Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Scrape, Scrape, Scrape

Teeth scraping 
How can this be right ? 
She puts on her blue gloves 
And cracks her knuckles 

I take a pill 

Scrape, scrape, scrape 
Say a mantra to myself 
Listen to oldies playing there 
Breath deeply 
Scrape, scrape, scrape
Visualize the third eye 
Feel the little Valium kick in 

Turn your head this way
Turn it that way 
Open mouth 
Close mouth 
Brush more often 
and floss 

I look out the window at the beautiful 
View 
Ojai mountains
And eucalyptus trees

Why me ? 
Why am I stuck 
To this particular body 
And forced to feel its 
Pain ? 

Why isn't there a switch somewhere 
I can turn 
Off my connection to 
It 

One which is not the final 
Switch 
One which is not available 
Only once
And possibly 
Forever 

Sometimes I envy those 
Who 
Never think
About it 
Those who never ask 
Such questions 
And don't 
Care 

And then she's done 
For awhile anyway

On the way home today 
I will have a donut 
That's what I'll do 
That will prove 
( nothing to anyone ) 
But it will taste so good 
- I'll have two -

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Gee-whiz

Sitting on the front porch
In my chair 
It's comfortable here 
Day is nice 
Not too hot 
Not too cold 
Beautiful breeze 
No obnoxious wind 
Neighbors are quiet 
No yelling today 

Sitting on my front porch 
Very zen 
Contemplative 
Trouble is . . .

I know 

If I open that door,
That front door, 
There are things to do in there -

More things to get done 
Than I can possibly do -

Dishes probably sitting in the sink 
Waiting patiently 
To be washed 
Dust on things 
Waiting patiently to be 
Removed 
Floors to sweep 
Stuff - to be . . .
     Done
     Something with ?
Not to mention paint and plaster and 
Other mysterious things 
Like backs of closets 
And bottoms of laundry bins 
( bin currently buried by 
Laundry) 

And so I contemplate 
How long can I legitimately 
Stay here . . . ?

If I 
Camped out 
In the yard 
I would never 
Have to 
Go in there -

I have heard that 
Gypsies sometimes 
Do that 
Leave the house empty 
And live in the
Yard -
Excellent idea there -

The postman just came -
Delivering bills 
Ruining my 
Zen-like mood 
And I'm getting hungry -

Gee -

Whiz


Recommendations

Tango dancing last evening 
Latte this morning 
One would think I lived in 
     Paradise 
     Here . . .

Very scary and invasive 
Medical test coming up 
And how 
To pay for it ???

Paradise is balanced by 
     Other things 
So they say 
     Is the way -

Taoists believe 
That the center of things
Is the best place 
To be 

But the winds of change 
Blow a gale 
Sometimes 

So to bend like 
Bamboo
And not to break
Would be the thing 
To do 

Within the moment 
Is contained 
The flitting butterfly 
The ocean breeze 
The lack of things 
To do 
Today 

The seasons change 
Autumn
Is just 
Beginning here 
(Gotta get the old heater fixed) 
But I must remember this 
This moment 
This way of being 
Has more to recommend it 
Than most 


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Summertime

Sitting In Lowes 
(Store) 
On their lawn furniture 
Padded nicely. 
Potted plants nearby 
Free wifi 
Air con. 
Nice music playing 
No complimentary coffee 
     Anywhere 
Probably just as well

Summer umbrellas 
     On sale 
And so it goes 
     Signs of autumn 
In the air. 

We do 
     What we can 
To get by. 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Music

There's a sadness 
     To the air 
When you're not 
     Here 

The air itself 
     Is melancholy -
It hasn't got you 
     To wrap itself 
Around 

And the ground -
It hasn't got you 
Walking on it -
It is lonely for your 
Footprints 

The chair 
Wonders where 
     You are 
The arms -
And the footrest -

The empty 
Wine glass 
On the shelf -

We all cry 
And listen to 
Andrea Bocelli 
Pour his heart out 
With symphonic 
Backing 

I need 
Symphonic help here 
Some timpani 
Some conductor 
     To tell me what to do 
With such feelings  

I am new to the world 
     Of great 
Music 

dancing lessons

dancing lessons 
     at my age...
give me a break 
     i resist 
     i give myself all the reasons
     i don't want 
          to go 

some young 
     whipper-snapper 
thinks i'm going to remember 
     all of this??

but actually 
it's fun... 
     i surprise myself 
     with trying - 
this is something 
     i've never done 

co-operated...

been positive 

tolerated 
     type A
     types 
Telling me 
What To Do !!!

maybe 
life would've been 
easier 
if 

maybe if 
i hadn't fought 
-tooth and nail-
against 

maybe i could have just 
gone with the flow 
maybe 
once !

but then 

you 

never met 
my mother 

Saturday, August 2, 2014

The Line

The line comes closer. 
God bless the line 
It is very fine 
A fine line 

It is the line between 
     Reality and dream
It is our sacred space 

If we drink too much 
     We have crossed the line 

If we believe 
     Too sincerely 
We have frozen the line 
     In time 

If we talk too much
     We can't listen 
At all 

If we are too silent
No one knows 
Who we are 

Maybe just 
As well . . .

Find the line 
In each instance 
There is an invisable
Boundary -
An invisable 
Direction -
Which turns 
At the border

There are border guards 

Beware.