The Gardner and the Flower

Once upon a time, there was a flower beautiful to behold.
Full of light in a dark kingdom the flower bore the seeds of love.
Her seeds had the power to grow in the heart of the beholder.
Together the flower and the beholder would wait for the sun to
appear over head, for the sun is the source of sustenance.
Without him there could be no love, no warmth, no life.
Sometimes when the weather is cloudy it is hard to see the sun.
It was during these times that the flower and her friend would
assure each other that the sun would be out again soon.
The flower swayed in the breezes while her friend sang.
Whenever the hard rains came the flower and her friend
stood by one another, and although it was difficult to bear up under,
the flower would raise up again soon after the storm. This
then, is the story of how the two became friends.
The man first spied the rose in a field of roses. He was
awed by her beauty so much, that he almost bumped into a tree
branch while gazing at her. She was quiet and bent over for
that day had been cloudy and wet. The man left the field
that day and had almost forgotten the rose, but an enchanted wind
arose and carried one of the flower's magic seeds from the field
a great distance to the man's house and planted it in his heart.
Along the way from the man's house to the field where the flower lived,
were a great many obstacles; swamps, wild beasts, and thickets of thorns
to block his path, but the flower could not come to him
so he traveled to the flower's field. The seed
once planted worked in the man's heart and grew into a powerful
vision of the flower. Now, it seemed to the man that even if there
were Lions in the way of getting to the field, it mattered little.
Indeed as the man drew closer to the flower he realized that she
was more beautiful than his memory's telling. The flower called out:
"I have thorns that may hurt you and the journey is difficult for you
to make." For the field was a dangerous place, and was the flower
to place trust in a stranger when her life was held in such a delicate
balance? Also, there were other flowers to consider. Might
the man in his clumsiness and haste not trample under foot some
of those which grew very close to the spot where the flower stood?
Or might he try to pull me out and move me elsewhere? Again she
called: "My roots are entwined with many of the flowers close to me,
If you take me away others may be injured or lost. " So she closed
her petals into a bud and thought on these things, while the little flower
prayed that the sun might shine. The sun did come out.
His rays shone and reflected through droplets on the flower so
that she appeared radiant and faceted about with diamonds.
It seemed to the man that the sun only shone on the flower.
Soon the man arrived and was careful of the other flowers so
that he did not injure them.  He brought water for the flower
and tilled the soil at her feet. As he kneeled beside her, the
man noticed for the first time the flower's intoxicating fragrance;
it washed over him like an ocean wave. The orange and jasmine
blossoms saw this and were jealous, for all the blossoms of the
field could not compare. Every day, and sometimes at night, the
man came to visit the flower, either in body or in his thoughts.
But thoughts were never like being there with her. So it was
that the man became more and more like a gardener, until it was so.
The flower absorbed and reflected more and more of the sun in
her glorious petals. The gardner and flower became friends.
Then it happened, they began to see that they were made with
the purpose of caring and being cared for. In doing so they
both became stronger and better at caring
so that they began to care for those around them and all
things great and small that lived in the field. He with the
skills of a husbandman and she with the power of love.
The two became very close so that the flower no longer
afraid, opened up again in full bloom. The gardner loved
the flower and she in turn loved her friend. He began to
notice how intricate were the flower's gold tipped
and scarlet petals. Soft to the touch and blinding to
look upon. Also her slender stem and waxen leaves,
which alternately shone in the sun or danced with dew
in the moonlight. She gave shade to all passing below;
From her heart came pollen and nectar to humming birds,
butterflies, ants and bees of the field. The friends
were happy in this newly enchanted place and let
their dreams take flight, for both knew that winter
season would come some day. The season of ice
when all things must sleep. The gardner and flower
shivered at the passing thought. But the sun
shone strongly upon them through the morning mists
and a rainbow comforted them with these words:
" Be assured little ones below, the sun rules the sky
and seasons, he is always shining even in the
darkest winter, and the hand of ice has been
broken forever so that spring may come again,
and so that the flower, her friend and all that live
in the field might dwell in his warm light for evermore ." 
So it was, and so they did. So that this story might be told.
And so it is that they lived happily ever after.

Love - with audio

audio link

Love
Beyond the mountains
Hovering in the gleam about the snow
Splendid rushing waters of the sea
Salt crystal on a fingertip

Love
Creation in majesty
Abounding in the clouds
Within the forest's ancient trees
Seasons shimmering leaves

Love
Through the veil pours a sunburst
See the pollen of a blossom
Softer than a kiss
In the eyes of a child

Love
In the gurgling waters of a brook
A fleck of mineral on a crayfish
As the fresh unseen is captured
Then given in reflection once again.

Love
In you, and me
Much greater than the furthest star
Love fathoms the Universe
A lightyear in our sigh

Summer Night - with audio

audio link

Emerald leaves
In motion
Unfolding
For the night
Mounting waves
Of ocean
Pulled
By moonbeams bright
Nova
In the vapors
Bursts
Into Nebulae
Little bird
In the Sycamore
Singing on
As if to say
This heart
Is with yours
Sky,
Sea and forest
Pearl
Of my vision
Glowing
In my eye
My heart
Is young
Share your love
With me
Or I
Shall die

Nature and The City - with audio

audio link

Listen a bird is singing
Look a sundrop in your eye
Glistening grass parting
A hawk dives
Beyond the fields a dog is barking
Thank God for that bothersome bug
Snakes and lizards in the yard
All the thriving wild and beautiful things
Are much better than the concrete coliseums
Plastic flowers, Teflon humanity, electric buzz,
Dirty streets and sooty honking incense
Which permeate everything
Everyday, when living in the big city.

Dear Miss - with audio

audio link

Dear Miss Dobee
Sweet daisy assured
We love you though
It be hard to say
Sister, friend any day

We do not use you
We would not bruise you
You are so kind
To your kinder  * (from Yiddish or German)
Do not let your heart be bitter

We all love you
Not for convenience
Though our actions may not
Show love's response
We get caught up

In busy jet streams
While running to
Chase life's dreams
You are patient
Dobee so kind

Please don't be
Of troubled mind
What can we do
Ask us please
Our words be unwise,

But will not tease
Doing our best
At your appeal
We all care for you
Some with hidden zeal.

Morning Moment - with audio

audio link

Whippoorwill wind
Pink sky in the morning
Pine tree straight and tall
Motorcycles rush by
Cold fingers
Florescent light
On the wire
Mourning doves
Tan and brown
The heater is working
The bicycle parked
A dairy truck hums loudly
Can't seem to write the correct date
Unconcerned walkers stroll to work
Wastepaper basket scrapes
Grating on the concrete floor
Telephone sits glaring
Electric reflection
The day goes on.

SMILE (show-tune:) - with audio link

audio link

When your day is dull and dreary
And your mind won't seem to clear it
Just seems everything's going totally wrong
When the boss is out and in
You've done something wrong again. Again?
Why did it all have to happen to me?

Well let me ask you just one question
Afore I tell you the solution
Lo, give you absolution
For your soul that's dark and dreary, dearie
When you got up out of bed this morning
Did you start to contemplating something?

Or did you just smile, just smile?
Do you wake up in the morning
Just sitting there frowning?
Or do you smile, just smile!

When you hop out of bed with a smile on your face
Your teeth shinning all over the place
What a fine example for the whole human race
That life ain't so bad after all!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors, your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way,
The way you want to

Smile, no matter what the luck
Honey, there ain't no if, ands or buts
Just remember to smile,
and say: "I love you!"

Smile away, when you're on the freeway

There's a mad traffic jam, and horns are honked at you
Because when you smile it’s a free day

Smile and you show the way
Smile, even if its just to say
Hello, goodbye

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you like to

Smile you're the hero,
its your epic story
Dearie, we'll all revel in the glory
When you smile, and say I love you

If you do all these things
You'll hear the birdie when he sings
Every day is like spring, you've sprung
The sun is shining brightly
The breeze is whistling lightly
Your heart is young and sprightly, you see?

When you smile where you are
You change the world
near and far
Smile, because
That's just the way you are!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you love to!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you want to!
Smile

Fall Into The Sky - with audio

audio link

The sky
An ocean
Where birds swim
Clouds play and
Man longs to be
There in spirit
In thoughts
Purest essence and
Drifting temperament
The starry sky
Humbles all
Captured onlookers
She is unfathomable,
The vast unknown
Just as the heart
Of self or another
The trees reach up
To touch her
To praise
Something unseen
Singing songs unspoken

The sky
Although High above,
Never condescends
She is the court of a king
Where the planets
Are dancing, and the
Stars' burning hunger
Keep eyes glowing
And souls warm
The unhappy hide
From her face
Afraid of what
Might be read there
A happy spirit
With raised visage
Lets loose, setting free
Balloons of laughter
Announcing the news
Of life's joyous breath
Given and taken
Between the heavens above
And the spinning shores below

Such are observations
Of a child
All who look
Upon her beauty
Fall into the sky
At a glance.

Autumn (ditty) - with audio

 audio link
Run on now in the wheat, oats and barley
Cold air comes, Fall color is here
My friend what do you see?
 - no time to spare...

All around the leaves are falling

Leaves are falling from the trees

Red and yellow leaves are falling

Leaves are falling down on me

 

Fall right down and touch my sweater

Twirl and flutter in wispy sound

With friends around it seems much better,

Seems much better on the ground

(chorus)

Rolling through fallen leaves

Tearing up the elbows of my flannel sleeves

Rolling through fallen leaves

Muddying up the knees in my old blue jeans

Get right up its started raining

Raining down the cold gray sky

Away from you the rain is falling

Rain keeps falling from my eye

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Singing meadows recall your wavy flaxen hair

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Cuddling by the fire in our favorite chair

On misty morning I'll be calling

Calling you in cold night air

In your warm heart I'll be calling

I'll be calling to you there

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Picking out a pumpkin at the county fair

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Kissing in the cornfield without a care 

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Baking bread and apple butter beyond compare

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Planting jars for the winter down our back stair

Drinking up, dancing down

Full of love songs, hearts resound...

And fresh, so fresh...

(deep breath) ... hmmm
Is the Autumn air.

Too Much Information - with audio

audio link

War in other Americas
War in the Middle East
Somewhere down south
At our abstracted backdoor
Suffering people valued least
Its all foggy in my head
A vague string of pictures
Dirty little phrases
The TV newsman said
I can't understand it
Its so very hard to grasp
Oppression in Africa
We don't expect to last
Famine in Ethiopia
Conflict in the Congo 
Destitution in Somalia
To say the least, but go on

Slavery in Sudan
War in Iraq
Protests in Irae
-->

Bury the cornucopia
War in Afghanistan

Countdown the clock
In the Arabian sea.
Somewhere over there

Broken teapots in the UK

Plastic rifles in the UN
Primitive in my memory
Crazy dying madmen
Dictators in Asia
By the Mediterranean

Nuclear Korea

World consternation

Ballisitc Baltics and Russia

Over Pakistani pacification

Chessmen in China

Thoughts of India’s decimation

 

But Here in America
In favorite magazines
The advertisement reads
Have what you dream
Can you hear the screams
Of dissidents in the pillory
Don't know the pains
Of the man in agony
Let him call upon family
Not much we can do
Got a bad economy
Work very hard
Job is all my life
I got a nice car
A house, kids and wife
We ain't got much
Sounds the common cry
Burdened with stuff n such
But we get by

See the boy
The cardboard box
He wants money
Look away now,
And the woman
Outside the window
The sign reads her plan
But I'm entertaining,
Table set, dinner in the pan
Flat screen complaining
War on the planet
War in the heavens
See a fire, fan it
Dainties on the plate
They say it's cosmic UFOS
Perhaps a Communist plot
IRS Tax NRA's IRAs
Capitalist Imperialism
Militant radicalism
Religion's special-ism

Don't bother me, I don't know
He's Just one little person
She's just Living out a scheme
Too much information
Nightmare vs dream 
Toward a quiet cluttered space
Plucking out bad verse
In a dirty little place
Unaffected, by the universe
Quiet the hands that pray
Others steal away
Broken vessels of the day
Orphans and widows
White lab-coats and waste vehicles
The dead of night speaks
A black cry of landfills
While vigilant Mercy
Contemplates a fullness of weeks
And bids the heart be still
Comforting the gentle and meek
For love lives on, but fear kills.

Poor One - with audio

audio link

When you're a poor one
Nobody loves you
When you're a poor one
There's no one to care
When you're a poor one
Everyone is above you
When you're a poor one
You may collect welfare
When you're a poor one
To be sickly is common
When you're a poor one
Idiot's your name
When you're a poor one
You're ugly, downtrodden
When you're a poor one
 Living's your game
When you're a poor one
Your Stomach is empty
When you're a poor one
The world is but pain
When you're a poor one
You weather winds wintry
When you're a poor one
You're cold in the rain
When you're a poor one
All you know is desire
When you're a poor one
No one sees you as human
When you're a poor one
You warm by campfire
When you're a poor one
You sleep where you can
When you're a poor one
Your wealth is in heaven
When you're a poor one
You walk with cold feet
When you're a poor one
Your life is unleaven 
When you're a poor one
You hate man's conceit
When you're a poor one
Lost dogs hang around you
When you're a poor one
You give them a name
When you're a poor one
You own what is with you
When you're a poor one
You hide on a train
When you're a poor one
You steal what will feed you
When you're a poor one
You eat handout meals
When you're a poor one
G-d's always beside you
When you're a poor one
Death's kicking your heels
When you're a poor one
Life is quite lonely
When you're a poor one
You have little mirth 
When you're a poor one
There's happiness only
When you're a poor one
 Buried in earth.

Ode To Summer - audio link

audio link

This is for roses, and junipers
All things that grow

For mint and dewy clover
To days and nights going slow

Dandelions, and  Daisies
Kisses under moonlight's glow

Sun in the trees
Hot afternoons,
Sugary Ice teas

Cold lemonade
Warm friendships
In the cool of shade
For all little children
Who run in the glade

Buzzing bees
Sunflower seeds

Cows that say
Moo to passersby
Corn that cracks
In the damp blue sky

Robins and Geese
Hawks and Blue Jays

Windy flaxen grass
Oats a whistling
Old pond, green moss
Turtles and frogs listening

Rain falling fast
Crystal clear
Coming down at last
Far and near

Ice cold springs
Ringing through the forest
Tiny cricket sings
With cicadas and locusts

In ferns, under the bottlebrushes
Lay warm moose and calf
Red Foxes jump in the deep rushes
While squirrels run off to nap

Forest green, antlers crest,
Hidden creatures eyes
In hedge, hole and nest

There out to spy,
To play,
To feed,
To rest

Shorts, Fragments, and Thoughts

JOY
Joy is a bunny hopping about
Inside one's breast
Joy is bubbles of laughter
Waiting to escape a smile
Joy is light turned into breath
Shining out with each sigh
Joy is brightness unhidden
An uncontainable energy
Joy reaches beyond the stars
Unfathomed, is it's power


POTATOES AND EGGS
Potatoes and eggs (big breath in)
Sniffin in a whiff
Breathin in the goodness
Knowin I'm gonna have more
Than what the Doctor says I shouldes
Sour cream and muffin
One banana, orange juice
Down I am stuffing
Mmmmmm, mmmmm!
Yummy, yummy!
I just wanna say
Thank you mummy!

A BOOK
A book is to be read
With some tea
And some bread

Hid like a crook,
In a nook,
In a bed

With a fire nearby
A tear in your eye
Like a granny

Of wise quiet mind
Then comes slumber
Gentle and kind


THE PINE TREE AND THE LAMP POST
Tonight I chanced upon a pine tree
Chatting with a lamppost dressed in black
I'm trimmed straight and lean
The lamppost said
I'm somewhat in between
Said the pine
With that they swayed and chuckled gustily

KITTY

Pretty kitty kit cat

He’s so little and fat

He’s a pretty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit

Pretty kit kitty Cat

Pretty Kitty Kit cat

Orange and round just like that

Friendly purring on my lap

He’s a pretty kit cat

Pretty Kitty kit cat

At the window mewing this way and that

Eats his food then takes a nap

Pretty kitty kit cat

Pretty Kitty kit Cat

Long fur upon his back

His tail it swishes and swishes it swishes

He’s a pretty kit cat

See him crouching in the yard looking pouty

Spying out a lizard or a mousy for his mouthy

He’s eating grass, then goes stalking on a sortie

Finding feral felines for a garden brawling party

Pretty kitty kit cat

Chasing string and swatting a gnat

Pouncing on a cricket, stopping to chat

Pretty kitty kit cat

Pretty kitty kit cat

Stretching in the sun laying flat

Scratch his neck with head cocked back

Tell him he's a pretty kit cat, for

He’s a pretty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit,
kitty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit,

Pretty kit, kitty kit, pretty kit, kitty kit

Pretty kit, kit-ty cat!

PEGGY
Peggy Peggy Peggy
Lovely shining Peggy
Dancing for donuts
Smiling for reggae
Turning and twisting
Sunny and smiling
To fun just insisting
Giggly, sweet, beguiling
Jumping with bounce
I love you pretty Peggy
Every little ounce

CAW CAW MR. CROW
Caw Caw Mr. Crow
Looking for a bit of cherry,
Perhaps some bread-crust,
Special sun-arrayed foil,
Or a peanut shell
For tender morsels
Sumptuous delicacies,
And shiny relics
Such as these
You always come
In evening dress,
Black Coat and tails
Day or Night
Such stately manner
How very proper
You are sir
Caw Caw Mr. Crow
Caw Caw!

ALL THE SONGS
All the songs in the willful wind
Belong to Him Who created them
All the songs in the willful wind
Belong to him who lets them in

The melodies that play within

Hearts of loving kindness bring

Ringing joyful dances to begin

Fiery storms raining precious gems

ENCRYPTED WORDS
Encrypted words
Flew like Humming birds
In the heart of the Louvre,
Aujourd'hui et toujours mon ami
Ideas like melodies
Kisses spent in kind
Make admiring minds
Want to see
Flower and buzzing bee
La vision de l'art
Vie, amour, printemps a nouveau... ,

TRUST IN LOVE
Trust in love
Love in trust
G-d is love
Give to love
Love to give
Love and live
There is peace in love
A gentle urging to kindness


NOVEMBER SATURDAY
Looking at the windowsill
Candles fluttering warm light
There is great pleasure being inside
Thinking lazy thoughts
On this November Saturday
These rich and drifting moments
Are a gift from on high.


WRECKING BALL
I've hurt someone
Now like a wrecking ball inside me
Again and again each memory
Of the people that I've hurt
Slams and hollows this one out
Like an old abandoned building

What a conceited ass
I have become
My hands reach out
All they find is rubble
My nostrils fill with smoke and dust
Ashes and sulfur are my accusers

Tears lay choking and thrashing
Somewhere deep within
Damn the cold stillness
In the granite quarry
Of a pride cramped belly

A balloon filled with putrid air
A glove with no hand to take it
A cloud without rain

As my silence groans

In the growing darkness

Of empty words and

Broken promises

Trampled love and

Shattered relationships 

Echos, of what was,

And what might have been.

ROLLED FORTH IN PEACE

The notes
Of the rock-band
Were frayed
And clashed
Until they shook
My whole being
In seeming
Reminiscence
Of the earthquake
Earlier that day
But all the while
My heart
Like many waters
Of the oceans
Rolled forth
In peace

SLIPPING SANDS
When slipping sands all turn to stone
When all there is to know is known
By reason that we may not cherish
All in this world will perish
No stone or ground left unturned
Every life, and every home
With crackling trumpet sound
The mighty heavens shall abound
Messiah is come in Glory!



FRAGRANT INCENSE
Tired shadows fled away
From the flowering pink Dawn
Dust spores collided and collected
Landing with a deafening silence
On the Venetian blinds and bookshelves
Sunlight broke in through the window pane
To offer a warm coat and a cheery smile
The room glowed as if suddenly alive
Awash in yellow and refracted colors of the rainbow
My soul felt like hot maple syrup
As I read God's words eternal
Outside the wind mocked and howled
Inside a spirit gave thanks and sang praises
Rising slowly upward like a fragrant incense


GYPSY
Gypsy Horse
Shiny silk auburn
Sleek liquid marble
Passing thunder on the earth
Born of a grace and wildness
Pensive, restless, rippling dignity

TINY DANCER
There came a tiny dancer
A twinkling in my eye
Kind words were sent a prancing
More comely by and by
The air was light and fancy
Fair music was her hair
Fierce winds her fanfare coming
Her farewell sweet breezes were



QUIPS and TIPS

OCEAN AND FLOWER
Even the mightiest ocean
Soothes the ear and
Humbly licks the shore

Every Orchid
No matter how beautiful
Starts in the dirt

PASSIONATE INTENTIONS
A good thought is a fair and noble flight
But a good action is virtue
Emotions not expressed in day to day life
Are often expressed in dreams
Don't hold back your emotions and
You will sleep better at night

Passion is most well expressed
When love for another is given action
Self love, on the other hand
Is only a dim reflection of this
Like the Sun and the moon
Both are necessary


WHAT WHISPERS THE WIND
What whispers the wind
To leaves that tremble
What says the rock
As waters fall

Beauty whispers the wind
Gushing, rushing, sparkling
Beauty, sounds the stone.

NEW BEGINNING
A new beginning,
When one is finished
Takes faith
Continuing on
Requires Hope
These allow the flower
To stand again
After the storm
And lasting fruit
Falls from the tree
Of Love

RIPPLE
A planet cannot change orbit
Without effecting the universe
Even though at first
the change remains unseen

THE COCK CROWS
The cock crows
Nudged by the unseen
So that the world
Might know
That all
Have been cared for
During the night


DESIRE ASK ASCEND
Food loses its flavor
When there is no one
To share it with

As stones are for skipping
So words are for winning
The heart of a lovesick soul

The biggest mountains
Are climbed one step
At a time



EPIGRAM TRIO
The man undressed
Is distressed

Teachers seldom do
What they teach others to

(ON COMPUTERS)
The green grass won't grow
Where the green glass glows 

PLUS ONE
Life is a serial to be consumed. 


REFLECT AND REMEMBER
The greatest plagues
Attack not the body
But the mind

Memory is a dancer
Just beyond my reach
So it is I am learning to dance


LIFE AND LIVING
Death comes soon enough
No need to lie and wait
One block falls another is set in its place
A baby is born an old man dies

Swimming in the tides
Is not a task of leisure
It is however one way
of telling the live fish
from the dead

STAGECOACH
Discipline is a carriage
For a noble heart

Courage is grease
For the axle of calm

Love is the driver
Guiding and encouraging

Faith is the passenger
Borne the bumpy ride

Hope is the horse
Pulling us forward

Inspiration is the Creator's hand
Providing water, food, rest and strength.


THE ANIMALS
The fox once caught
Will try to convince
His captor that he
Is the one ensnared

A pig for a sty
A ring for his nose
A laborer wallowing
In food and mud
A slaughter

The old bear
Will not leave the trash
Unless shot
He dies a slow
Ugly death
Yet allow him to live
Again and Again
To the trash he goes
Close by the house
Until one day
A life is taken

A lions life
Is a lonely one

LIFE AND LOVE
Life an love are free
What we do with them
May cost us our time
Patience and many other's help

ON WRITING
Writing is a type of mania
But without those less desirable
side affects of other self indulgent
behaviors. It helps one to shed the
straight jacket and washes cool
The burning fires of the soul -
Refreshing ever those musty places
once trapped deep within -
Those subterranean soundings.

Playhouse - with audio

 audio link

In memory of the old Stephens Playhouse the morning after it burned to the ground.
Shakespeare's Tempest had just finished the eve of the fire.

Playhouse
Theatre and Smoke
Storm and Fire
Cold and Heat
Spirit and Passion
Heart and Soul
Tempest and Players
Play and Playwright
Senses and Substance
Time and Season
Change and Moments
Ashes and Black
Dew and Green

Monday April 14th 1980

Okoboji - with audio

audio link

The sky tonight is fabulous,
Already, three shooting stars have crossed the heavens
Looking on further a small plane is sputtering and going down.
The updrafts from the lakes are famously deadly,
The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and many like them
Have fallen from the skies here
And more than the music has been lost.
Okoboji folks tend to be generally happy,
Blond haired blue eyed Viking roses.
As the fair and ruddy work the land, they are offset,
Like the placidly dripping hot cloudy and sunny blue heaven days
Set against the violently black tornadoes and sickly
Green faced electrical storms as if sent from the devil himself,
By the midnight colored Romany Gypsies, who pave the roads,
Work carnivals and sell used means of transportation.
The land here oozes earthy, perspiring
Gopher, mouse and loon filled plains
And it's fresh lakes and air,
Covered in green trees and corn fields,
Are wonderful and refreshing.
There is always a breeze blowing.
Sometimes when looking across the lane from the ranch
A social party of cows can be found grazing.
A little down the road is a farmhouse on some property.
An old woman is there, happy and full of life,
Painting the house, riding the tractor plowing the fields,
Shooting groundhogs, and providing lemonade for young dandies.
The farmhouse stands like an old wise man
One might read about in a fairytale.
Gray faded peeling paint to match
The enchanting drifting gray of smooth dead trees,
That draws one's whole being into them at a glance.
Dancing, whistling, whispering, shushing;
Wheat, barley and oats add blowing rhythm to the scene
Majestic twin silos stand watch over the house and barnyard,
And seem to be spying on the people; secretly, silently.
It is indescribable the way the sky loves the land here
Embracing or fighting with mauve sunrises,
Red lavender purple sunsets, angry dark storm clouds,
Only to be broken up by bright yellow humid sunshine.
And just when the mind tells the eyes and soul that
Perhaps one should start to carry on with some activity of the day;
Colored urgent by that social tempo, time,
A person find that he or she has been somehow brush-stroked
Onto and into the textured canvas of the landscape.
Part of the self embraces and absorbs the experience
Taking lusty breaths, while the child inside explores
With energetic saturating, seeping curiosity it's every sensation;
Swimming in lakes, running on dusty roads,
Floating in the flowing grasses, tumbling through the breezes,
Chewing on a weed while laying on the table like horizon,
And feeling the smell of the lands damp dark
sand seeded soil flee, falling through dirt leaking hands-
SIFFFFFFT ....................-
Ah,
Turn and walk away,
The moment is over.

Perfect Little Neighborhood - with audio

audio link

I know of a perfect little neighborhood
With perfect little streets
Well walked I, the flowered paths
Perchance there a perfect one to greet
But all with averted eyes and minds
Smile vacantly and follow their lovely little feet
With cleanest clean and whitest white
Each one carries along
All ideas correct and right
In saccharin solace they then retreat
To perfectly well kept topiary haven
There to capture smugly
All that can be taken

So quiet and unaffected

By all that lies without forsaken
Well studied and boorishly dejected

But like hollow Museums. they crumble under
The great fenced Mausoleums, memorials to self
And  Barbarians rush in to plunder
 Nero rakes in taxes, from the sexes, and x’s shelf
Setting fire to our lives
With finest ornamental matches

Telling many lies, like annoying summer flies
But the perfect ones don't seem to care
Like bees in trees of well honeyed hives
They would not know of despair
For ones so perfect, so good, so fair
One look might be just too much to share
Untouched by life's tawdry carnival
Having hearts dull as old porcelain sinks
Silent as sharp mandibles of a carivore

Their oversized carts loaded up like Brinks
Counting coin in broken piggy banks

Oh, No No, do not be so cruel
To break in when their minds are napping
With hellos and non-relevant happenings
For you are there and we are here
Those are yours and ours are these
So be off now, get far away please
Away from the well perfected
Do not infect the affected
With your lower cast disease.

That Queer Bird - with audio

audio link

That queer bird
So absurd
She keeps her heart
Quarried in broken thought

Depart down the gizzard
So cold Tis like a blizzard
Full of rocks and cheesy holes
Frightful to onlooking souls

Busy eggs tunneling
Dizzy legs rummaging
Clockwise in concentric circles
Ever tighter cranial miracles

Flap your wings to catch a gnat
Force feed the chicks this and that
Great birdbrained urgency and yearning
Makes for lots of twisting and turning

Could make a coo coo bird cock-eyed
Fortunate you see from out each side
Yet Henny Penny could not tell
She was not nearly schooled so well

As this fastidious Popinjay
So much learned, so much to say
Welling thus ever upward
With inards wending froward

Bustling activity to spend the bird
Squawking clatter shields her word
Blinded by, hell and heat you see
Not your average chickadee

Trumpeted, brassy, Scythian, bright
Little clamorings of chicks in flight
She stands imperious to the wild peels
Of would be proteges' frightened squeals

Trampled on by her clumsy feet
Scratched like flint in retreat
Bones snapped like whittled matchsticks
G-d save, from her, their tiny necks.

Photos - with audio

audio link

I saw the photos
A forgotten past
Me mother's
Childhood home
Tears came
To my eyes
But there
They stopped
Mother's gone and
I'm no child
Something's
Gone stale
I know now
What I did not then
All humanity suffers
It should not
Need quantifying
Know only that
It must touch all
Young or old,
Spring and snow
You and I
Everyone
We know
Will fall
And die
To see it now
Where that
Flower grew
Is a shaking
An awakening
To others who
Came before
Who lived
In places
We never knew
But now
Discover only
In shadows
And in shades
God Himself
Must laugh
At our
Dim view
Backward
Through windowed
Photograph
Only slightly
Less tangible
Than our
Future's past.

A Time for Reflection - with audio

audio link

When I arrived at court,
I expected, no feared,
The king and queen to be at death's door
However, to my surprise,
I found them both very much alive
The king was gruff,
Full of frowns and forgetfulness
He never spoke unless spoken to
The queen often spoke her mind
In measured words
Loving, fearful, angry and kind
Gentle was the royal egress,
As the handmaids came and went
The king and queen slept and read,
Turning in each page
Waking thoughts and dreams
They came no more to court,
But held fast with guests
In the inner chambers
At court were royalty,
Courtiers and knaves
I was to dine with princes and
Join in much merry making
Yet sadness was upon the kingdom,
The estates lay unkempt
The fields grew fallow
The pale of broken hearts
Veiled many a face,
But love and youth prevailed
With chirping birds in the treetops
To create a sometime betterment
In the dreams at rest.

End of Day Awakening - with audio

audio link

I have found at the end of day
Beyond the night of sleep to lay
Til whence begins the morn

The most assured way
Of winnowing in the play

To rid one's self
Of responsibilities' faces
To fondly love in far off places

Kissing ruddy lips and cheeks
On mares in meadowed peaks

Held captive in dreams
Awash in dawn's blessed air
Sheets and sunlit streams

Brow and hair
Limbs drawn near

Till opening eyes go there
Pleasant images adrift surmising
Are taken back to the center

Like a Jasmine's fragrance rising
Into clouds of coming winter.

Troubled Sleep - with audio

audio link

Billows blue
Rushing onward
Down below
Looking skyward

The prize now eaten
Soul feels beaten
Blankets wet and heavy
Like sand at the levy

Rocks, stones, boulders drop
Falling and rolling down
Plunging over top
Turning ever round

Now overcome
The truth in sum
From the lion's teeth
Is hard to face

Dare not to write
For cruel slight
In clarity speaks
Of one so weak

Hungry soul, inverted mind,
Into self, in every place
To care, to give, to love in kind
These to grasp inside his face.