i feel like you

i feel like you
that doesn't mean that i feel as if i like you
it means i feel about as you feel
but not completely
i don't wake up groping for the keys to your car
in my pocket or anything
i don't feel like that
now i'm not sure what i mean
or how i feel about it
so forget it
how do you feel about that?

listen, some of the stuff i write is crap
i know that, that's what writers are good at
the point is
it's not like i'm hiding it
i put it out with a purpose
two more, juliano. yeah, the red.

like you, i can recognize a good poem
and wonder how many did emily dickenson or robert frost leave buried in a drawer
sarah teasdale, i like her work also
geeze, i mention a couple of poets and feel like i've got to keep naming them

what i want to say is that
everyone has a different voice
every poet makes that choice
and when words work hot it's a kind of magic
when not - more like deforestation - nearly tragic

we'd learn if we could read
the partial poems the poets put aside
examine what was rejected
those things the great ones let slide
most often go undetected

so now this one is lying there like road kill
so enjoy it like sneaking through someone's refrigerator

ok start here

meditation is a discipline
who needs all this laughter
and funny stuff
just give me some boredom
and a book to read

i am old cause i don't get fashion,
style, mode, loud music
mr. humblegger, your table is ready
who cares

lincoln speak

i had a friend, jordan, whose grandfather was a slave
he told me that when his grandfather was a boy
in the south people gathered on a hill somewhere
to hear abraham lincoln speak
the grandfather was blind since birth, and an old man
when he told jordan
how he heard lincoln's sharp voice, high-pitched, clear like a trumpet over the crowd
i can let those words set
and ring in your head
like lincoln's must have done
to that boy who knew he was hearing the president

poetini

sure i keep it short
you have a life, right?
it's nice you take a look
but i'm not going to keep you

there - a couple of lines
you read it
fine, like that, okay, forget it
and we're both out'a here

birthday

"eeeeeeeyeow" screached a low swooping gull
over trajan's market by the forum
crowds were downtown last night
roma is celebrating birthday number 2761
how about that? two thousand seven hundred sixty-one

an old cat was walking around the ruins looking harmless
but the seagull thought otherwise and kept squawking
the feline eventually got the hint and departed
we were street level above the ruins, looking down on them

the official roma birthday day day is 21 april
nothing happened then, it was just selected as the day
meanwhile festivities will go on until 9 may

that's like roma, no quick birthday
people are out there now, concerts are going on
and that tells you a lot about how this city operates

in brief, like everything,
they make it up for the occasion
and do whatever they want

volume

the settings in roma
for speakers in airports
in buses, in buildings, outside
anywhere announcements are made
are: "on" or "off"

"on" means blasting to the fullest extent possible
nearly improbable
unbelievable, absurd
distortion is a synonym

"off" means broken
or someone forgot to turn it on

the pyramids

who built the pyramids
back then

do you think we could
do it again?

a non-fiction guy thing

it's true
could happen to you
i put mayonnaise in my suitcase
the next day she found it in my shoe

I admit i didn't check the lid
that's the worst i did
so what can a fellow do?
if not me, then who?

but nothing gooey came out
that's how the story ends
with promises to do better
we're still friends

(i think she's watchin' me)

taste

in the vatican museum i noticed the floor
and thought when target and others makes new tiles
why not do decent copies of beautiful tiles from history?

why produce new inferior designs?
sure, new sells, but you can sell anything

some old stuff is incredible
don't buy into fashion when it is base
why not remake old cars, old clothes
old everything that was beautiful and loved
using modern materials

let's cut the trash and clean the globe
with a bit of taste

a second good idea

how about that smart car
and now that's done
let's move ahead far
bring on the stupid one

extra wide, extra long, gas guzzler
one tiny window, under-inflated tires
no mirrors, sluggish manual steering, no muffler
also runs on coal fires

music to my knees

it nearly brings me to my knees
would you play it as gently
again, if you please

you know, somehow
and this i don't mean lightly
that melody touches me

extemporaneously?
how did that come about?
it was not planned, merely stumbled upon?

what i hear in that
takes me up somehow
turns me 'round

i want it with me
to carry away, to take home
bring out when i'm alone

i need to listen again
to learn what it is saying to me
so i can respond properly

i want to respond
i know i can
it is talking to me

same sea

the next day
no wind at all
hardly the same sea

a gentle roll
this pearly morn
quiet lapping at the shore

waiting for the small boat fisherman
to bring up his net by the red buoy
i want to catch him
at his solitary work and live vicariously

auto-overdrive

i dreamed on automatic overdrive
the mediterranean was sweeping waves of long green stems
with yellow flowers
and it all broke on the shore
i was neck deep and flopping

karolina made the hotel beds in polish military fashion
we were bound like mummies
using shrink wrap
to keep us in place
three thousand years

yesterday she wore her cupcake howitzer bra
mounted on twin staggered gun mounts
one aimed high, one covering the field
in the lobby as she turned my way
i prudently took a step back

Happy is the acting hotel director
how could you name your son Happy
and not get what you'd expect?
Happy, shut up. Happy, sit down.

waves

all night out of phase
waves broke air bubbles
that cracked and crunched

i thought it was shore rocks
sliding in and out
in the morning i saw few rocks, mostly sand

it was the power of water
of air grinding, popping
let’s harness that power

some day
these will be the good old days

without a net

on our way training down
south of roma, south of napoli
the pearl of the med
to get sand in our shoes
a sleepy place with nothing going on
after three days we’ll be friends with the guy who drives the local bus to town where the pizza is good
we’ll be there
with no net, no kidding, and too cold to swim

but the hotel remembers us
not actually, of course, unless they have chips
this one doesn’t even have rice crispies
something for the kids of the future to look forward to
chips implanted in hotels so it remembers you
“Oh, not you again, you little...”

back in this time warp
we like carolina, she’s the polish worker
she will be the only one there
the old lady has something with the bones in her foot
can’t get shoes on and won’t be there
we’ll be the only guests
our terrace is large
right on the beach

nothing to do
a tv in the lobby, hardly on
only the lapping of the mediterranean
on and on, rolling back and forth
dragging rocks on the shore

space to read, write, draw and observe
then while walking the shore
looking far off, out to sea or toward the clouds
i’ll think of you

stuff with the big guys

if we could stuff basketballs
soar way over the rim and drop it in
we’d make millions on a two year contract
pose for picture so countless others
could hang it on their wall

sign an autograph if we had to
have a driver take us around
get the best seats everywhere
and get all the drugs we need before we have to
leave our place in the sun for a few days to testify

climate

it's time we
quit calling it global warming
and say it like it is
global climate change

when in rome

1952 audrey hepburn and gregory peck filmed roman holiday
that was good, however
mary kate and ashley olsen's movie
when in rome , filmed in 2002
was meridith's international film debut

they shot a scene on our street, via dei cappellari
where the girls walked by
at the same time meri stuck her head out of our window
to see what was going on down there

and is clearly seen for one second in the film

she did it in one take
without a rehearsal or makeup
and they didn't even have to ask her to look out the window

when they send the first million
we'll split it with you
(you notice i've got my hand on it already)

day starts quickly

day starts quickly
without hesitation
the orange ball is up, on its way
for another loop through the heavens

i rapid shower and dress
my wet hair’s a mess
an hour swiftly passed, no more
coffee down, i’m out the door

grim riders

silent-trance bus riders
in blank, unblinking stare
look ahead, deep, slow eyed and unseeing
haunting with their faces

seated facing me was one of those
of the impermeable, inpenetrable void
not knowing
just there
set in icy stone
an uncaring, unforgiving dead grim gaze
born of fear and oppression
passed by generations
that witnessed gladiators fight to the death
sons turn cold
and heretics burn at the stake
a locked down scowl that will out wait hell
refuses happiness exists, or hope a possibility

moments before her stop
she mysteriously transported herself
from the dark ages to the modern era
having readjusted her face, she left the bus

rubbish

a ball of rubbish
the size of texas
is floating in the sea

it’s not science fiction
who’s cleaning this up?
not you, not me

the writer's life, both of them

the little woman is telling me
a writer’s life’s too narrow
sighted only on what he can see
i see it like a winged sparrow

while the powerful princess whacks away
i’ve got to write my own, you see
let’s lift our hats to the writers work
without the mcmurtrys where would we be

the saga ends all to soon
give me the great stories and actors to play
winter’s gone, it’s nearly june
be content writers know what to say

the words fly on like a wounded sparrow
as thought lines soar, rush and dart
nearly downed by the random arrow
coming to rest, so near the heart

i’ll labor on long as i am able
the ship goes down while runs the rat
i hear her say, “supper’s on the table”
now tell me, how’d she do that?

times are a changing - right now they are

friends came to roma from california
had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the colosseum

at least three or four employees spoke english
ten years ago none would have

parliment

the first saturday of the month the italian senate is open for visitors
we waited in line forty-five minutes in light rain
this former residence where the government works
is palazzo madama

built upon the ancient baths of nero
the palace was completed in 1505 for the medici family
two medici cardinals who later became popes lived here
the painter caravaggio worked and lived here for five years

the large stone structure was redone again in 1650
four stories with hundreds of rooms
the enterior is elaborate, ornately decorated in the period and splendid

both government houses meet and many have their offices here
the corridors are long, the ceilings high and ornate
impressive is the large chamber where the senate convenes
we saw it from above in the audience gallery

that chamber is on the tv news every week
it was a nice change of pace to be in the seat of the government
all we had to do was wait patiently in a light rain

talking with eagles

what i mean is
talking with egos
nearly the same, isn’t it

to review (and avoid confusion)
eggos were some artificial egg food
leggos are toys to build with
and egos are yet to be determined as to function

although i am quite sure it has
something to do with artificial intelligence

return to roma

the paris metro to charles de gaulle
packed like i’ve never seen
barely had space to stand

ibid.a.

we got on the metro
just barely cause it was packed
i don’t like to say, but it’s true

we were that old expression
packed like canned fish

it was rush hour and we were rushing
to the airport

those poor people who do it everyday
are at their limit
there are too many of us

at the airport we got in easily

ibid.b.

saw a couple of old farts
standing outside smoking
before entering the terminal
don’t they know better?
how in the hell do they
expect to live forever?

our flight was delayed
the number of people in the waiting area
was more than i’ve ever, ever seen

i went down to the restroom
entered the air france first class lounge
had a fine coffee
pocketed a set off cookies to share with meri

took off late
sat by the window and heard people ooohh
when we flew over the alps
the lady in front of me took about
eight flash photos into the sun
before she turned off the flash

i then saw the L-like where land went west to france and south to italy and roma

coming in we circled around roma
the vatican stood up like an ice cream cone

then we swung over the turquoise med
came in and landed

this morning at nine we left for the airport in paris
at five p.m. we were in our roma apartment
it took nine hours for a less than two hour flight

the eagle has landed
and will sleep in his own bed tonight

some paris along the way

a lot to see
style and art abounds in this city paris
from the top of the arc de triomphe there is quite a view
i’m dipping my morning toast in coffee
thinking about it

initial plans were sketchy but we happened to be
there on the street when the taxi showed up with
my one-time little kid now with a family of his own
everyone has grown

saw, walked, laughed and talked for a couple of days

we flew in, we fly out
they go on their way
while time is always flying
happened so fast

paris notes, more

down some city street
a lady hurridly walking by
dropped her reading glasses
seemed to throw them nearly at my feet

as she quickly stopped
bent and reached to retrieve them
she kicked them a little
so they skidded a few feet

back up then kneeling a second time to pick them up
noticing i saw it all
she looked toward me
and half-smiled self consciously
at the impromptu comedy of errors

paris ride

leisurely viewing the city
coming back from versailles
the bus stopped several times
some people left, while some arrived
still others scampered to change seats
moving like mice in a maze
until all were satisfied
what we had this morning
was a scenic nice ride