the unfortunate part
of not making note
is forgetting forever
what i never wrote
poetry - jack sender - all of my life
i thought i had a forever invisibility cloak.
mailman came and left.
for the first time he looked at me
and he waved at me. i usually wave into space.
that business complete, mailman come and gone,
i'll look in our box to see what advertisement
someone paid to have delivered to my home. say,
can you scoot over a half stool? no ... the other way.
mail man is out of the picture for another day.
i'd say i am also.
both of our clocks
can be wound tight again.
pulling 90. pushing it also. Degrees.
lawnmowers, dogs, enough, gruff stuff
my wonderful manual typewriter i dropped.
the end.
the last line in the book.
except what lives on in my mind.
or i see photos, one's like it.
remember the weight ... thickness.
wasn't practical any more than
using a candle to read by.
now we wait for afternoon,
a few hours when the real heat comes alive.
the powers of the season will give us reason
to open us up to sitting in the shade
can't name everything.
not my business.
but i saw friends.
now I'm off. but i.
wow's been years since we were kids.
would like to see more. was lunch
and some were working.
no excuses for me or anybody
heats up weather-wise ... fine business.
been waiting a long while so i can't bitch.
no way, amigo.
there now, my day's writing is covered.
we can leave our masks behind us.
going now to Huron, ohio ... Berardis
tabled down for lunch.
my left sharon becastro, left again peg.
mrs. geo, geo walbeck,
Meri, me still,
table two
barb, les, mary.
photo geo. bill koehler
so we held two tables,
while we ate and talked.
been a year, the virus you know.
participants from the class of '63 ...
80 some degrees when we left;
we'll again in a month ... for an evening meal
it was good to see who we are.
Forever gone ... joanne modic savage and penny starr
and walt taylor.
how much more can a day give?
sunny and warm enough.
it's up to me to fill it well,
and to the brim.
winter left a brief while ago.
yet i can ... yet i can
practically feel the cold time now.
when i think of it.
temperatures recently turned around.
this week we're going to warm
like it hasn't for a year.
plants and trees are open leaf filled
and we're grateful for the full green around
including the summer sound.
just the birds not lawnmowers. are you thrilled?
yet i can. yet i can.
/
cats beware
the bunnies walking in our yard
are larger than you are;
we're happy to worry less about
the rabbits. we can relax.
remains of fossilized rabbits date
back fifty million years.
older than Diet Pepsi
this Wednesday Berardi',s,
the 19th, eleven-thirty.
talking over coffee
and some lunch? class of '63 showing up
tell me, honey,
Where did the old town go?.
the stores are gone, that's what i found.
what we need is a warm blanket feel ... who can debate?
a nap during the day before it's late.
you need shade when the sun is cooking.
take out your time ... easy.
i've had enough not getting along.
the lake is smooth as it ought to be.
need to cover bare earth
before the next big rain: the city says.
now, four rabbits, more or less hopping.
good to see them without searching for them.
they show up every day.
sky now is blue, wind is light; that's so fine.
count on next week to be warmer;
weather's moving that way.
been reviewing old poems/posts.
figuring where i've been an where i'm headed,
what i've done, etcetera ... moving on the line.
like Lincoln's funeral train,
people turned out to see it pass.
it's where we're located.
how long will rain stay,
can you guess half a day?
can't say while looking out your window.
not from Ohio
just saw the photo
my oh, you look fifty.
i'm sorry you've dogs in the way
then falling and hurting your arm.
not good, easy to do, older you get.
i can say i've been lucky every day for a month.
i've got to pay attention.
i'm just lucky.
on and on.
me paying attention ... that's a joke.
daughter: luck to us both.
Sunday 9 May
rain opened the day
until 10:20 when
it began snowing
i'm knowing that
for sure the sound all around
went from pounding to lighter.
well, thicker... if you heard
you'd of said, hey. It grew noticeable ...
thicker, wetter. For sure snow came down.
in clumps.
talked to clock man, Tim
as he applied oil a bit
to the ticking of it.
was a pleasure talking to him.
the clock worked exceptionally well,
those words he said were swell.
he's a gentle old man;
got along well.
temperatures will be better for plants
when it warms, you see,
we're not there yet. we're going to be
wait with me
we haven't seen a cool spring for a while.
may as well smile and live with it.
for a bit longer
we can be stronger,
think of summers we recall, that's all
stand tall and wait
won't it be great
when summer finally gets here.
What a day it has been, Cole porter;
It's a rare mood I'm in
and i dropped the ball recalling your fine words turning in my heart.
It's the flash of good weather that I love
finally, we've waited so long
You can make it into a song
We'll take this day along on a roll.
building good feelings
In our hearts, you know it, Cole.
your warm words and unforgettable melodies
bring freshness and warm hearts to us all
and comfort going miles inside us.
since we moved a year ago
we added time ... it's now
an hour to get there.
following a long layoff due
to the virus and shutdown
we returned on a Saturday.
i knew before we arrived
that Monday is the day the
old regulars are all working,
and who we saw were the
new young fat girls that
are the new age of takeovers
that can be found now
waiting tables for the customers;
turning out to seek the old ways
of the restaurant with breakfast
served in kindness as they remember.
it's still noisy in there, but the
reflections in the mirrors on the walls
don't yield the same.
i know ... i looked.
weather open up
give us just a cup
of rain this morning,
then move on, please?
so when you're gone
i won't have to think about
filling up the yard with water,
not again, and you will, i know.
but now there's sun ... better than snow, no doubt about it.
it is time for summer heat and we're ready.
i see two big, king robins strutting along.
they're working the yard over.
keeping their eyes on the possibilities
for snacks today.
I PAINTED YOU BLACK
REAL BLACK
ALL BLACK
YOU DIRT BIKE YOU
I RIPPED THE KNEES OUT'A ALL MY PANTS
FALLING DOWN WITH YOU
WE CLIMBED HILLS
AND RODE ALL THE WAY AROUND GUAM
THE ENTIRE ISLAND
MANY TIMES
WE'D GO THROUGH FIELDS
OVER THE BEACH SANDS
INTO THE JUNGLE
IN THE RAIN
And on Nice Sundays
STOP FOR A ROOT BEER
TOO BAD I HAD TO SELL YOU
TOO BAD
limbs paddle lightly
with no worry where they've been ...
half a haze, half a sun
the early morning fishermen