Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Boat


If I could
I'd grace whatever good fortune
with pieces of a smile
I borrowed at an early age
(never owing a return)
burning themselves
deeply into lines
on my face
which finally become
clear
in the calm water.
A map
unfolds to me,
staring back,
detailed
way before
I had the slightest inkling
that I
may one day
need to know
my route.
And as I
return
fragments
settle briefly
on the surface
around me
before sinking
into the immenseness
of eternity.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Feast

"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom; the music is nothing if the audience can't hear it."
Walter Lippman


... rendering moments of steady progress
moot while they
interfere with my trepidations...
How far has this unwanted ally
traveled,
so unknowingly,
with me?
It seems I am a host
for a multitude of
cynicisms,
not the least a wariness
specifically
inclined
per the moment,
this way and that.
And what is that
which is
carried along the banks of
my tumult?
A promise
of peace?
Hah! As I kick it back,
cursing,
into the mad
currents from which it was
spat.
The forgotten
visage
of promises made
floats, toes up,
sideways in the eddy.
But, blessedly, there are always
the hands,
stealthily
adjusting their grip...
I can feel them...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

solo



  That's it for the other one...

Cerise sky.
The highway 
blends into a dream
almost perfectly...
 I forgot to
question the stranger
who frequently sits
over near the door,
watching the building across the street.
He lies so eloquently
through his tears, that 
I almost wish he'd stay.
Leaves like boats now
wend their way,
sliding through a puzzle effortlessly
as time
silently squeezes
something in my heart
and I wish to
become invisible
and ride along.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thinking

I don't think much
about stuff,
as such,
unless I
feel the need.
Not to belabor
the point
I'd make
if a point
was to be
made indeed.
As a timely tool
for a way of life
the question
still remains;
What good
might occur
by thinking?
I think
I shall refrain.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009



I used to think that somewhere along my way I lost touch, which seems to me now to be a rather superficial excuse for never having known just what 'my way' was, or to this day, is. And how can one 'lose touch' if 'touch', or the concept of it has never been quantified, at the very least, in my own, terribly subjective mind? Or, does any of that even matter, in the, you know, 'big picture'.

I do know that subjectivity isn't the problem. I would suppose that all human beings have their own customized lenses through which they view events and experiences; certainly this is true otherwise we'd all be sitting here lost in our individual cognitive processes, frustrated with time's apparent inability to help us figure it all out.

I have had this dream now for ever since I can remember, and the only reason I mention it is because I have it still, and did indeed revisit it again last night.

I am very young. I am riding my new red 3-speed Schwinn home from school, when, rounding a corner, I suddenly realize I am lost. Nothing looks familiar. The houses, and cars, and people, are different. Everything is wrong. I ride faster, hoping that I will see something I know, something that will show me the way. But every turn I make, every street I choose, is strange and new, By now I am beginning to wonder if I will ever make it home...

And then, I wake up.

But the dream goes on, and on.

I should go tie a fly. That damned river is rounding back into shape. It's been a long winter.

My coffee's cold.


Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Grasp

Beside myself
for the better part
right from the start
and the images
float lazily past
like I might have a chance
but there's no place
for a stand
and my balance is
gone
no up
no down
no seeing around
one corner to the next
... like I have
any leverage
left.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Refrain



Life ain't so bad...
A hell of a long way from
anywhere
I thought I'd be,
wherever that is...
Who was it that said
we're always
chasing something?
Well, whoever
decided that this
finite stretch of
bumps and grinds
is anything more than
a march
had it way to hell
wrong.
Best keep movin,
before I break
into song.