Thursday, January 29, 2015

Letting Go



Letting the old suit case 
Go
The zipper sticks
It will not 
Go. 

How many memories 
How many miles 
Have the little wheels 
     Rolled 

How many trips 
To the mountain 
To meditate 

I many times 
Take too much 
Stuff 
But-
One never knows. 

Will there be need of 
     The hot plate for 
     Coffee?
Sometimes spiritual places 
Feel there is no need 
For coffee 
Makers -
What?

Are they 
     Insane?

There is an even greater 
Need 
Here among the pines 
For tea
For coffee 
-To sip and watch 
     The steam rise 

Because we know 
We are  
     Going into battle 
One must gird ones
     Loins 

The mind will not
Just roll over quietly -
The ego will not just 
     Give up -
But must be 
     Encouraged
With a hot cup 
     Of 
Something soothing 

Before 
It is asked to 
Begin 
The game 

The chess game 
- the checkerboard of nights 
     And days -
The life -
The asking why 
And who and how -
The investigation of 
     It's own demise 
For this 
I need - 

Coffee







Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Diamonds for my Truck

From one phone 
To another 
One third of those reading 
Are reading 
     -On phone-

So say 
     Statistics . . .

Who knew? 
That one day 
     So soon 
We'd be reading each other 
On moble devices

And now - "they" say
     (Those who know)
That soon 
Our cars 
Will be parking themselves
And driving too 

Mine is telling me now 
That it wants 
     An oil change 
Well -
     Can't it go get one 
     Without me? 

But could I trust it to 
     Not! Come back with 
Some fancy chrome rims 
And furry seat covers 
Which it would automatically charge
     To my account 

It could have been built 
     Into its original programming -
To upgrade itself 
     At my expense 

Not that I don't trust 
"New-fangled machines"
I'm just sayin'. . .

I'm not so old fashioned 
     But-
If diamonds are a girl's 
     Best friend,
What - could my truck 
     Think up? 




A Day Away

Today 
Was a day 
Away 

The deserted campground -
The stream running 
     Clean 
Lots of trees 
     Broken off 
Probably from that last 
     Wind storm 
Cottonwoods dead 
     From the drought 
Snapped off 
     Up high 

But it's still beautiful 
And silent 
Here 

In summer the campground 
Would be full 
     Of screaming, running 
     Children

But now
A hawk looks at me 
     Lazily
I'm too big to eat 
     The bird flies
     To the next tree 

I walk on 

Not much water 
In the stream 
Not much spirit 
In 
     Me -
I feel like 
I'm fading 
As if I was wearing 
The magic 
Ring 

A walk in the woods 
Does one some good
Even if 
The wizard 
     And the elves 

Put in no 
     Appearance 
Today

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Discussion

The Garden 
Is a crazy place 
Here on the hill
Overlooking 
The ocean 

There is no money for 
A fence 
Or lights -
Don't 
Go there 
At night 

The military guy 
Sleeps in the tool shed
     And has to get up 
     At night 
To scare away 
The tweekers

Those are the folks 
Who wander around 
Downtown 
After dark 
Looking for things 
     To steal 
To support the drug
     Habit

Now in spring
- or winter actually- 
Well, We've had two 
Rain storms -
The native plants have 
Erupted 
In vibrant green 
But 
The mallow lot, 
If you don't pull it out now 
While its small 
It's not coming out 
At all 

Her dog is small -
The cat and it 
Play and chase 
Through the bright 
     Green 

One thing I love 
About this place 
Is -
it makes no sense 
At all !

Million dollar lots 
Downtown! 
The owner, being wealthy,
Bought them 
(Back in the day) 
So her house on the hill
Could have its view 
     Of the ocean 

Word is 
She doesn't intend 
To sell 
Anytime soon 
So I wonder 
If I should plant kale 
Or cabbage 

For the gophers 

We take old chairs 
To sit and look at the ocean 

No one wants to trap or kill 
The varmints 

The cat can only eat 
So many 

What to do 
What to do 

On a gorgeous afternoon
In January 

We discuss . . .






A Van

The garden 
Has
A million dollar view -
     And gophers
She advised getting 
A snake !
     Good idea -
Says I -
A gopher snake. 
But where would one 
Purchase one ? 

She lives in her van 
Hassled by the cops -
They took her liscense -
So now she can't drive -
But 
She still lives 
     In her van 
Waiting for 
Section 8

Which is what they call
Government assistance -
     With housing 
It will be federal, 
     She says, 
So she can move 
     Anywhere 

And she doesn't feel guilty,
     She says 
For taking taxpayer money 
     She's had eight children -
One's a doctor 
But 
She doesn't want to rely 
On them 

It reminds me 
I must begin 
The yearly test 
In mathematics 
Which they call 
Taxes - here

She's bought 
     A little dog -
On social security
     With no rent to pay
She has money

More than you 
Or I 

I worked so hard
For so long
For this old house 
     Only to watch it crumble 
Slowly -
Unable to afford 
To fix it 

Sometimes I wish 
I had a van 
To sleep in 



Let There Be Light

Someone slashed tires 
At the dance 
Was this you again ? 

I'm hiring a friend 
To sit in my truck 
To watch the 
Parking lot 

Twenty tires slashed 
Would an old man like you 
Have the energy ?
It's a mystery

No one can know 
No one sees
We are all left wondering 
Just 
How crazy have you 
Become 

People don't believe -
You can be so 
Sweet 
And fun 

I find myself hoping 
That it is not 
You - but
I keep the security cameras on 
The spotlight in the dark corner 
     Of the yard 
Blinding 
     The passerby






Tuesday, January 13, 2015

pray for me

can't sleep
wondering
was it you
again
?
slashing tires -
damaging -
terrorizing
again

what to do
now that you
may have struck
again

dare i go
where i want to
go

will you be there
waiting
to damage
something
like my
sanity -
my
sense of
safety
and -
right to
exist

others don't believe
oh no
not him

oh yes!
and
others besides
me . . .
have seen
this side
of him

the court
has decided you
are guilty -
you
don't seem to
listen

i still am left looking
at security camera pictures
and asking friends
to pray
for me









Monday, January 5, 2015

Waiting

Waiting 
Waiting 
In a waiting room 
     Waiting 

Two televisions on 
With commercials 
And 
Endless news 

Nice decor 

Waiting still 
     Waiting 

Earplugs in. 
To 
Help a bit 
(Can still hear) 
Commercials -
And endless 
News. 

About who shot 
Who -

Why must we fight 
So ? 

Why must I volunteer 
To help a friend ?
Endless drive 
     In heavy LA traffic 
And waiting 
Did I mention 
     Waiting 

Why am I 
always the
      "nice guy"

Do I need to learn 
To cease 
Being taken 
     Advantage of ?

And then - I - drive 
     Home 
Through endless, aggressive 
     LA traffic 

I should be thankful,
I know 
That this body 
Is not the one 
On the table 

Such is the fate -
Such is the way of -
Relationships between 
     Old people 

You drive me to mine 
I'll drive you to yours 

But mine was in town 
Yours is to heck and back 

Doctors appointments 
And procedures 
     Unmentionable 


Still 

Waiting