese

.

it is tough

it is tough being a guy
when you get to the age
women are smarter.

this park

this park at the end of the street
that changes names to get here
where i have a bench in the sun
on such a good afternoon for warmth
in city stillness as can be expected;
a balance of all i appreciate.
there is a statue of a man sitting
hand over his face. years ago i drew this.
nothing has changed but the day, me
and the sun.

October skies

take some steel and winds
not great, but easy.
color them rolling,
skies alive.

lost power

lost power, didn't take a big hit,
enough to set clocks a blinking
that's it.
oh, and the lights on the stove flashing,
maybe there are other indicators.
time will tell, hah.
for sure the day has been interupted.
a change of plans has occured.
so we put it back together
and see wat else we can find.
surprise flys on wings called disturbance
... anytime ... stay ready

find the tea that appeals
sip it and wonder

got my

oh, baby doll ...
got my new frames heated,
twisted, they fit snugger ... more snug.
so many words in my heart.

two hours later i am still wearing
my new glasses.
recently toasted,
they not me.




wanna draw for high card?
(i'm thinking about this one.).

bees wipe their feet
before entering the hive.
scientists will tell you
even they have more to learn.

do i

always let me help you,
do i ... do i.
words, that word
to say the things that pile all over,
i see, i know.
now i said "things", another non-word
i use as yes as i can, or faster.
the beat text is happening like a rogue wave.
do keep eyes shut when water splashes
just a blink, you see, of course
and off course.
make a melody ... a melody.
hum a melody, go ahead.
softly.

.

nuts are for

nuts are for picking
then doing with
like cooking, baking,
donuts or making of a pie.
so: we pick 'em or the squirrel gets 'em
when the tree leaves nuts.

donuts sounds extreme, i know.



.

The games will be played
in the last good weather of the season.
The boys of summer will wrap it up
and our team, after many years without,
shall come out rated number one


.`.

season

yesterday's warm's a memory,
now a change of scene;
from no socks to long socks,
there is no in between


.

help us

you know these giant bombers
the USA builds,
why not build one less
and put the money, an estimated 606 million for one,
towards helping disabled children.
that's a lot of money.
Now, tell me again, which political party
is the one that works for the people?


.

for the people

you know these giant bombers
the USA builds them;
why not build one less
and put the money
towards helping disabled children.
that's a lot of money.
Now, which political party
is the one that works for the people?


.

poetry is

to say it
neat and clean
is poetry.


.

dear october

here near october,
with only a couple days to go,
it feels like july again,
i mean now ... so hot and dry,
wow, holy cow, rolling fat clouds crowd the sky.
they are nice.

it is so hot you seek relief
in the shade, under a big tree;
where you've got fat leaves
in a thin breeze,
watch them clouds ... slowly rolling by.
i mean it.


.

on tv

on TV: an architectural program
featuring ten wonderful homes to see.
i clicked it off accidentally
then spent an hour trying to find it.
i did not find it again.


.

ten

leaning toward October
night wind can make it cool;
no need for jackets yet, however
month ten is on the way.


.

near june

near june dawn
one damp
brown leather foot
after another
crept the woods
to a lake and canoe
where two
set off as few would do
to pursue the climbing amber sun
(not yet in view)
and jumping swimming fish
(deep in the blue)
the deer and bear and birds

what they saw
no one knew




This dawn poem is here already ... i brought it back to post again ... just because.

grow trees

... we'll grow trees
cut them into poles, and
string 'em with wires
all over the world.
until we think of something better





.

myanmar

she read the morning news
told me as we drove
thirty easy going miles on straight blacktop.
it was 66 degrees 85 later ...
don't have a watch, Enough ...
to a slow down, hometown breakfast ... shop ...
an establishment ...

families walking with all they had,
escaping so they would not be shot.

here the restaurant is open this holiday, labor day -
whatever that means.

women and children and old walked.
the men are all dead
a woman carried a cooking pot,
another a solar panel.

in the corner restaurant
having an omelet with toast and fried potatoes
the lady kept bringing more coffee
i thought about the people walking.
what a world.



.

water cover

jesus criminy,
birds float in the air,
boats are there to share,
they are helping out;
Texas has flooded.
more area than i can imagine.





.

that much

put your hand out shoulder high
that's how much poetry sweet talk i need
that deep in flowers and thistles
rocks and birds and running water




.

color up

color up, autumn, do it for me.
dress yourself carefully, will ya?
a mess of us are ready ...
so what's it going to be?
how about pizza and a beer
watching those Indians play ball?
to the wire, when they wrap it up,
those boys of the fall ...
and summer. of course.
we spent a lot of time with them.
god we cheered.
from beginning to seasons end;
and after snows we'll do it again, don't you know.




.

winding out

winding out of august,
nearly hits 100 in kentucky;
come home to feel summer running,
going to cool and color soon.



.

mexican food, ole'
refried beanns and pound cake
yes, i took my time
yes, i ate too much



.

water for pasta,
add plenty of salt.
the moon is bright;
i wish i was.


.

Tales

everybody has a story
some with colors bright
keep you awake at night
others so dull they
put you to sleep





.

.

moon shadow

a day long drive to Kentucky
and if we are lucky
the sky will be clear
casting the moon shadow.



.

round off the edges

saying what you say
in a cordial way is poetry,
as i see it




.

talking, thinking

fingers tapping on the table,
thinking, hardly blinking,
i'm able to crack ... there it goes
crack open the window;
feel it? take some air.
ready to begin or having patience
... don't know; can't say.
coffee's good, that's a fact.

pull out my paper scraps,
can hardly read my notes,
pencil blurrs. but i remember
what i saw worth writing about
... now, how can i
put feelings into words?
and emotion.

words, to bring
sweet feeling out;
chosen phrases.
a small bird on the window ledge
distracts me relatively.
sweet sip ...
there's always coffee.

sitting, my elbows on the table
tapping out a melody ...
excuse me. i lost it ... thinking ...
drifting some ... more importantly,
look out the window,
home is warm and good,
that's the picture of it.
the day wears well.






.


.

rhubarb pie

had a good drive round
and down a lot of lanes;
country roads, where just those words
bring picture-thoughts to mind ...
heard blowing, rattling leaves,
got sprinkled on, gray cloudy
then sun-some.
on the far side of a field
a white-tailed doe with her two fawns - jumping.
stood still to look at us a while,
then turned back to playing, leaping.
stopped at DeChant farm,
picked a rhubarb pie,
tasty sweet eating,
left money in the tin.
i'm nibbling the outer ring portion
of back to childhood memories ...
plus the pie.





.

Pone, Pone, Pone

my phone will not ring anymore, forever
what's your pones vibration pattern?
wait ... my pone is levitating
did i tell you, now it's a pone.



.

ship locator

Position received seven hours, forty minutes ago
Isadora is off Spain, headed to Algiers
I wonder if Ralfo is aboard
how smooth the sea, how blue the sky?
oh, my, and my again.
i believe in you.
who is steering the ship?
how fine is summertime.



.

Geese the significant

when driving in a dream there is
no need to signal, yet i cordially wave and smile.
traffic heavy melts together on the road,
shut my eyes and nod off into a cat nap.

in a splash, came to wakeful senses
i did in a crowd. horns honking.
waved back, had the change,
paid the toll. told myself i could finish

this dream, in an hour, if i rush.
hit the gas, checked the time
and then realized an hour had already passed.
time flies, you know, some say, they’re right, some time.

took another bite of sandwich,
chewed slowly while i wondered
where i got it and how to hold it
with two hands while driving?

seemed mayonnaise enough to me ,
i smiled at the hearty bread, tasty as reality,
with long green salty seeds in it,
and the tomato slipping out.

aware that all the red was taillights
all the honking were wild geese
making restful music as i
closed my eyes to finish dreaming.

thinking the one last conscious thought,
that i like geese, i really do.
never met one though to get to know,
i’d surly like to.



.

sweet train

cracked the window after three
cloud dreamed again 'til five
when, from long beyond
i heard the name say - i am train

calling low in light rain,
sweet voice, milk and thunder
clawing on wings of steel,
lonely is the night ... i am train

swinging through, blasting,
rolling heavy on quick-wheel feet
powering down, long around, then out of town,
murmur lonely; cutting night stillness like a blade on ice

iron maiden go into first morning light
familiar friend, shaking houses with your power,
i smiled ... low in bed, covered my head
and slept another hour.


.

tradition begins at home

the pairing of plain rice
and miso soup, considered
a fundamental unit of
Japanese cuisine and the basis
of traditional Japanese breakfast;
as for me is the perusal of a broth box
left on the counter where i am
sitting and reading, while eating cereal.



.

President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have proposed reducing the federal education budget by $9 billion, in part by cutting a $27 million arts-education program. They don't like art or animals; the Republican party should dissolve itself with this kind of thinking. A new party can be formed for the people.

.

4 july, all are happy. drum, drum.
Ohio waits all year for summer -
sunny fun, and warm.
a holiday exactly like this, a charm.
parade the morning school band,
wave the red, white and blue;
i'm telling you, see some standing and
folks on the sidewalk in folding chairs.
then afternoon root your Cleveland team.
it's TV baseball and a beer -
family eat and laugh together,
cheer those Indians, louder.
nightfall hear the boom boom
it's fireworks for another year


.

hide my face
i'm out'a place
ah jus' got back
from out'a space


.

baseball

for the Cleveland Indians
where Zimmer plays center field
i'd need a golf cart to get there ...
and a beer in a to-go cup, please.



.

manuel dreamed he was driving
and fell asleep,
sometime later i woke in a crowd,
said i'd finish this dream
in february ... it's already july,
furthermore, my name's not manuel.


.

it touches my heart

summer warms, inevitably; and charms.
sitting here while spinning june in real time
our mountain cabin came to mind.
oh, the pleasure ... to have lived then ...
the primitive log house we loved.
we kept it and it kept us.

in oak and pines, manzanita, high in the Sierra.
today driving by some woods and creek in ohio
i heard the swoosh of heavy wind through the trees,
so alive it could carry color like a house painters brush.
delight splashed into my heart as i revisited the memory.

so much goodness in our mountain life
could burst my heart to recall our fun;
although time rolls and we did
unaware how the days do get along.
use the days wisely, my friend,
be careful ... be kind ... do enjoy.




.

bend time

to take different pills
twice a day, long enough
and time blends
the best of systems

take pills different
enough, twice a daylong
and blends time
best the systems

to take pills different
twice, and along
enough blends time
the best of systems

to pills different
enough a long day
twice time blends
test the system




.

image

image isn't everything,
but it is a good beginning.




.

on the outback ... i call it that ...
you can drive for miles and rarely see traffic.
our favorite is a straight line south thirty miles
to shop the Mennonite store in Shiloh.
a pleasant ride with practically no one on the road.
it's quiet ... by farms, and woods and open fields.
some days we pass only two or three cars
or a black, horse-drawn buggy or two.
we wave at them. they wave at us.
that's Ohio. when you look around
you'll find ... it has something.



.

dancing in the moonlight
should be my theme instead of
looking at the clock ... counting
three hours until extraction.

are you kidding me?
another dental thing to do.

he's good, i tell myself.
my tooth isn't, evidently.
waltzing to another extraction, i am.
the phone rings, he's ready what?

i go in three hours early
no time to think about it.
he needles me twice, i wait.
he x-rays, 15 minutes later he

takes my tooth away ... can't say
pulled ... he slipped it gone ...
so long forever, tooth.
oh, brother ... another ... withdrawn.

he's so slick
i can hardly bitch.





.

it can be destabilizing for me
to attempt to write poetry
of birds singing
and homemade pie cooling on the window sill
when out there governments say this country
does not get along with that country
and lockheed martin is selling
four hundred forty F-35 fighter jets
to eleven nations.
why don't they all take a breath
and cool their pies instead.




.

very early this morning they wouldn't let
my raccoon on the airplane
to come home again;
that's when i woke up.




.

i can hear you

while i'm sleeping
dreaming hard.
quiet nights
by the open window
until dawn
i sleep and talk some
caught in visions
in the darkness
time slips on

...
there are people
a few at a time, so no confusion,
time consuming, saying hello, they are welcome
because they show up - in night's dream;
every night it seems, i dream - almost ...
hello again, i say again and mean the best
to you, thank you, it seems good to see you
again, i'm dreaming
...



.

by drove

drove by a nuclear power plant
in Ohio, didn't plan on it or like it.
i'm afraid, but the road took us there.
alongside the giant

with dark smoke belching out
as we drove by so close a baseball player
could have hit it with a
fly ball if ... if a lot of things

... I don't know why a base
ball player would want to
hit a ball against the side of
a nuclear power plant. another thing

we were doing sixty on a curve
with the windows closed.
there's no room in the
back seat to swing a bat




.

eagle

eagle

an eagle
sees eight times better
than a human, how'd scientists ask him?
they didn't ask. they took a dead eagles eye
ball and held it up and said he could see
about like that.
we saw a big one, could have
photoed him .. my camera was not ready.
it takes time to set it up and it's
handy in my phone. good quality
and since i did no photo, i'll tell you
and you will feel the eagle in your heart
as i did,
as you think it should be because it's
such a large bird, and strong, and the stories
about them, and it's the usa official country bird,
like that; and there it was and it flew
over the car practically. it should be in
your heart now too, practically.





.

new fire station

the local fire department is
a couple years and a few million
into plans for a new station ...
it'll be a hundred yards from our house.
the old small station was built in 1912
they can't get new trucks until
they have a station with doors large enough
to get the trucks inside.

chief john is hands on everything
selling details to the city
and will work it to completion.
Brett made some fresh coffee;
john showed me the building plans,
i sipped and asked questions.
firefighters do a most valuable job.

there she is now.
worn rag dress and funky shoes,
bobbling to her car, up and down;
look at her go. like the same
i seen when i was a kid,

only i'm worn now too.
near older'n she is
and i can hardly walk ...
but still go along
better than - Lord help her -
better'n that sack o'bones.

holy smoke, she stays on her feet
like a cork in a puddle
after a sudden hard rain.
i'd wave if she looked my way.
don't want to whistle, might mess her up.



.

poetry is pages
in the book of life



.

ants

ants in a crack where stones met
on the walk near the door...back
there...i'm pointing
a pile of sand, an enlarging crack

i set my foot ready
to sweep the sand pile
into the growing hole
"what are you doing?"\

her tone stopped me cold
"I was...uh..."
enough said by me, evidently

"they're working there."
i looked again and it seemed so.
ants have things as we do...to do.
let them.



.

while i'm sleeping
dreaming hard.
on a quiet night
by the open window,

until dawn
i sleep and talk some
while i dream
and time slips on





.

breakfast complications

M opened and closed her hand.
"What's that?" i asked.
she open and closed her hand again.
"What do you want? i repeated.

"Pancake syrup." she replied in
her make-believe monster voice.
i raised my eyes and thought a millisecond
"Put your shoes on, let's go."

for the car she bought Sirius .
select one of 222 channels and you're in business
"Oh, let me choose,"pleaded,
and slowly she nodded.
"How much time to i have?"

"Until we turn off the radio."
Sunday breakfast at Dimitri's
a radio playing in the kitchen
can be heard out front when
customer talk is softer

waiting for our order sitting there,
for ten minutes m read aloud
the names of every tree in Ohio.
after one hundred i fell asleep,
but looked like i was paying attention.

i asked waitress Karin how many regulars
come to this restaurant?
i saw her think a flash and "Many" is what she said.
we settled on a guess number - around 200.

i told her, "Say hi to Meegan" who
just had knee surgery on her ankle, more or less.
"but she doesn't know my name."
"That's okay ... we have nicknames for everybody."
I looked deep into my pancake
and didn't ask her for clarification.

changing the subject i told her i can't read
the dials on the clock, i pointed to the one
on the wall above the cash register.
she said, "other customers say the same"
"Gotcha." M turned to look at the clock.

when leaving the restaurant a truck did an illegal turn,
nearly hit our car and blocked our way.
the driver tried to look both apologetic and friendly..
the look came off as stupid;
i gave the humbled lad the finger in my mind.

.

a skill of the elderly -
putting on socks
while sitting on the bed
and not falling to the floor.



.

golden gate

when friends came to see san francisco
i'd take 'em to the view no one sees everyday;
and feel proud to point and say ...
there ... that's the golden gate




professional photographer Doug Fairbairn took a wonderful picture from the hill on the Marin County side looking through the waterway and the bridge that is The Golden Gate.

face it

wind blows light steady on
the wall clock says near eleven,
but it's only nine.
the clock stopped some yesterday.

i have a new book to read, a couple...three.
we go to the town old place for breakfast;
not a century old, but what they've got.
the old regulars show up, usually.

no coffee for me this morning.
gary a questionable walks in, walks out.
no old guys at their table,
mr. becker died.

his funeral is this morning.
we live in the building...
his potato-chip factory.
and the clock keeps spinning

eyebrows are so
you can look startled
curious, interested,
or angry

eyelids are for winking
and closing out light
the part of the night
when you're sleeping

crying is for babies
and feeling better, after




.

while watering
i saw the large, fuzzy baby bird,
looking better today.
he was there below the
spot on the fence where i saw him yesterday.
looking fit. i could identify him;
of course he's grey, not an owl.
he's a pigeon, comfortable now
in the garden.

7 may, a robin on the fence
with a mouth full of sticks,
you know what he is doing.
i waited ... then went inside
and looked out the curtain.
robin went above the rose bush,
below the eves, out of sight.
M will say if the spot if good.
right now it doesn't matter...
robin has building on his mind.


.

a fine quiet early evening, i stepped out on the porch.
sat on the bench ... watched as a wren flew off
a large fuzzy baby bird ... pigeon or what...gray,
stayed on the post on the fence
shaking a small amount, feathers messed in places,
like he fell out of the nest a day early
seemed lost. i watched a while.

went in, rewrote some lines,
took a breath , right there after the comma.
saw the sky almost had a rose color in it, and blue.
then came back out.

jacket weather cool at seven'
glanced quickly and couldn't find the bird. hoped he found
a leafy spot to hide in the garden somewhere.
i didn't look that hard. tomorrow i'll think of him
and watch for him.

beige lake, a graying strait/
white gulls with blue markings zip overhead,
banking, dipping fast like kites on fire/
a hum, hollow sound/
can't say from where.
gold fields, azure sky, woods beyond/
powder white clouds trimmed in gray/
i hear distant trains/
dogs on leashes excite a small boy/
in a child's voice he asks dad ... who knows what/
tops of cars pass beyond far fields/
near flashing ripples sparkle water/
gulls held aloft by the wind/
some tree shade



.

spring ahead, fall back
who was the knucklehead's wife that came up with that one?
and other countries followed the lead?
can't we leave nature alone?
it's how the planet works ...
can't we live with it?


/

it looked like a patch of snow in the field
got closer.  it was the sun reflecting in mud





.

first thing in the morning
count your lucky stars;
figure if you awaken
you're riding a 4lucky steak



.

lost my pen
checked my pockets
pulled out fuzz
nothing hatched

went to the doctor
that's where I've been
took me a pen,
can write notes again.




.

can a car be in river
water to the windows
and still work?
Before the Internet
you had to write a newspaper
to the column Ask Mechanic Bob,
or some one like that
who might answer your question
and were really five guys
working i an office
eating donuts.



.

sometimes i work harder and sleep longer,
or drink more coffee and think of days
spent far away - other places, other times,
i'll take my pick, depending on the weather,
how the sun is shining, how the wind blows.

now where i'm sitting the sun is in my eyes;
but isn't it grand...because that's the same sun
you're looking at; amazing.
that's how it functions...
world without end.

you know, when i used to make a camp fire
wood would burn down and there'd be no fire.
the sun has been burning since before we were,
so how does it do that and not turn to ashes?
who's adding fuel to the fire?



.

just read February has been the warmest on record.
they say it will be 65 Fahrenheit today here in Ohio;
meanwhile Trump is complaining about the news media.
i'm glad there is something to read with coffee in the morning.

well, where is the snow?
it's the dead of winter...time for blizzards.
so where did it go?
certainly not as i remember.

kids have to play, you know...days off school.
while old people watch white pouring down,
thick on the ground, all around, packing us in.
this year i never had to look for my boots.


.

chi gung

fingers on the collar bones,
rotate the head around, slowly.
both directions. my neck pops
like i'm wringing a stalk of celery



.

maria

she has gone now.
got word this morning;
alberto called. before he said
i heard the message in his voice

she...a few words yesterday,
wanting to say to me...
then dropped the phone.
i know you friend, maria.






.