i can hear the music

i am dreaming a lot.

i smile when i wake in the morning,

half the time i look for coffee.

Meredith always makes coffee.

i should play the piano more, but i  get busy writing.

how have you been?

And what's your excuse?

Mud on tv, so to say

 Look now. We're taking disease apart.

and as time goes we keep growing.

cleaning house we are, keep going, 

Scientists are cleaning the land 

by growing enzymes without names.

arbuscules have set up shops...more than one.

step back. stack 'em up, keep growing.

be sure to get your vaccine.

thinking out

 i've done it before, run clean out of January 

while looking ahead for warmer days,

trying to erase winter cold from my mind.

today i don't feel heavy calendar involvement although 

we are looking down the barrel on the short end of the month. 

yes, it's easy nighttime dreaming, then waking

to see another day has flipped by.

 January 2021, i'm ready to jump off and leave you.

going to be Saturday on ice

     we need clean water...we have cold air...be sure to dress warm

snow blows in.  I'm distracted thinking of those Africans with nothing.

 and have to walk half a day for water. how can that be? that is torture.

can't they move closer? they are calm and work to provide for their familys.

meanwhile, here we have it easy in America and it's going to hell.

 ---

then it would freeze,  cold makes ice

 when cold is nice, take my advice

how have you been, when actually cow

 ten skin win thin ice den twin hen been kin dicey

---

so sometimes it falls apart

and when i look at the cart

i'm pushing it.

can explain, got it?

wave the flag, we're going to race.

symbols all fill the place

when thinking letters with words forming.

now typing and holy cow, expressions.

 

sure we are the possessions

of dime rhyme.

WAIT... kindle pinged me for an Irish fiction.

now think computerland, ring deeper. 

i think you sent a sleeper.

when i was a kid i never got off on St. Patrick's day.

i've four grandparents born in Poland.

cut flowers, cheese, sausage, coffee, pie, line 'em up...make me cry.

nostrovia

tough as it gets

 Aaron Rodgers Quarterback for Greenbay

 didn't score a touchdown 

the first time he had the ball

like Tom Brady and Tampa Bay did.

             i told Meri i felt sorry for him

she said, don't.  he makes 300 million dollars.

bought a house in Malibu with his girlfriend

and now he's getting another one...girl friend?

yeah, who needs two houses.

crashing

 emails keep pouring in.  i don't see why.

where have i been? 

since when?

 

well, send money not emails.

i don't have to read dollar bills.

gives me chills.

 

books are open kindlecordingly  

 they do stack electronically.

if i had a horse, and knew how to ride

i'd be cookng over an open fire

and sleeping under stars.

that planet is Mars...where i'm pointing.

 nice night, yeah?

Biden takes oath as president

 7:30 in the morning, i flipped on the TV.

Wolf Blitzer looks tired. the man so admired.

i took a shower the first hour i'm awake.

the anauguration is today.

 everyone will line up soon black car after another.

Joe is getting ready, maybe he's having breakfast.

i forgot about breakfast, there i remembered and i'm hungry.

so i made bacon and scrambled eggs.

then from a good seat in my tv chair,

well, we switched, but often do that, i'm in her chair.

both chairs are identical, more or less... no, exactly, and forty years old - from Nancy Otten..

our day is marking the event. no snow fall, a cold spring-like day.

good sun. i'll believe he goes easy when he is gone.

it's eight o'clock...the door is open...he hasn't gone yet.

this is our time also. a point to mark time. i'd rather have a musical event

like a singer and piano player. Diane Krall, heard her recently, what a fine artist.

put her on a fine piano and you have something.

Meri put it together, there's no crowd at the airport...he wants to talk to a crowd.

8:15 he and wife, Melania are in the helicopter.

8:18 liftoff for a fifteen minutes flight to Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. Joint base Andrews

what, i have to give a travel report for this poem?

my words are sleepy also i suppose.

not greased but moving ahead. i should be at a table looking

toward the rising sun. having an easy winter.

well i'll have breakfast then see how the world looks. 

Biden my time

mask up,

way to go;

tie one on

this time for Joe.

we eat differently

i'd say we were fifteen

eating lunch in the school cafeteria 

for the first time. at the same table

he watched me eat, i watched him.

mashed potatoes, vegetables, salad, and meat.

 

he was amazed because i ate things together.

one bite here, one bite there; and i'd never seen someone like him.

he ate all the potatoes, then all the vegetable, 

then all the salad, then all the meat.

we do as we are taught.

another name

the  overboard moon, i took along 

 as i could carry it.

my heart sank in the warming trend post;

day after day i made notes.

memories in Rome poured out.

 

what we saw 

as we took buses new places.

and the familiar

over and over: bus by train and car.

 

so many corners we turned.

my heart is warmed

with lasting impressions.

i'm glad to have made a note of it.

enjoy the ride, did you?

shelve a book

in the library someone sits in the center

spinning through pages in a book, looking for something.

Concentratng. Evidently busy. 

As i come in the front door a librarian at the main desk 

spins her head to see who entered.

"Good morning", she says to me with a smile.

"Hello". i say. i recognize her from years ago but don't recall her name.

She stands taller at the counter and awaits my words.

"Who is that at the center desk," I ask.

"Arnold," she says, "I don't think you know him. He's new in town."

I nodded. 

"Has it stopped raining yet?" she asks, looking out the window.

I smiled.  "Almost. It is nearly finished.  Not like before, that's for sure."

...

 there are stacks of them. 

I came for only one.

i see that is so.  what is the hook?  i will write until i finish.

this came out of the hopper. i have a difficult time going back to edit.

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

new poets

i read new poets to see what they say 

mine is like ancient but i wrote it today 

don’t make new schemes, don’t always use rhymes

 I’ve got this thing going of doing four lines 

don’t run with a group; It’s all give and take 

i patch and recoup, so give me a break

 reading my Rome book...the one i wrote for ten years, and never published. I'll see how much concentration I have left to work on it. Today is a cold, but soft winter day.

at last, January has turned cold

no snow yet, not like it should be.

 not as i remember those times when

 we used our sleds everyday, school was out

just about.  on the hill right in town, speeding down; 

through the woods to get there. 

we followed the snow falls bidding

 ... made tracks so others could find the paths,

for crossing walking ways ... in blanketed white

pounded down with footprints,

morning through night

... in January, crispy

washington terror

  saw the disturbance on TV;

as close as i wanted to be.

agony to see how real trump is,

that people willingly follow him,

emulate his example.

 

at home, away from crowds

and covid19 

all is fine for me,

are we in a book or a movie?

life goes backward,

the clock of it,

and you don't know it.

when your sleeping

hours tick off backward ...

not always, but oh, yes they do,

while you're not looking.

how can it do that?

 

Do I have to soak my poems in secret lotion and leave them tucked up somewhere on the floor of the car? I don't think so.

 

so basically

when you're out and about

i want you on the same page,

no game changers, okay ?

to tell the truth

here's the takaway

keep your eye on the ball

got that? get that.

notes on what i'll write

it starts this way ...

i hear the poem idea in my head; not quite.

sometime during the night 

it goes tick, tick, tick

i'll look over quick

then forget what i said.

consequently, what i'd write.

 

good morning, Wonderful.

could you hand me that pen

no telling when ...

by scratching out this idea

i will truly begin.

happy new year

i read and slept by the usual time. thought i heard noise of cheers but it was only ten last night. l read the news now to see what happened. this morning it seems the usual outside: silent, okay. 

now afternoon and it rains.

next part - other side

 The other side of the globe where it is summerish,  weather warm, walking around without coats ... good for you. I thought of you today. it was direct thinking of you. enjoy your warm days. here it is cold, above freezing during the daytime, but cold enough i need to decide which hat will I wear every time I go out. so now, this is real thinking of you from me here. 

 next on my mind 

is using capitalization of letters.

even in paragraph form

i prefer to do as with my poetry: 

names, titles, what i choose ... not 

grammatical order. doesn't make sense. 

seems to read and write easily for me. 

thought i'd say.

event gyro

 

she hung it by a string from the ceiling.

gave a spin; it flashed in a sparkle of sun; 

wow. beautiful to see.

after a while i pointed, "it's slowing up."

she shook her head and said, "we're all slowing up."

that time i nodded. she deserves an award for observation.

at long last the decoration slowly came to a stop

and began spinning back the other way.

i wish i could do that.

monday is practically a carnival ... am i kidding?

 all right, after a heavy snow day

 light rain has been falling.

 are you okay with that? snow is leaving. 

now it's warmer and January is a week away.

let's joyously throw away this old year

and begin a good year with new weather shall we?

Quit falling, stay quiet

 fields are under white wonder.

the sky's the color of a week-old snow drift. 

in the forecast rain is brewing

 to wash away the freshly fallen 

mounds of powder stewing

 if not today, maybe tomorrow.

reagardless, have a nice day

until the rain man gets here

and washes everything away.

holiday all over

 we design the fest, mark it out,

then act as if the calendar happened by itself ; 

we won't claim responsibly. 

pack your memory bag ...

remember the best of times.

music too, pull that out and remember

when it sure was sweet. 

 doesn't matter which tunes you recall ...  any will do,

  while you go around carrying more viruses 

within you than stars in the sky.  

  load up the reindeer

 

disagreeable

 

American girl cries to grandmother

on the phone. wants to go home.

got four months in jail at Cayman island

for breaking the Covid19 quarantine.

a different year end

winding down in warmer weather..

the year...winding or un-winding

 what is going on, this is new.

most every speck of snow has melted.

 and people go on like all is normal.

what can we do? kinda late to think about it.

a fight continues

 struggling into the weekend.

no birds, no animals. not around today.

it is completely quiet today.

there is no problem reading my head. my ideas.

i desire to write some good words, and fear to proceed.

yesterday I read my journals of trips to Mexico, Costa Rica and Italy.

fun to recall, return, live again.  should i reprint all, make more work of it?

right now i am taking it easy, getting through rough times.

keep going simply, i am.

Wiser light

no bucket fulls. we're going easy now.

 a dab at a time.

always lights have something to do with  snow loading days. It Seems snow is on the way. They say. But hey, but we're out of the big fall. measure up.

the coast east will feast on it, the white cold wet.

I look now and it seems sleepy out here.

out there, you know.

hey, it's pretty. and sleepy.

Biden my time

mask up,

way to go;

tie one on

this time for Joe.

Better days

Ohio winter is light, not yet effective.

only Covid 19 is pronounced.

January will begin another world

as trump is on his way away.

yea, i looked harder

 sleep packed with dream.

more than sand lining the shore.

my mind wandered in extreme

so much to explore.  can you feel it, Christmas.  on the way is the holiday, and it is quiet

with people staying at home.  mostly alone and thinking.  covid is about.   at least it is not freezing.  there,

something good to enjoy.  go eat a cookie.

In my memory

 it could squish between my toes

 warm days i walked barefoot

through a puddle

summer outing

The others, joni mitchell, paul simon,

I read and hear about.

many others times, songs are brief.

years in Rome, days to come. Meals.

Other cities, around talking. 

Pictures in my memory.

ballooned and floating

 watching poems, impressed, concerned

overcome with, battle along my way,

you go easy, you know you should.

roads are slippery when

 it's me in the way.

you wave briskly for me to see you.

it could have been, distraction,

took away concentrationfor a second.

objective in sight. 

slow down to be extra careful.

no matter how long it takes i'll wait.

football watchin' i saw

 

 i first saw him many years ago,

 for years i've seen him ... on TV.

thin, sturdy, blonde, neat-combed hair.

of apparent Scandinavian descent, i'd say.

he's with a football team, that's why i see him.

once in a while during a game they show him on the sidelines;

always looking attentive ... concerned.

probably a head coach of the NFL team  watch.

i know this guy's name for nothing.

i saw him on Monday night Football this week.

 

for thirty years or more i've seen him occasionally.

so i know him better than he knows me, naturally.

for sure we both get along where we belong ... on the sidelines.

and work it out

 

and work it out

hey Debra; Jack and Meridith

from way far away after Sausalito

and Rome, now Oberlin, Ohio

spark a hoppin' hello

back to times with Henry, Joanne and the rest of us.

cause you led us hoppin' true

you did and we stayed in step

you're still in our brain

December got here

 December got here. so did the snow,

knee deep white, more than i've seen for years.

today is Wednesday, last night snow came down

heavily.  today it's 41 degrees, we have no snow tires,

can we get out and back in . 

oh yes, she did,  all went well. 

she made it out and back.

now two weeks later.

it is no snow, warmer

 another day is Thursday , sunny.

blue sky with gentle, now wind, wispy clouds.

snow storms are gone, 

the temperature is over freezing. 

looking out to stillness.

 

poem for now

 

(check the time) 1:44, close the door, 

now, this is what a poem is for ...

to give you rhyme, most every time, not always ...

and good sense? hmm, you decide.

 

and poetry has meter, ... like a parking meter only you never put quarters in.

it won't expire and you won't get a ticket.

and scheme ... what a dream. 

 today's theme acceptance and encouragement ...

please accept my poem, i encourage you to write your own.

i was asked to write you a poem for today.

what is the poem about? HAH. my poems are so short i 'd divulge too much if i mention it.

 

here's my poem:

a crowd of poets is a sad thing, there's no denying;

we'll spend time holding hands when we''re not crying.

i'm not lying. 

 the life of a poet is difficult, complicated.
making notes sorting words, stacking cards; we're poets in isolation,

 doing it alone ...

the sound of one dog barking

oh, here to the corner ... no parking.

there is hunger in the United States and Covid 19

... this poem distracted you for a moment ...

    like rainbow colors, in fluffy clouds

early morning train

 

slid the window open after three
dreamed clouds again until five-thirty
when, from long beyond
i heard the whistle say - i am train

calling low in light rain,
sweet voice, milk and thunder
clawing on wings of steel,
lonely is the night, strong, sure

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

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

     this is the third time i've published this poem; 

     i like it and i'm working on it.

 

beyond midnight

 sleeping, thinking, rolling dream.

half and half, back again,

not too early, not too late.

i want to hear the tapping rain drops.

nearly see forgotten faces of friends i knew.

longing to see my friends again.

yeah, a cup of coffee and thirty minutes

can do wonders for friendships.

chestnuts found by the reservoir

While in Norwhere we drove to the lake several times, sometimes for her to walk the mile or so, loop around, then sometime to gather nuts.  A line of chestnut trees were on our way out of the park. It took us a year or two to notice them, then we began timing the season to pick chestnuts when they dropped.

kept the nuts in the freezer.  The  squirrels like them. We gathered them by the lake; nuts not squirrels. today I finally ate one, three.  They are two years old, not fresh. tasty as a nut should be. chestnuts. Now i know them. Open your heart and you can too.

a crowd of poets

 

a crowd of poets is a sad thing, 

there's no denying;

 we'll spend time holding hands 

when we're not crying.

 

no bus, no tickets, no need

 

 sure i miss the bus rides;

 i'm not in Rome where i need to figure where to ride,

where to stop, how far to walk. 

i tell you, i miss looking out the home window, 

seeing the locals pass by,

while thinking it out, planning every bus i'll take. 

how far to the next change.

stores i need to stop at along the way. 

makes it easier if i have a plan before picking the route.

pick me up again, bring me back.

and how is it i run into friends

in the middle of the city?

daily bread ... train numbers

once a guy in our town
had the job to write down the numbers
of every train car as it entered the yard,
perhaps someone could recall his name, I can’t

another worker at that mill told me this years ago
witnesses at the time swore it was true
twelve or fifteen digits and letters on every train car
how many I’m not sure, there were quite a few

the man’d watch twenty, fifty, or a hundred cars pass
look at the numbers until the last car rolled on
half his job was complete when he saw the last
he’d go into the office and write the car numbers down

the trains go by inside my head
with numbers to recall
histories piled higher than daily bread
no way can i digest it all

everyday i write a review
most events true, others not.
nothing special 'bout what i do
some have value, some best forgot

ride along

you may have missed it,

Peru has had three

presidents in a week;  

2020 continues to be a strange year.

now, are you feeling better?

bad dog

  less is better, dear. 

don't know who said it.

if he's led out the door.

 as we move through the coming year

   we'll brighten better than before.

    

 

  less is better, dear,

if he's led out the door

 as we move through the coming year

   plan to brighten more.

as always

 want to say this Ohio Saturday

went down cool, not terribly. meanwhile,

going through my old poems; took me

back where only time has changed.

 

right now there is no snow.

still early ... thinking what i'd do.

i'd purchase a monthly bus pass

to see the same old Roma,

 

have a pizza. take my time.

say hello to familiar faces.

oh, and have a coffee.

i think today i'd wear a mask ...

 

have another coffee and a cornetto.

warm day

 a final warm day.

Weather, now leaning into winter. 

Shelby has been out of reach for breakfasts.

I want to go back to make corrections on an early post and the new blogger system makes it impossible for me to go back several years.  The old system operated quickly.  The new method is impossible for me.  I will cry here.

ferlinghetti beat

in Sandusky, Ohio an ambitious woman began putting

in an art center. Lawrence Ferlinghetti

was invited.  he came; picked up a brush, 

began painting a modern picture on a wall;

 

later he asks for the section of the plaster wall he

painted be sent to his City Lights Bookstore

on a downtown corner in San Francisco. 

was it shipped?  i don't think so.

 

he was seventy then.

i remember him as old.

i'm 75 now ... still chasing beat poetry.

he's 101 now.

 

if he had donated his wall painting where 

it stood there is a chance it would 

still be there today.

well, good for Lawrence and his bookstore

in San Francisco.  I saw his corner everyday when i worked in the pyramid. 1981.

eyes forwardish

 may as well quit crying over how it goes

as we try to work life out.

 heaven knows

we're about done,

time to   to enjoy the sun.

it's what life's about.

events claim position in our minds

 the world series is over

and nary a thought is given.

hopefully, next week the election

will be in the same condition.

don't you love the rain

i hear it while i'm sleeping

and it only awakens me occasionally.

i won't roll around looking to see it,

but when it's coming down

 i love the morning rain;

best is when i hear

the tapping drops. 

 

election tension

i must wait, see what.

can't have all the votes going my way.

it's unlikely, who'd believe it ?

anyway, it scares me so tension clings to me, 

wading deep with each news report. 

 reading the book in an easy chair, seems

the way to take it, with a page marker

plus time out for a nap and a coffee.

slow day

 supposed to be warm now.

slow temperature climbing,

 the mail man's looking content.

 brought nothing special yesterday.

   imagine he's happy for a day without steady rain.

by late afternoon sun'll come though;

 it'll warm like they said.

can't help wait for the two old men debate.

Trump and Biden.

running

 running beyond October

shall be soon, with rain  in the leaves.

where we be going

do not confuse.

stack us up fine, 

love around is falling in those crispy colors

crinkling golden. the red is deeper than before.

geese will be honking.

you have to love this time of year

elections and further complications

 some news stories 

are hard to take or evaluate

cautiously medical personal creep ,,, 

 do they weep? Ohio has record covid cases

third day in a week,

 

the same America

how many buffalo did we kill?

i like desert gas stations.

 quiet out there

can we believe the news

what are we looking for.

 

standing

 have to regain strength

so i'm standing on one foot

then the other, how's that?

i didn't think this up.

i'm sure doctors did, then

a young person gets a job showing

 me how to do it.

makes the money wheel spin.

keep america working. 

the virus runs again

where you been? 

Do it again.

reindeer, yeah

they're large animals.

 seems one male would be called a reindo.  like rambo

or rainbow cause they're a dream

and some are girls. sure are great to see.

i've their image in my mind to hold on to.

thinking good thoughts makes me happy. 

a few deer were outside this morning.

call them what you like, moving around out there,

they're beautiful leapers. 

a small boat in light ripples

 my Monterey, Snort, how sweet

our time together,

oh, how i patched you,

thanks,  Morgan.

 

ordered a two cylinder diesel engine 

from China. it came to the boat yard

and i put it in.  a pal set it straight

and i hooked it up.

i can taste the salt water breeze of the Pacific

when i think of it. 

 ***

hurray.

for the fiftieth anniversary of the Oakland bay bridge

i took my 28 foot sloop Navigator.

my nautical wood working friend Mike and Meri 

and along with many hundreds of other boats

on a quiet black night.

what a time, and that is what what a time means.

 

boats packed in like sardines out of a tin.

we did our part to be in the thick of music, lights and celebration

and got home without a nick.

all a part of life on San Francisco Bay

warm enough

 i've a pen on the table

 it's not ripping my pockets out.

 i'm able to jot notes with the computer.

i'll carry a pen if i have to.

i'll say it's a great day out. 

 

walking out i did five minutes three times, checking.

the  trash can is still waiting full.

third time, just got back and

the truck came, no kidding, i watched it.

so i went out a fourth time to bring the empty can in, 

finally, really, no kidding. 

7 October, what a day you've made.

 yeah, completely wonderfully warm.

lable today just right.

also, my brother in law, Gerry,

transferred 3000 pictures from my camera

to my computer, thus giving my phone camera

fresh life to begin again...more or less.

better than a phone rock full if photos.

staying loose

 the lines step out with a meter

and rhythm from my heart.

how about that, do sound right, eh?

don't know what i 'm thinking

while watching to the corner

can you dig it ... an affirmation

not a question, quite.

a coffee would set the day off

just right.

octobery

  a month to find the reason

to call this month pumpkins, pies, cooler.

and what howls in the night.

watch, wait and think - an approaching end to another year.

two hands, ten fingers.

how the wind blows, Sugar.

 

Peccorino is the name of the cheese

 Amanda raises goats.

Peccorino she'll tell you is the cheese.

back home her family helps goat watch. 

she returns every year to home near Naples.

 pistachio is put in. i have no idea how that works.

good cheese, good nuts,

good weather for a family home

good, good, good.

season slipped away

 in these parts summer has spent itself;

although this week will

make another temperature run.

don't get excited. 

when you look back you'll see

summer was close to swell, but 

this year seemed to run by quickly

and lacked the best of moments.

you know, sometime it goes like that.

i'm happy for what we had.

you do the same.

oh, summer will return next year

and knock us off our feet.

 

 

south to planktown

 drove down south some, we did.

decent day of sun, weather and all.

 saw no wagons this day.

 empty morning on the back-ways.

no rabbits out

not a one

even here at home they hid.

that's what we limitly saw, and what we did.

foremat

 some diet.  i am not eating meat

most of the time.  don't think about it.

once in a while at a rice place i have

some meat in a ground up sauce.

i wanted to call it our rice place.

we always go to the same one. 

there aren't many.

i thought i got turkey, but she said 

i had pork.  all the same to me,

whether i have it or not.

food is what i order.

the spicy i like.

not crazy spicy ... tasty.

flavor me, Babe

i'm cooperative. 

fall, the season

 fall is beginning.
let go of the heat.
 the weather remains comfortable.
look for apples.
when i think ahead i never want
to shed summertime, but my feeling
changes when the season begins.
also, i'm wearing a heavy shirt today
and am ready to wear socks.

our pal Blackie

 

beloved Blackie returned every summer for five years
we liked him, i think the feeling was mutual
his wings are flapping fast
not because he was crazy - he was a wild bird
and soon as he got his peanut he was leaving
 my October 29, 2007 post has his story

january emptied

making notes I am
sorting words, stacking cards
one dog barking

I look up at the dark blurs
some birds boring blindly
into running low grey clouds

above on the hill, the Gianicolo,
a cannon fires a puff of smoke into the chill
below, the city hears the signal, it Is noon

we board a bus of content silence
off for a bite of lunch, our own words blend,
weave and overlap with the others

then a little walking
through the crowds
a lot of talking

don’t hear what they’re saying
making plans I suppose,
some are gesturing, pointing,

laughing young women
heads together
recount social victories

no small children pulling against their mothers
today many little wrapped ones in blankets
lulled to silence on four-wheeled strollers

temperature is dropping
who is content?
there is some calm poised beyond complacency

after evening buses slow, then cease
overnight it is soundless
when imagination is the only border

deerful

 gathered close, light woods around

deerskin tan and markings white abound 

in quiet movement, together, shuffling

without sound. only the ambience of evening.

moonless sky. strong bodies, family,

in silence, light breathes, watching amid darkness.

numbers, they speak of time, we know hours

as they pass in dampness. they call numbers in hours.

we see paths, streams, short rivers we know.

living dreams. our numbers live with us.

wood sticks lightly kicked against leaves.

our group of deer move in near silence.

breathe in light puffs. aware around us.

poets 1

 

a crowd of poets is a sad thing

sure they're always holding hands

but they're crying.

working the best we can

every day we find chores
that need completing.
 you know how that goes.
not overly fatiguing.
we do the jobs we want to do first.
fortunately, we can secure trained agents to handle
the worst. if you pay they'll show up.

two school-age boys came by

to clean our already clean rain gutters.
we sent them away.
last winter we over-paid the same lads to shovel snow,
they did a lousy job and kept returning at every dusting of a few snowflakes.

here at our new home we're caught with the unfamiliar;
going to stores to buy the food 

people we've never seen put cans on shelves.
 

our new garden turned out unremarkable.

unannounced, another completion:  a baby rabbit was born,
hopped around our yard as a clumsy complete newcomer would.
 then it stormed heavy rain 24 hours.
 the baby washed well.

the newly born came out after the rain.
i saw three other rabbits as well.

today our  bunny came out,
ate grass and kept to itself
as rabbits tend to do.
we watched from inside.
don't know if it's a him or her
it's just our bunny.

we  know little.

booming

last night's forecast called for thunder,
they hit it on the bean,
 right on time, the crack of dawn . 
the clock said six.

  morning's light trapped in thunder clouds.
a strong boom shook the house .
pouring rain alternated with cold stillness.

i woke clearly and thought to write
good words, altogether so they blend.
a theme dedicated to this morning.

 found nowhere to scratch it.
forgot to sleep with a pen and paper.

had an idea, couldn't write it down.
 so i slipped into sleep again,
forgot my thoughts,
lost them in the rain.
a pleasant way to go.

trash

Wednesday is trash day.
not make it, pick it up.
put it out and a city truck comes by.
the cans are so big i can't handle them.
refuse is one, recycle the other
two to go automatically.
giant robot arms pick them up
and turn the cans over above the truck.
i can watch and write about them,
that's it.

Elec

workers again
come aboard  ...

i remove myself.
take a lunch break.


eLectricity, i had to say it.
two guys playing with wires
for hours ...

good for them i leak money.

so

so if so
then you see.
near to you,
near to me.
the big tree, some rocks, flowers and weeds.
play outa while
look around some
watch for seeds
take it easy on your walk
it's pretty out there
enjoy the time out of doors

waiting days

then rain and off, 
blowing heavy drops.
call it stormy with thunder;
including one exceptional strike,
you must have heard it, felt it;
from the inside. the strike occurred here.
only one other time in my life did i
happen to be where lightning exploded.
oh, yeah, too close; made me jump.

ring on will ya

my goodness,

just when all's trashed

seems some work

to dump big-time

our sweet land of liberty.

where're you headed?

of thee i sing.

let us be proud again,

something to cheer about

from every mountainside, streetside

parkingplace,

get going now

let freedom ring.

two leaves fell

 i saw two leaves
fall from a tree, one of our
trees, way early; this is august,
too soon, still summer.
not time for falling leaves
2020 continues to be
a year of strange.
it does seem that way.

a change

summer heat slipped away.
so quickly.
were you expecting cooler weather?
i hadn't thought of a change.

then a week went by
other events distracted me;
i turned my head
 and now fall approaches.

blue jay

that blue jay is tough as an eagle

well, not quite, but thinks he is.

no matter who's on our bird feeder

blue jay will fly in when he wants to.

i'll smile again

never get closer than thirty feet
to that rabbit, we call ours,
we must be a blur
of large people
that live nearby
and are never focused on;
while in our hearts we're
kind and gentle although
the only thing we do is provide
undisturbed tall grasses and plants
for the rabbit to live in and chew on
and we keep out of the way.
sounds like bunny love, doesn't it.

workmen

two workmen have been here
 a week.  they are finishing
today putting in windows
and insulation.  i imagine
the job will be done well.

 what we've seen is good work.

when they're gone we'll have a
closer look and wonder why
we didn't notice a particular

while they were here. i think what we'll notice

for sure is that we prefer to have our space 

to ourselves without them in it.

opening round

on the grey start of this summer day,
when i got my coffee, took it easy ...
to the table. looked away
she was already sitting there, hair brushed. Looking

proper. i got our toast and butter. She asked for jelly.
then the house shook ... and a second time.
quickly. nothing to see.
why so booming?

thunder rocked us ... unaccountably.
no explanation
seems clouds had been building
then we got the boom

the buffalo

some rainy, foggy, chilly midweek

when secretaries call in sick
and postmen wear goulashes
go to the zoo and take in what’s left

splash along the water-covered concrete
past occasional trees bent, looking away
from the wind’s lick

see the muddy, mucky, peanut-shelled patch
where there stands the buffalo
knee-deep, with dirty, unkempt, matted hair
his eyelids closing out the drizzle
shoulders that held up america

clothed the indians in a montana mountain snow
fed starving wagoneers not quite to the promised land
mark of the plains
symbol of an era

it is fitting that he be visited
for his eyelids are closing now, america

ringing

my ears ring in the quiet.
i have to think to notice.
you'd say it is not possible
to hear what isn't.

i must occur to me
before i notice the space;
the lack of audio.
that's ear ringing.

now, where are the tapping woodpeckers.
there is wood enough.
perhaps it is a season when they tap more.
this is worth a lifetime of study.

Deer gone

didn't wake in time to see them.
no doubt they're here.
 quiet day. Worked some.
Giacomo called. Good to hear from him.
he's going to notorcycle to Switzerland.
what a wonderful breath of fresh air.
good views and great chocolate.
chocolate there is better.
you can taste the difference.
here we've rain a little.
it is accurate to say it that way.
fairly warm, quiet as usual.
i'm going to have
to go out a little.
to check it out.

tension

Indians baseball wrings tension out of me,
now i've less to worry about.
we're not paying to see
the indians on tv.

all my life i could see a game on tv, now they want an extra forty bucks a nonth.
the players get several million a year, and they want the fans to cough up the extra bucks and cheer for the tribe. they're asking a lot.
i can hardly stand it, drives me nuts.

new boy

all right, we're heading home.
enough tough play,
settle in with good manners.
hurray, we're happy, ole', ole'

now change to let feeling
into your heart.
i'm thinking.
do you want some ice cream?

sitting back in the sunshine,
keep an eye on how the day goes.
put on your favorite clothes.
time to be happy again.
.

bison

So, a lady in a national park

is running away from a bison;

falls down and has to lie still

and get sniffed by the bison.

Water will fall

there may be rain this afternoon.
yesterday i saw it forecast.
low nineties, a temperature leap.
remembering water all around
yes, the old days. takes me to Sausalito,
home amid boats. the bay is ours.
phone talking to my daughter in california.
good to hear her voice.
out the window, a blue jay in a bush
falls down and rolls on the ground.
looked like a hard fall. oh, the things
i see out the window.

now a truck is out front ready to pull
out a pole and put in a new one.
movement between lunches
and naps. the city goes on.
i hope it's a good thunderstorm.

all in

drove by to see how life happens
in Grafton and Shilo
drive-by towns unknown to most,
 even if you live close.

plus parts outside, beyond the regular.
people walked on the street.
we are nearby and busy
as we could be.

park & amp; ride,
clouds above, she cried.
press to operate,
she stepped off the curb, go 

meri thinks the new doctor
shouldn't dress like
the weather girl.
well, honey, "you

were always on my mind."
Willie Nelson sings for me.
i'll eat those sugarless candies
and move on down the line.

courage doc, please.

Microsoft Edge has invited itself into my computer.

looking around i found it.

i am supposed to care if large companies battle.

now the great computer edge in the sky

has jammed itself into my computer

at no additional cost,

want a cup of coffee while i tell you?

in my computer, you must move lightly, okay?

outside i take hours of flowers blooming, 

presuming i'm ready

to flower up again, when i've been

steady in the rain, searching

for dream ideas in bunches

and sunshine.

just shoot across the still pond

in your canoe

paddle lightly, with breeze anointing

you'll zip along.

i'll meet you there...where i'm pointing.

The rabbit's life

heat's up
better to stay indoors and look out
to the world racing by.
what a fine day this is.
for one, the rabbit came back
to lay around in the overgrown yard.
here it is hot and evidently, he
doesn't drink much, just eats greens.
that's healthy.
takes his liquid from plants.
we put a ceramic dish of water out,
hope he finds it.
anyway, it is good to see
the rabbit.

rain louder than the train

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, nine, ten, eleven...rumble.
again a flash - i counted to nine that time.
nine miles away.

i imagine the storm diminished
as i slept again
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.
rain pouring hard on and off this morning.

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



(The Harvest moon occurs in September or October, but I put it into today's poem.
Oh, I like those train whistles.)

this Wednes day

Cooking warm today.
sticky already, before noon.
hot day underway,,
talk of cooking,
don't heat the kitchen. not today.

you have air cooling? crank it on.
or windows open and a fan,
that will do, well. a fan helps, windows won't.

I'm happy just because.
The heat won't knock my Wednesday out of whack.
i can take it. are you onboard?
Charge into what's coming this day.
the mailbox is empty. i rattled it.  Wait, i just heard a train going by.
That is a pleasure. Makes my day. Let me hear those whistles blow.
One for Old Lonesome, Piute Jerry,  Cutter Bill, and one for me.

edge note

Microsoft Edge has invited itself into my computer.

i am supposed to care as large companies battle.

how did i get involved?  i have no uniform.

"Good morning, Jack, Where is your logo?"

i recently gained eight pounds; lost two yesterday.

i'm on my way back.

sunshine today, warm tomorrow.

partially warm enough now.

note this, Sunshine,

i'd have pancakes with you

if i wasn't planning on losing

another two pounds today like yesterday.

maintain

maintain food

grow it, store it, beans, rice.

flour, salt, sugar, canned food.

write it down.

make notes to see how it's going.

walking outside to see what's growing.

i'm out there

before noon when it is cool.

hear the birds, good signals.

all is well this morning.

a berry pie is just a thought,

not ready for it now, thinking ahead.

the birds seem more organized than people.

they don't bake, they eat berries off the trees.

virus is in the news. spreading.

no answers yet from anyone.

i see few people out,

a few walking their dogs.

at the market some wear masks.

what is happening, where is this going?

Morning heat

• couldn't find her,

the plumber is on his way.
she's far out mowing,
now wearing a cooling rag on her head;
it's a new invention.

i pushed the mower so she could hear that it is so quiet. she worried about disturbing beighbors. they never think that way.
out and back for me.
that's my time limit. although,
i like even a 90 degree humid day;
heat beats winter freeze.


.

Where on ya

 near the lake now.
  few blocks away.
pulled into an old shopping lot,
 giant stores run down, closed.
   my goodness. acres of space,
room for a thousand cars.
a few cars are parked,
maybe twenty if you count them all.
  nothing happening now.
the virus makes life slow.
 we could get some ice cream
on the way home. forget it.

Wednesday

these stacks of days
are weeks and we are in the
middle of another one.

we've seen a few whiz by.
 nailed to the floor, held heaven high.
talked out, photographed, forgotten.

a smile goes a long way
to keep days precious.
of them, we'll recall what we can.