Travels...

travels...
--planning another journey
lots to do...
will this cold be over by then...?
count the days
count the ways

Yosemite
     in the spring
Ah-h-h-h
all that beauty...

---have to do laundry
          Now!
the dryer has been broken
     forever...
and I hate doing laundry...
and it's foggy here
the timing has to be exactly right
or I'm draping damp clothes
     over car seats
-going down the road-

can I afford this?
---I have saved and saved...
gas, goes up and up
...rooms to rent
...food to buy
...heating up the can of soup
     on the hot plate
     on the bathroom floor...
It's sort of like camping
only with
a door

Going on to the retreat
     after that...
Promising myself that this time
     I'll really get enlightened
and I won't gain weight!

No excuse to pig out
just because it is "vacation"
road food, fast food...
things I don't usually allow myself
     to eat
but it's necessary
     on the road
one must "rough it"
we are driving so far
(the car and I)
and drive-throughs
are just meant for a time like
     this ...
(I rationalize)

trying to keep
     all this planning
a secret
from you, dear
because I know you'll
     be so very angry
(I'm delaying the inevitable)
but soon it will become clear,
or I'll slip up and let it slip out,
that once again
I am running away-
going far
and fast
and staying as long
     as I can afford
just for the blessed peace
     and quiet
of being gone

from you, dear

(the x -
who refuses to - x - )

ah- Tango

ah tango-
you do bring out the best in us
     and the worst
          -in some

my vision of gliding smoothly
     across the floor
    
is about half
     there...

it is ruined when i step on
     my own feet-
even worse
     when I step on
          yours-

but there is this one partner
who does not practice, does not hesitate,
     does not try the impossible moves
     (meant only for the young, and the slim)
this one partner
     can move cat-like-
     panther like-
and take me with him
     into the dream...

the Tango dream
-there is no dream
like the Tango dream...

it is a waking ecstasy
(with a small e)

it makes me feel
     vaguely guilty

vaguely satisfied
vaguely in love

but when the song is done
We return to our separate sitting spots-
     as if
     nothing has happened
     no one need be jealous or
otherwise
confused

...and I wonder why
...I keep attending classes
...keep finding clothes and buying shoes
...keep watching u-tube
...keep trying to learn the names of moves
     in a foreign tongue
...keep putting up with prima-donna maestros

and I know
     it is for that moment
that moment one or two
those precious moments
     with you
 

Fiddling While Rome Burns...

Thank you for remembering that,
     Brain
You are such a handy
     little thing
     to have up there
          on the top of my head...

(I realize
     that now
          you're old
And not remembering things
     as well as
          you once did)

However,
     just now
          you reminded me
     that the powers that be-
Are SCREWING with us
     once again!

They are as Gods...
     They can
          decree
     That you
          and me
Will lose or gain
     one hour of our lifetimes-

And Just when we get
     used to it
They, (those self-same powers)
     will
(just to jerk us out of our
     blissful complacency)

Go and do it again!

We just got over taxes,
-papers still cover the floor-

But oh
That is not enough-
to jerk us around
     with-

Now they will slow
     the earth's rotation-
for just one hour...
and speed it up
     in spring-

They can do all this,
     this planetary, cosmic,
          fiddling-
But they can't
     for the life of them-
Balance their
     own budget-
Or seem to agree
     on anything-


-fiddling while
     Rome burns-

Atom Bombs and Paper Plates

The Parents
     believed,
God Bless 'em,
     in World War Two
     and such

I grew up
     in a cold war
which was no war
It didn't matter much
     Atom bombs
          were going to
               kill us
     marijuana helped us
               not to care
     And somewhere
          among the shrapnel
          of an over educated mind

Buddha made
     his soft appearance
-and it's taken
     quite awhile
for the message of
     simplicity

-to sink in 

Dreams of Snakes

Dreams of snakes
     Again...!
Why is it always a
     Python/Boa Constrictor?
And why
     does it always
Remind me
     of you?
-Dear-

This one became
     friendlier
As the dream
     went on
(much like yourself-
     has become)

But it was hungry
     and that
     was a problem-
Someone had to go
     out and get some
     food for it-
     at the snake food
          store

And then it climbed
     into bed
And was content
     -moving softly-
     beneath
     the covers

And then it became
     interested
In something else    
     and so I let
     it go-
Into the landscaping
-Where it surprised
     the passerby-   ...  !

I know better
     than to eat
un-digestable things
     before bed

-but I was hungry
-for a little something...

Just like I know better
     than to hang out with
          you
     -dear-


-But you have ceased biting...

-And are beginning to

     Slither
          Away...



     

Stolen Moments

We steal
     what moments
We may

From the jaws
      of the monsters
            of
Conformity
     Responsibility
          and
               Guilt
 
Those things
     R still important!
and deserve our
     great respect!

(Using R for are
     causes me anxiety)

But
On our days off
     on our moments off

We must realize

I must realize

That
     there is
          a treasure
               there

And by my
     realization of
These precious moments
     I come more
     -into the moment
     I become more sane-
     and in touch with
     the magic of
         the
               moment

not to sound
     too crazy
          but-
The fairies and the elves
     live there
The sparkling life-light
     of tinker bell
          is there
It's what gives Peter Pan
     the ability
          to fly
It's what gives life
     its spice-
          its cosmic
               oregano

We are in touch
     with that-
We have it
     inside of us-
It is us
and we are it

And it is
    sparkling-subtle

joy














 

there it is....
the advertizement
     for gold
right with ads
     for plumbing
     and meditation
     and flowers

now if they would only
     deliver...