Rincon, California

Rincon, California


Life is precarious
     at the best
          of times

This thought
     comes
          to me
as I picnic
     at the edge
          of the sea

These people
     who live
          here
do they never
     contemplate
the volume of
     salt water
which they are
     expecting
     to stay
     in one place?

High tide-
     Low tide-
a matter of feet-
Vast Pacific Ocean...
     really big!
really, really big.

Those along the
     Rincon
Who surf and
     play
(and picnic)

We realize
     we are rolling
     the planetary
          dice

True anywhere-
     but so very
          much so
     -here

all that ocean
     has to do
          is burp
And I
     and
my favorite
     pick up truck
are washed
     into the
          sea

Washed into
     oblivion-
and multi-million
     dollar houses
along with us

That would be
a truly
     Democratic
          moment.

The Rich People
     and me,
going for
     a little swim
together
     in a raging
          sea.

leaks

Today
will be a day
like any other

but more than that...
-the plumbing has broken
-showers can no longer be taken
     here
-what to do
-what to do

everything takes money
-so much money

where to find this
-money
-this paper
-upon which it is printed

-it is printed...
whether or not
-we can eat and what
-whether or not
the plumbing will be fixed
whether or not
whether or not

this poet
needs a patron
-great idea...
-where to find one
or two or three

meantime i must figure it out
i must "bite the bullet"
(so to speak)
no great revelation here
just...
-the everyday
-the great and mighty stuff-
about which

i have no clue
it always confuses me
always confounds me
why must it be all so
     pedestrian yet
     inexplicable
poets are not
the most practical people...

we need a "hot line"
a 12 step group
a subsidy
a march
     (we wouldn't want to march-
     much too -out doorsy- and noisy)
social security for poetic "disability"
food stamps for plumbing
     but then
     one would have to apply...

alright, alright, myself tells myself
quit messing around
and get to it
 

the inevitable

the birthday
     approaches
like the shark
     in "Jaws"
duh- dnd, duh-duh
(the sneaky theme song of the shark)

the birthday song
 - should be more like that -
     not this "Happy Birthday to You"
            --bull s#$%!!

What's happy about getting older?
Except that the alternative may be worse.

We don't really know
We're not really sure
and therein lies
     the trouble
we're sort of stuck here
     for now anyway
stuck here
     not knowing
trying to
     figure it out
what to do
     with the remaining years
          -want to do my best
          -want to please
               the powers that be
                    on earth and in heaven

we have the choice
     -to do what's best
 and to figure out
      -what that is
      -what that could possibly be
      -what that means for me

that seems to be the game here

use our free will-
     to please the Gods
     -the fickle, capricious
      all powerful
      Gods
the ones with tornadoes and earthquakes
in their hands
the ones who throw
tsunamis
at us
the Gods who sneak up quietly
with cancer and strokes and all manner
of unmentionable maladies

but for all this
we must just
     love them
God is love
love is all we have
     in the end
and all we can give
     the Gods
That is the one thing
They do not have
     (I have read)
our love, our adoration

I have decided
     it is their world
     their way
At long last
     I give up
(Or at least
     try to)

for so long I have been
trying to tell the Gods
how I would like it to be

-it seems,
they don't listen to me

I'm sure they have their own
     agenda
     their own plan
They do not share it
     with me
Top on my list would be
     leaving out this birthday
But do they listen?
     -no-
They have some noble plan
     no doubt
For how could a God's plan
     be other
     than noble?

And so I must
     with great humility
     and reverence
     concede
That their GREAT PLAN
     for me
Is that I
     with equanimity
     will be...

Sung to...
Congratulated...
     maybe get a card or two
Even If I DON'T AGREE!!!
 

    


  

cat attack

the black cat
visits

what can I say...
He is not "mine"
     but I feed him
          anyway

He has that kind of attitude
If he doesn't like what's being served
your feet aren't safe
     he doesn't grab and bite
           very hard
     but you know
He disapproves

I'm sure he learned this
at "his" house
where there are two dogs
     two kids
and nobody pays any attention
     to anything
I'm sure he was hungry
and they were walking past him
and they were reminded
     in no uncertain terms

but when he comes here
he has my undivided attention
and all the petting he can endure

we are friends
     -pals
especially when
he gets his way

-don't disturb him
     when he's sleeping
-don't pet him
     irresponsibility
-buy the expensive
     littlest cans of cat food

and you may be
     rewarded
with a purr
with a nuzzle

What can I say...
-the little ears
-the little face
-the expressive tail

Am I becoming the old woman
     with the cats?!!
at least for now
There is only one-
Only the handsomest,
     most lovely kitty
In the whole entire world

-love is a many splendor ed thing-

The Dream

It was a big snake
     a really, really,
     big snake
like a python
     with a big mouth
     and big fangs

I had to hang on
     with both
     my hands
As hard as I could

It was trying
     to bite
     my face

It was inches
     from me
Trying to kill me
     with
     poisonous fangs

Hard to hold
     onto

Squiggling-
      Squirming-
     like a really big snake
          would do
Very muscular, sinuous, scaly
     Beautiful-
     And deadly too-

Maybe it's because
     life's been like that
     lately
Trying to
     bite me
To squirm
     out of my
     hands
Really too much
     for me to
     hold onto
Really too much
     for me
     to understand

Or maybe it was
     the midnight snack
With the
     hot sauce

Either way

Waking up
     was not
     a bad thing
This morning

It was nice
     to see
The REALLY
 BIG SNAKE
     fade away
           with
           the light
           of day

Pure imagination. . .
     as they say
     (in their
     Zen-like
          way)
-is true with so much of
the essence of me
and the essence of you-

and then...
I ponder, if the universe knew,
it was
April fools day
too

hold on

 Waiting on hold
-waiting to talk to a human
-yelling at a "machine voice"
   doesn't get me much
   in the way of satisfaction
but
just in case...
"this call may be monitored
for quality assurance"....
What kind of quality is this?
     You are a mega-giant corporation.
     One which sells stock.
     One which is a pillar of the economy.
     And you #@%&* can't hire enough people
     to answer your #$@%&* phone???
So monitor this call-
Record this call-
I'm telling your recording
all about it
-as I listen to your "soothing" music
-which only irritates me more!!!
and then the "machine voice"
comes on to advertise to me
That's not
very
soothing

6 to 9 minutes ...
how many millions of dollars
is this large monopoly worth
I can't go anywhere else to get this
product, this electricity

but when the "person" comes on
I'm as nice as pie
-for I realize
that the job he has
is not very jazzy
-not very fun
and it's not his fault
at all
that
the
machines
have taken
over
the world

Atlas Sneezed

and why
did the gods
create colds

Sometimes it seems they play with us
like the Greek gods of old

sitting on their mount Olympus's
looking down

viruses, germs, bacteria
could bring down Hercules

-no need to cut his hair-
or was that Samson
-I'm too congested to care-