Monday, July 02, 2018

plumber eyes


the guy is plumber,
fixed our drippy faucet.
took a year for him to get here,
because we didn't call him;
for sure that slowed him down.

then amazon did everything,
found a guy who knew what tools
to bring, and how to use them.
good for him and us
but i never got his name.

you see how well the new world works?
i want to believe in efficiency
for us, from him.
yet, we never got his name.
for shame, cold world.
i never heard him say his name.

Friday, June 29, 2018

up in smoke


pipe tobacco/
crushed by hand/
roll it/
light it.../
up in smoke
okay, i know that one
so now i'll try this again,
i'll leave it alone.
good luck, good times.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

fiori di zucca


today is the day,
gathered zucchini flowers,
then battered and fried
ah, my favorites.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

away some


nine days to see,
saw my daughter and her's;
this poet on vacation
made mental notes,
worked none at all.
all went well that way,
i'd say.

ate, weather hot,
what we got
hit the spot.

then we're out of there
not even wrinkled.

Saturday, June 02, 2018

i thought we were pals


the parent robins returned
fed their young worms about noon.
didn't know me or my whistle
from dee man in dah moon

Thursday, May 31, 2018

launch


Final two robins launch today.
one hops through sweet woodruff
other half way up small dogwood
Mother and father sweep in to protect

stuck


stuck under a bureau drawer
her father's report card from '34.
this brings the question
how much to collect?

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

vacation


going on vacation,
not staying at home; rocket out.
leaving, far from winter,
side-step away from the usual.
can be done most anywhere
wake up, relax, go back to sleep.
soak it in, refresh yourself

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

what robin did


watched robin land on a wobbly wire.
if i could fly i'd do that.
my neurologist doubts i'd accomplish
the rest of what the robin did:
jump 180 degrees and land
facing the other direction.
i said, don't bet on it,
when you're hot
you're hot.

Friday, May 25, 2018

robins decide


we preferred them a protected corner
not a highly trafficked area.
nonetheless two returning robins
insisted on building a nest again
near the steps on our porch,
then made three more robins;
now are feeding them pieces of worms.
we have to be reasonably cooperative
and respectful of their activities.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

bumps


you notice bumps on the way going out;
the same road home is always smoother.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

found rocks


when you're able
display special rocks you find
in a line on a table
so you appreciate finding them

Monday, May 21, 2018

go by


on the porch to feel …
in wind light and variable.
sounds like the weatherman
but merely a morning porch looker;
and the train runs by half mile away.

the Q sounds. dah, dah dit dah.
my engineer friend 25 years ago
said no to the Q, just: long, long, short, long.
Yes, it calls the same
as a telegrapher on the plain
as steel wheels sound on the track
on an otherwise quiet morning
rolling, rolling go by

Toast for me
by the baker of the bread
been buttered she said
berry jelly is mine to apply
while there again:
rolling, rolling,
train rolling, go by

Sunday, May 20, 2018

purple on



flashy purple on the Queen, hat and dress
at the wedding of her grandson
on round the world tv,
oh, I noticed; fans don that chosen color
for the Lake Erie Crushers semi-pro baseball team;
here comes now: then identical, how did it happen,
my bright new t-shirt. exacto mundo or what?
didn't fall out of the sky.
i'm talking three same purples.
m chose the t-shirt or it appeared like magic in my clothes drawer.
she didn't help the queen
or the baseball team.
you decide what's coincidence.

throughout time you can rough shod ascertain
what day in our millennium this all came down.
gives me the willeys.

Sunday, April 08, 2018

won't


won't change
'cept i'm older;
jesus criminey
that wraps it up.

dreamt cowboys
redoing their movies,
they were older;
seemed 'bout logical.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

knee deep


a jet trip had me writing in my head,
never scribed a note when good words
began piling around me.
knee deep in my head.
unfortunately the trip to san fran ended without blunting pencil lead.
the good fortune is the trip.

Tuesday, March 06, 2018

be all


nothing doing in the rain,
all is still outside my window
pit pat
except that.
as spring is set.
let's begin again.
temperate times, where are thee?

Thursday, March 01, 2018

search me


The blank box in the upper right is a search box to find other poems by looking for a word, any word. Some are in the poems and some are words that will lead you to another poem. It's fun to try.
This bit of writing is an exercise in communication, me to you, and in writing. I know I should be writing more each day, but I get lost reading because I enjoy that too. I like to put my shoes on ... thought I'd mention that.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

this world we live in


thousands of displaced persons
walk in the rain, in the wind. families carrying
their infants, seeking refuge, peace
somewhere.

dry in my bed last night, on the radio
i heard a young baseball player in Boston
or Baltimore had signed a contract for
150 or 160 million dollars.


.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

near spring


unseasonably warm some say
i call this our first spring day.
we waited a winter
not outer but inner,
now we're ready to play.

too much hoping, too soon.
the dreams floating
unsubstantiated and doomed.
tossed in the wind,
we'll try again
tomorrow.



Thursday, February 08, 2018

salt road


they put out salt from here to Peru,
route 61 to Shelby and beyond.
17 degrees, the day before's snow on the road.
drove there, parked, we entered.

sat by the window;
looking good, view in and out. joint's hoppin'.
sunny side up and good hash browns
i ordered that.

"for potatoes..." the waitress
looking me in the eye or over my head and out the window
finalized, "shredded or chunks?" wants to speak
her own language...a real think-about.

made my mind up - shredded;
she went away then it all came back to me: got eggs and all.
ate with gusto, paid and told her
"it's all fine what you have here...so's the coffee."

she believed me, an eye blink goodbye.
white asphalt, dry and salted
as we rode on home
oh, yeah




On a personal note: At times I
have to work poems over for days.
Others I share quickly;
I want to serve them while they're hot.

.

winter's day ride


out in the country we pass
a pair of beautiful high stepping dark horses,
brown with lighter beige patches and white slashes,
pulling a clack buggy, silhouetted in bright snow.
a family aboard, my camera not ready ...
i see them come,
with children smiling.
there, hear them laughing
... there they go.
bundled for a winter's day ride.
oh, joy ... and nice horses

.

Monday, February 05, 2018

20th century


In the old days when the phone rang
there would be a person calling.

.

Friday, February 02, 2018

graandma



Her warm heart. Her smiling.
Today is Grandma's birthday
I never said happy birthday enough to her, my favorite relative.

While born a hundred and many years ago,
I stand earth years older than she.
She'd nod her head and smile at that thought.


Thursday, February 01, 2018


Time is greased
with no place to hang on.

Saturday, January 13, 2018



i am looking out the window waiting.
this is too much.
some steel and winds
not powerful, but steady.


thinking Rome ... home again.
tumbling on the snow drift called winter
cold and rolling,
skies alive.






.

Thursday, January 04, 2018

geese nap


semi-gray day, a few smears of blue
seen through parting dark clouds in the sky.
heater on, windows up.
road dry, 15 degrees.
pass 25 random spots in a field like dark plastic bags;
look again, one or two are moving. it's geese lying there.
their idea of a good place for a nap
is different from mine.

yes, there is steel in the winds ...
enough to test you.

taste it cold and ...
in skies alive that have come down around you.

while thinking Rome, at home
in the snow drift called winter

Wednesday, December 27, 2017


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.

.

Saturday, December 23, 2017

challenge


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

.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017



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

.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

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

.

Sunday, November 05, 2017

it is tough


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

Thursday, November 02, 2017

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.



Saturday, October 28, 2017

October skies


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

Monday, October 23, 2017

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

Sunday, October 15, 2017


find the tea that appeals
sip it and wonder


Friday, October 13, 2017

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.).

Thursday, October 12, 2017


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

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

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.

.

Monday, October 09, 2017

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.



.

Sunday, October 08, 2017



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


.`.

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

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?


.

Monday, October 02, 2017

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?


.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

poetry is



to say it
neat and clean
is poetry.


.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

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.


.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

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.


.

Monday, September 18, 2017

ten



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


.

Saturday, September 16, 2017

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.

Wednesday, September 06, 2017

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





.

Monday, September 04, 2017

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.



.

Saturday, September 02, 2017

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.





.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

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




.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

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.




.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

winding out


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



.

Friday, August 18, 2017


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



.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017


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


.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Tales


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





.

Saturday, August 12, 2017



.

moon shadow


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



.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

round off the edges


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




.

Sunday, August 06, 2017

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.






.


.

Friday, August 04, 2017

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.





.

Thursday, August 03, 2017

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.



.

Friday, July 21, 2017

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.



.

Sunday, July 09, 2017

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.



.

Friday, July 07, 2017

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.

.

Wednesday, July 05, 2017



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


.

Monday, July 03, 2017



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


.

Sunday, July 02, 2017

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.



.

Saturday, July 01, 2017



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.


.

Monday, June 26, 2017

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




.

Friday, June 23, 2017

image



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




.

Thursday, June 22, 2017



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.



.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017



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.





.

Monday, June 19, 2017



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.




.

Monday, June 12, 2017



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
...



.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

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




.

Friday, June 09, 2017

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.





.

Thursday, June 08, 2017

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.

Tuesday, June 06, 2017



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



.

Monday, June 05, 2017

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.



.

Friday, June 02, 2017



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





.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

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.

.

Sunday, May 21, 2017


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



.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

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.

Friday, May 19, 2017

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

Sunday, May 07, 2017




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.


.

Saturday, May 06, 2017



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.

Thursday, April 20, 2017



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



.

Sunday, March 12, 2017



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?


/

Thursday, March 02, 2017



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





.