planktown in April, opening day

 

another season is set to open

as we prepare the region and the garden

 we drove us to Shelby ... wasn't easy

not when you stack the day together.

 

first we had to go a half hour

Kind of on the way to Norwhere

to see the beautiful new steps

Dan and his Mr. father, Ed Barman made;

steps of cement  to look like the 1860 sandstone original.

 don't know how they did it.

then on to Shelby for the first time in a year

for a breakfast not memorable ... or for sure we

will remember it as the day that rang no bells.

 

the old crew were gone, the new are not the same.

the woman with me had a Spanish something egg with toast,

it looked like catsup.

mine was a pancake, two eggs, shredded potatoes they say.

each of the customers, that's us, had many coffees.

 we left a bit saddened. this is April, 2021 , 

the race is long over and we saw many Trump signs.

 

on fifteen minutes to Shilo,  at Blu-ray: flowers, trees, bushes 

and plants ... Saturday, 17 April his opening day. 

moving quickly,  "hi" to Mark, with nearly a smile

embedded in his recognition of me. 

air is still, pleasant, quiet, Mark never slowed down

workers out with packs of flowers,

she shopped what she could.

 

then to Planktown, no masks on workers,.

10:43 AM, 46 degrees, pleasant, 

many customers wore masks.

we rode back to Oberlin.

my day middle of the week

a low motor hum i imagine

from the easy chair 

thinking good of times

cruising back-road lines

 waiting the growth of spring. 

loads, loads of rain coming soon, 

maybe Sunday, I'm wrong. 

 i am kidding myself.  no rain.

 

James follows the news of when we could see the crushers, 

a semi-pro team in a nearby park.

while baseball plays in Cleveland on TV for a price,

or more likely on the radio where it is still free.

pay those players millions and the advance we feel 

is the ticket price.

what happened to the rain?

On line i saw Sonny Curtis and got lost in old times. He could play his guitar the way i stroked our cat.

the calling of a thing

 names have always been important;

you'd think so anyway.

it appears that to begin writing 

without a known subject

is a vague initiation ...

  ghost writing in the dark.

on a paper bench in the park ... without a pencil.

 

she said she saw a rabbit again - oh, happiness.

i see workers in our yard. 

all are moving beyond my involvement.

  desired conclusions unknown.

she called workers to action.

my concern is for a satisfactory finale. 

so shall we all some to  eventually.

so shall it be.

Water has to drain from our yard.

Rabbits are fun to have around if they don't 

eat away the garden and flowers.

i make note and count the hours.

Wet and cement

 "to the color we'll add some beige ...

to give a hint of age," said the man Ed

who has been working with cement

 fifty years. 

i met him, saw his initial procedure. 

he can handle the job. 

i'm happy He's doing the work For me.

  It will rain some.

i'm not worried about it.

what a pleasure.

late spring morning

the season has developed in full at last.

we think so, and it appears that way.

now two rabbits show up in our yard. 

frolicking.  the two rabbits jumped straight off the ground.

five feet in the air.  i didn't know they could do that.

frolicking is the word for how they acted.

one large like our last year bunny. one small.

there are many bunnies and these didn't have tags; you see a few

And realize they look the same. 

we were hoping these are returnees.

but you know ... that's a good starting phrase,

but you know new rabbits could be friendlier

than the two last year who always 

kept a hunddred feet away. 

these are the opening minutes ... we'll see.

 

 

 

Tai food soon

at last a warm evening ...

the first of hopefully many.

old downtown behind Main.

Meri, Catherine and i take a table.

 

birds overhead call each other.

making a point.  put on a show.

i know they do.  it's how they go.

as water lightly rolls down the river.

the birds crowd each other.

that's a seagull's life.

 boats are coming in;

the afternoon's over.

The new day

 Ride on to ohio. take the highway.

Hello daughter.  been two years.

so talk-fill the gaps. Meri can handle her end.

you're speedy, i'm slack; loving every day.

 

done a winter's worth of waiting for you.

it's swell.  we know each other well.

 Looking ahead, We'll be warm

tomorrow ... like toast, they say.

if we didn't have this pandemic

we could hug. but i'm an old man

afraid of catching the bug.

so we do what we can.

pasqua 2021

pasqua is easter ...

 weightlessness in long term

space. you hit the ball, round first

base. good thing we're here on planet

blue, running, hitting like we 

do. yes, the season has just 

begun. so far few players have hit a home 

run. wait until Monday, see how they've 

done.

strike, ball, double, take off, watch the ump.

mark down Easter, figure if we will spend summer

watching baseball .. or have we had enough.

watching guys who make 200 million a year

 

and we have to pay a hundred a season 

just to see them on TV. 

They should pay fans a hundred a month 

to watch them on TV.

ocean

 i can smell the ocean from my chair.

looking up it isn't there.

a peach ripens on the window sill

the clocks approaching quarter 'til

and as i pull the bag from my cup of tea

my mind takes me places i'd like to be.

here, magazines picture my vacation

while outside, birds make their migration.

the mast will creak as my chair rocks.

i stir my tea as my ship docks,

with quill in hand and love sublime

i'll send this message from out of time

corked and floating on ocean's crest

the letter drifts to islands west

at night, moonlight flashes the bottle glass,

by day, the jumping, curious dolphin pass

by sooner or later and seagulls,

by lesser and greater in wind lulls,

by storms and seasons

beyond all reasons

i put my feet up and think of beach,

sip my tea, and eat my peach

April one-ish

don't open your eyes, you won't believe this ... sleep more before you go ahead.

Wake to snow Covering all ... won't last, melting fast. Winter's gone but  yeah bah. What an April morning to take in.

want some eggs an bacon?

you're dreaming.

Meanwhile there is poetry, back in fashion ... scattered around  pick that one off the ground, clown. It's yours.

claim it. sticks a medal on you for showing up today ... hold still, Willy. Will yah.

okay eight-thirty now and the street looks slushy. 

nothing new falling. it's on the way to total meltdown.

2021 stretches

 

Sharon Stone doing a cowboy film.

she certainly did 26 years ago.

am i poeming yet

this middle of the week?

trash goes out every Wednesday.

stack up those weekly obligations.

while Catherine flies in

Califonia to Detroit.

she'll see her friend then drive here

where robins are out hoping, pecking

as today the year's third month ends.

worn out. mark it down.

a quarter of the year has burned.

not only quickly it went quietly.

entirely wrapped up.

as you, i'm happy to have seen it.

Spring for sure

Flying today is my daughter

from California. where it's hotter

well, it's not the season for heat

yet it's warm enough.

 

neat she's  coming here  

wing in dear.

And good for us. Joy.  Joy again.

This doesn't happen everyday.

 

we'll all enjoy the visit.

like sprinkling seeds of happiness.

well i guess i'll miss her toby and daughter.

so i guess we'll fly hr way next. 

Doctor me

 

here and also another ... there.

load me with appointments.

two today ... say, hey.  Plenty

of attention. where i'm scheduled up.

more than enough for me.

my calendar is usually clean.

can i quit yet?

i'm only thinking about it. 

cold light spring rain

morning cold spring rain.

enough so neighbor  runners

packed in suits head to toe

jackets with the hoods-up go, 

decked in outfits like firefighters 

on the back of a bells-clanging

fire truck running with siren blaring

down city streets. out of the way, 

 

tearing quick, make way.

on this  cold rainy day.

very brisk starting.

out of the way.

times are right

 the ceilings are high.

Floors are natural, wood boards.

no cars passing this morning

all creatures doing as best they can

no rabbits, deer, birds nor wind;

and it's warm enough, you know for sure

after a long winter cold, spring finally began.

time daylight savings

daylight savings time 

forgotten the day after

until six months later.

why do we reset clocks. 

don't tell me.

why not forget the change 

we need the sun in the morning

and the moon at night. 

 coffee and oatmeal are sufficient

cancel inconvience

goes 'round

 

when i heard he was a Beatle

i had no idea Paul McCartney

would write Live and Let Die,

a Jame Bond movie theme;

or that fifty years later i'd write these words,

think this thought, and not be particularly surprised.

my, my, how the world goes 'round.

although, i had not the foggiest idea.

the lake and the towne

the lake waves roared and gulls flew swiftly 

as lives tumbled forward

Into new times and new friends;

always unexpected adventures.

years later i came back and walked on the pier

only slower and not so far out this time.

now i can satisfy myself by looking at old photographs

and pictures i'd painted years ago. 

there are memories. sweet memories we share

of times back then. you know when.

summer was ours. yes it was. 

we'd hear the coal dumper and the morning trains. 

remember?

we saw familiar people walking on main street.

you see one, recognize, and forgot his or her name;

almost recall, but not quite. you never thought some year you'd try to remember.

and there were people then i could recognize but never knew their names. 

their cars or trucks went by and a while past they would be familiar too, 

and we never gave it a second thought. 

i know driving by you couldn't help but look to see what was playing at the Ritz.

you'd smile. some time you'd have seen the movie

and now you'd drive to the next town to a decent theater.

or it was league night at the bowling alley.

maybe friends would come over for cards tonight or a beer.

no matter ... evenings went well.

these endless summers were ours.

 

 

overhead

The International space station

floats overhead, clear as a bell,

bathed in the light from the sun.

Tonight the ISS passes over at

10:49 p.m. Coming from the west/southwest.

It revolves the earth every 90 minutes.

16 times a say

Threatening to soon become Spring weather

a blue jay and a male (red headed) woodpecker

tree hopped outside our window this cold morning,

20 March, with frost on the ground.

reading this on another date you'll have to imagine

the coldness. the stillness. the internal anticipation

of the sweet beginning happening now.

all around, anywhere we look.

 

talk to anyone and behind the day's greeting

is the hopeful sweetness, the advent of tomorrow's glorious season

no one can stop or keep away.

Spring.

Need help, some/space station

The day is a absolutely like a spring one;

which began midnight today March the 21st.

Clear, light blue sky this morning and fields hold 

a light tan cast more or less, as far as I can see.

 

we need sunny days to get the green growing.

plus some heat, of course.

and naturally it will ... happen i mean.

slowly, swiftly through every lawn and field ...

 

green'll cover everything as far as we can see. 

there will be birds and people walking their dogs

with their plastic bags.

 

                        ***

 

the evening news on Cleveland TV said the space station

is coming over at 8:39 tonight, from a west south-westerly direction.

also i heard something "about fifteen degrees." i missed that.

later it was time, Meri said  come on, and we went outside.

in this new home we don't know the directions well,

only East for the rising sun and West where it sets.

she wanted to drive to Delaware somewhere where there is open space.

at home we have trees all around and only a few minutes to get ready.

we stood in our driveway, in about a minute and she starts,

"there it is ... i see it there." i looked and there it was,

just-about overhead. we expected a dot and it's large as captain Kirk's Enterprise. and lit up. 

for seven minutes we watched the space station pass over from the middle of our driveway.

rain hell's worth

 didn't happen, yet, it's gonna.

wind that clock, storm's on the way.

i put on shoes instead of slippers.

serious water coming down, down.

 

we'll soon see how much 

atmospheric anomalies

are shaking our days. 

at the very least: dress for it.

line in a row

seen together during winter months

lined  up on ice in a row 

then leap up to the air all at once

when they decide it's time to go

 

ducks fly in a shifting v 

low in flight, not going far

I've got to stop right there. The title: Line in a row.  When you have a line, 

that's a row isn't it? I am sure that a line indicates a row. I don't have to say

straight  line. A line is a line, and that's a row. March is a month for poetry,

isn't it?  Keep your shoes on. Get in the box. 

get ready for opening day.

When the pitcher pitches,

knock it into the stands.

and when you round the bases

be sure to tip your hat to the fans.

andy

 

Today I was taking a nap

when the phone rang,

"This is Andy from the shipping department..."

That's all I ever hear,

because there is a pause

and I hang up, every time.

He's been calling everyday for a month,

maybe longer, I lose track of time.

Maybe he's from the "fishing" department.

I've never asked him to repeat himself.

We've never really talked.

I just know when it's

the wrong time for a call

and I'm not expecting one,

the phone rings

and it's Andy.

Dentist, our special one

 Ok, slip-up. Goes around. 

Hold him so high yet still have fear.

There I said the word 

And how's your morning.?

Quiet, nothing... prepared.

Thought I finished with dentists,

Then a holiday  nut broke a crown.

MY crown. ... my golden crown.

Do I get a 21 gun salute for showing up?

Forget you.  Bail out  now or she'll

Drive you you know where.

Yes. I'm ready.

***

get tough.

later, Got through. 

One finite day -1

    

             a quarter into the year,

noting days, like dripping waters, pile on repeatedly. 

  our position labeled fine.   over my shoulder now,

 separating threads, flipping heads

also tails. 

while making bread ... who controls flipping?

 examine what is going on. avoiding  dread, enough said.

Position ourselves in hopes for the most, making toast ...

 turning out a good year ... our objective.

     we're underway ... put jelly on

a mention of jelly to make us all feel good,

                                               

      well beyond this year's starting line

our position is labeled fine. 

   over my shoulder now.

 separating beads, flipping heads

and tails, making bread,

who is controlling flipping?

 dodge  dread, what was said

positioning ourselves for the most, making toast ...

simply turning out a good year ... our objective.

no doubt we're underway ... with jelly on.

 jelly is mentioned to make you feel good

forty one

it's Fahrenheit degrees in the morning.

warmer than anything we've had for 

a while. not freezing is it. not a question. 

reminds me of country roads we've 

driven between here and Shelby 

where Ted and Ali's our old 

breakfast place is. for me it is 

sitting still and looking out the 

window that draws back the warm times. 

open again

the lockdown is done for

had enough for now

don't asume anything.

keep your distance.  mine too.

turned over

where dream world is i keep going.

to return quickly as 

dropping off to sleep.

no problem,  no waiting.

Without hesitating.  

line up now  

wake up

 now it's the month and the angle

when first thing each morning

brightly shining through the blinds

the sun decorates my wall with brilliant stripes.

it 's a bright display

gets my attention.

too bad the sun

doesn't make coffee.