writing

i remember fondly
the days...
(I date myself)

writing was done
on the backs of things
-envelopes
-scraps of paper
-etc.

now
-as I spend hours
puzzling out
how to tell the computer
what I want it to do
(it laughs)
I have a sandwich
and go back again
-for another go round
-another- which button
     do I push now?
I'm just about done
-just about
to go back to pencil and paper
fireplaces and gardens

my garden suffers
as I write this
I tell the plants
I will water them
tomorrow
-they do not laugh-

I see this as a challenge
-for an old lady
-thank god it's not a
---terribly important thing---!
only poetry
and ramblings
and trying to figure out
-life-

computers
are not alive

yet
















 

captive caroling/general petraeus

                                                

Oh God 

     November 13 

The first Christmas Carol 

Is heard Blasting over 

     the sound system 

     at my favorite  

     latte shop

In A Shell Sits Deo---

  

I had forgotten 

how much I hate 

     "enforced caroling"

     "captive caroling"

love the songs 

but they are ruined by 

     electronics 

Blasted at us for 

2 and 1/2 months!

It's time to revise

     my life...  

It's time to begin

     staying out of stores

     and coffee houses 

I would pass a law 

    if I could 

that only 

acoustic instruments 

may ever 

be used 

Ever

     in singing these songs 

     of our Lord and Lady 

unplug everyone 

through the season 

     only Yule logs 

     and reindeer 

allowed!

no ear buds 

     in ears 

No i pod, pad

     anything---

Love notes 

     could be notes 

     then 

Hand written 

     by hand 

General Petraeus

     could then have 

     burned the evidence 

     of his great love 

I was in love once 

and I know 

about 

moving heaven 

     and earth 

to be with 

     the beloved 

much better 

     to be in love 

     with God 

 no emails 

needed then

     only the heart 

sending messages 

     to the eternal friend 

no CIA way 

to intercept 

that 

national election...Hope-ee-um!

ah - the national election

has come

     and gone

 

we can all breathe

a sigh

of relief

 

and trust

that the powers that be

-will be

 

and all the experts

that have all the degrees

will now do their jobs

and take care of you

and me

 

they will make things right

-stop their bickering.

stop their fight, 

and fix it-

 

after all-

this is what we pay

     them for

for this- they get

the really

BIG BUCKS

 

for this

they went to school

for this

they ran for election

     to fix things

     to run things

     to make things right

 

so now I am relieved

that I don't have to worry

that I can relax

     and leave it to them

peace will prevail

     on earth

no one will starve

everyone will be happy

     now

 

now that the winners

     have won

-there are things to  be

      done-

 

we can relax

we are in good

     hands

 

(I believe it's called

     Hope-ee-um!)   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



2 views from the UK

2 views
from the UK
!!!
wow
Just think about it
Great Grandfather
wrote in the giant, old
     family bible
"Leaving Liverpool today"

-mother's side,
     very English

and then, of course,
there's Dr. Who

talk about
full circle
(circles being - very zen)
now
that the internet
is here
for us to
play with
and-
I can watch
the BBC news . . .

Grandfather had an Orange Grove
in Orange County, California
-if you can believe-
I remember visiting
wondering why my mother
kept saying
look at the orange trees
look at the orange trees
as we drove through
     miles and miles of them
One day
     there will be no more
     orange trees here
She would say

I could not believe
that anyone
would cut down
so many trees
ever-
anywhere-

Trees were good for climbing on
and good for shade
and orange trees had
     oranges on them
and -- grew like weeds

why would they ever be
     replaced-
with ----city!!

WHAT
were they thinking?

i still
don't
know

home again

back home
from the long
trip
giving thanks
there were no
-major problems-

greeted by the furry cat
-his winter coat is coming in-
he naps beside me
-but always wants out
     at night-
(the bells I hung
on the door
for him to ring --
may not have been
the absolute
Best Idea...)

the fish are fine
they circle around
-probably glad that
whoever drops the food in-
is doing so again
-vacation food block
doesn't look maybe
so appetizing
or is it me
who thinks
that they
can differentiate me
from a raccoon

the Bills are there
arraigned like a trap
upon the floor
They will jump up
and attack
     my bank account
-as so many things also
are wont to do

I try to preserve
the silence
of the retreat
     Not calling
     you
     The one
     who never has anything
     nice
     to say
Maybe you
will
go
away

I ran outta here
crazy to escape
from problems
and from mind
which I did
with great
expertise
so
tonight
there is
a
"woman's meeting"
(at church)
after a week
of near-silence
will I
crack
and
break
????

oh flagman, flagman

oh flagman,
     flagman
don't flag me

let me go upon
     my journey

But while I sit and wait
I see by the roadside
The green tumbleweed
The golden grass-like stuff
and sage-y green

Which-
without you,
noble flagman,
This I-
never would
have seen

Now we get to go
and crawl along
Led by the lead car
     with the flashing light

today the flagman
     is a flagwoman!

See how far
     we've come
From "Virginia Slims"
to this

and I can watch
the hills roll by
at 15 miles per hour

all the way up
this long hill

What is up
with you people-
repairing
a place
That looked
perfectly good
to me
-last time through
(six days ago)
maybe there was
nothing
better to do

so now
we move

-passing the other side
waiting
-it must be a mile
of cars and big-big trucks
up hill
down hill
and all
around hill

good to be
back home
after a drive
like that !

-and greeted by
the fuzzy cat

ego-maniac

there in the stillness
of the forest and the trees
and the meditation
shrine...

I fall down between
my thoughts and dreams
I get to a place where
I want to be
forever

no mind
no problem

the zen friends
say

why it takes so much doing
to un-do

is a mystery...

The mind needs an
     off switch
-and a manual

-the emotions too-

They drive me
crazy
-on any usual day

maybe now they will
     fall in line
maybe now
     learn quietness
maybe now
     learn to stay
     in the now

they laugh...
they let me be
for a little while

with a tantalizing
taste
of freedom
of space

beatific  
buddha's face