The damp creeps in once Raven steals the Sun;
the weeds are battened down. The grey wind
roughs me up with jagged claws and shoulders like
granite peaks.
I retreat to my den and curl up in a corner listening
to the drip-drip-drip. If I don't move soon I'll mildew.
When my grandmother was a little girl her aunt died.
The ground was frozen too stiff to bury her, and
by spring her corpse was blanketed with a forest of mold.
It was a dark and stormy night
We ventured outside the ship
Couldn't see much out there
Seems we're all about to slip
It was the perfect storm
Warm waves crashed against our boat
Hold on for dear life mates
Or you'll fall into the moat
The ship it rocked and rolled
It moved from side to side
What happens to us now?
On this exciting ride
As we struggled for position
To be the first to see
Faint words slipped off my lips
"There's womb for us all to be"
Most of us stopped short
But some had lost control
I couldn't hold them back
They vanished like a mole
The ship it was a sinkin'
Nothin' would remain
Abandon ship I yelled
My voice revealed the strain
My men and I all gathered
Together on the deck
We jumped into the ocean
Submerged up to our neck
Where we go cap'n?
Keep your chin up men!
No tucked tails 'tween your legs!
Be proud to be seamen!
· What has happened to us humans that we have forgotten the fact of our existence and that of other,
· What has happened to us, that we seek meaningless goals, as the only reason for our existence
· What happened to us, that we desire things for the sake of their possession and not for their use.
· What happened to us, that we may even go to war to have one of those things
· What happened to humanity that it believes that reality is what we watch on tv, more than family, friends and people around us, things around us.
· What has happened to us humans, that we forget that meat is not a product but the muscle of a dead animal.
· What has happened to us that we forget the body is meant to be use as a tool for our own expression, not as a prison.
· What happened that we use our own technological advancement for our own demise, to kill, to be lazy
· What happened, that we don’t walk, or use our muscle to shape reality, make a meal
· What will it take for us to reach high, reach deep into our hearts, feel the love that we have of a baby, towards it all
· To see the beauty and magnificence of our own existence and to experience the joyful expression of being alive.
I turn some corner, whistling to myself. And then-
It's there, before me: I collide with Beauty.
My breath catches and the tears well in my eyes.
I am over-flowing. My heart swims and love is
wrung from me like water from a sponge. I swoon.
Oh God! It's amaze-ing!
I feel dizzy.
(I should maybe pull over...)
The moment passes, and I surf the feeling out.
Crunch! Ow!...Mother ffff!
Stub, club, smash, crash, bash,
Jam, smack, thwack, gack choke burn.
Sting. Poke, prick, prod stab jab-
Skew-er.
Torque, twinge, twist, crank, wrench,
Wrack, crush, blush, flush,
Contuse, abuse, collide,
Knock, bonk, bounce...tense, strain, ache...
Breathe. Shake it off. Keep going.
Night comes by degrees
Morning is born through darkness
Awaken trem'bling
The Diner
Found this little ol diner
Tell ya friend aint none finer
Slip on down the road
Sit down take off a load
Waitress name is Red
Bun of hair high on her head
Can I get you some coffee?
Or a hot cup of Tea?
She says with a wink of her eye
How about it Sweetie Pie?
I smile and play our game
Every day it goes just the same
Today is like all the rest
I say a "sheepherders breakfast"
Don't bother me with a menu
Just a coffee and a piece of ewe
Her eyes twinkle, smile really big
Her cheeks blush red like her wig
She brings my regular plate
And not a second too late
Open up, slide down the hatch
Home cookin, there aint no match
Bacons a bit greasy
2 brown eggs over easy
Sourdough toast with melted butter
My heart slows to a sputter
But I feel real content
My pants big and baggy as a tent
One more cup of Joe
To gulp as I go
A wink to Big Red
And a tip of my head
She knows I'll be back
Cause she has that knack
Of a smile when it's right
And keepin it light
A warm friendly face
In this cute little place
No son there ain't no finer
Than my favorite diner
Starting to look over this way
The other way interests no more
I don’t even want to look at it
There is darkness and danger everywhere
This new path is shiny and enticing
Pretense of grand things ahead
I know this will lead where I’m going
Away from a past that is dead
Haunting things over my shoulder
Footsteps echo and resound
Things are beginning to approach
My body begins to pound
There’s light at the end of the tunnel
Where it’s from I can’t tell
I only know to keep on running
Away from my own private hell
My rainbow touches out there
Out in a distance unknown
Oh, where is my pot gold?
What happens if I can’t go home?
A breeze sweeps over the meadow
Mist strikes out cool and loud
Noise from a brook running by
Sun streaks slip out of a cloud
An awareness makes its way in
It’s not somewhere else I’m wise
Standing here, absorbing it all
Is my entire life before my eyes
Things appear as I look around
Beholding what I can see
It all is, but I haven’t cared
To see how these things can be
Walk on and take some time
To experience whatever is me
What lies ahead and falls behind
Can’t replace what now can be
It is a dark place that hides here
Lurking in dense bushes, behind trees
Peeking out through narrowed eyes
Slits of yellow green scanning opportunity
An insatiable blood thirst compels
Well fed hunger ever empty
Driven by forces deep within
Never to be satisfied
Silent padded feet move swift
Covering lethal ground with ease
Hidden are talons of death
Waiting to find unsuspecting prey
Predator weaves in and around unseen
Silently, dangerously, darting amidst
Always on alert, ever ready
For a chance to feast on weakness
Conscious to avoid strong and wary
Sinister blend feint normalcy
Strike at victims unrelenting
Another kill atop gluttonous belly
Quickly back to calm tenseness
Lest true intention be revealed
Slit yellow green eyes searching
To fill relentless unquenched hunger
Thinking of “takers” in the world, who pretend and steal. 9/07
Twinkling lights shine beautiful
It is your smile beaming radiant
Sun sparkles across a calm lake
It is your eyes looking at me
A thousand church bells ring in harmony
It is your laughter sweet to my ears
There is warm blanket and hot cocoa
When your arms wrap around me
Awesome seashores with crashing waves
When you make love to me
Admiration and intrigue of fine art
As I gaze across the room at you
Alabaster and rose color sensuous curves
My eyes caress you sleeping in early light
Walk with me to the sunset
Lovely lady of my heart
Sitting on the couch at the farm, just risen, and thinking of watching her sleep, writing down what I was thinking. 9/07
Struggle
Footsteps pound the street
Splashing droplets fly
Can this really be
A way to stay dry?
Run as fast as you can
Outpace the chasing wet
Or is this all delusion
Have you ever controlled it yet?
An argument begins
I really don’t know why
Down below the shins
The feet begin to defy
The shoes look toward the future
The feet won’t even move
The first looks to mature
The second wants to groove
Fly as quicksilver, FLY!
The shoes scream at the feet
If I don’t stay dry
I won’t look very neat
Oh just feel the wet
The toes are heard to say
More fun we cannot get
We really want to play!
Feet, I have things to do
Places to go, people to see
I want to move the world
So sloshed I cannot be
Shoes, we’ll move you as we feel
And take our own sweet time
Don’t be such a heel
Doesn’t this feel sublime?
Will this ever end?
This funny little spat
An agreement ‘round the bend
Or will it be that….
Forever they will juggle
Much effort down the hole
In this wondrous struggle
Between the flesh and soleJ
Riding my bicycle ¼ mile back from a class at the gym to the “crustic” Lake George cabin we were in. It was some of the hardest rain I’ve ever been in and I was instantly soaked to the bone. Laughing all the way back, I was roaring over my urge to ride fast versus my humor of the moment riding soaking in warm rain and just enjoying it. Lake George 8/07
Approach
They gather to see “what can I do”
Readying for an exploration of ability
Shapes, sizes, reasons all may differ
For each on brings forth different colors
Bolting out quickly, some jump ahead
Others follow in an attempt to keep up
Some are looking for where to start
And some seem unable to begin
Eventually they all make their way
Across wide expanses of windswept life
All holding true to their reasons whey they do
And struggling to see where they are
Virtually seamless skills executed swiftly
A few galloping, running just behind
Some as if they are beginning to walk
Others avoiding drowning as in slow crawl
What they have learned will go on forever
Because they fully participate in life
And each has learned anew
What they can and cannot do
I was at the sailing regatta, in the spotter boat, watching the beginning of the race. The struggle of the participants reminded me of how we do our lives. It was amazing to watch even the last to cross the start line and finish line, and how much they were enjoying just being there. Some were scared to death, and probably benefited the most from the experience. Just like we do in all our lives…….. Lake George espian sailing regatta, 9/07
Oh my god
I have to fart
But if I do
I won’t look smart
There are things
You just don’t do
Like take a breath
By my tennis shoe
Some things stink
That’s just the case
Keep my pits far from your face
Garlic for dinner?
My exercise clothes!
Oh please help
Your poor nose
So I hold
My butt cheeks tight
Just clamp them down
With all my might
I do all this
Don’t you see
So you won’t have
To experience me!
I was writing a poem to meet the group, and started laughing at myself. We had been going through some individual explorations in classes building throughout the week, and I found myself very humorous. It is amazing how much we try to repress within ourselves so others don’t see what we consider to be “bad”. At that moment this was very much a poem about holding in my “expression” and emotions. Lake George 9/07
So we met
I didn’t know
What could change
Sparkling eyes
Radiant smile
See the sunshine?
My heart pounds
Aching for closeness
Touch vibrates me
Bounce and laugh
Giggle for fun
Quiver with delight
Stand with me
I’m your rock
With soft heart
You be gentle
But still strong
To hold tight
Change our worlds
Take my hand
Together we venture
Each one great
There’s even more
Beauty of two
To my beautiful wife. This was so easy to write, for the truth was in my vision of you. 9/07 Lake George
Awakening
A snow capped mountain sits on the horizon
Tall peak looking out over the distance
Lying still amidst small movement on cragged slopes
Nature running its' course and chipping away
It has been here a long, long time
Hardening, aging, wearing away
Majestic origins hidden by crumbling edges
A hard topped windswept rock over flowing trees
But there is movement beginning inside
A pulse, evident only in the mountain itself
A rumbling here, a warm spot there
Veins of life moving throughout
Fissures appear, steam vents
Rock ledges tremble and quiver
Movement on the slopes alert inhabitants
Majestic mountain begins to wake
A rumbling occurs, forces impact
How the mountain moves inside
Snow on its ledges begin to melt
Tears of water trickle from thawing ice
A large shift in the rock happens
And lava begins to ooze out here and there
Pieces of the mountain itself are glowing
Molten beginning to peek out of its' shell
An explosion near the peak
Moves everything around
No longer slumbering
There is force within to be realized
Hot lava runs down cragged slopes
Altering the face of the mountain
Tears of water once evident
Long gone from the heat released
The mountain is alive again
No longer pretending to sleep
Beginning from inside itself
The mountain creates new life
My first poem, from meeting Edgar Boone at dinner and reawakening my love of writing. Thanks Edgar. I realized how much it means to me, and how I felt as if I was the mountain awakening to flow with words, melting the hardness I have surrounded myself with. Sitting on the balcony of the "crustic" cabins at Lake George, this flowed as the lava within it. 9/07
