Thursday, September 18, 2014

Axes

I no longer have 
     An axe to grind. 
I gave up my axes 
     And my grinding wheel ...

The I that had these things 
Is becoming less 
     And less -
She is seeing 
     Some things 
As baggage 
Some others 
     As burdens 

Trouble and complications
As
Something
To be avoided 

Now she needs 
     To give up 
Sugar and wheat 
     And 
Become neat

Good luck 
     With 
          That !

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Tango Will Miss Me

The Tango will 
     Miss me 
For I'll be 
     Waltzing 
With you 

A person can't do 
     Everything at once 
It seems 

We will be dancing 
The specific steps
Of correctness 
Not the 
Improvisational randomness 
Of the moment 

These people 
At this place 
Don't know 
How it can be done 
     A dance 
     With no steps and no beat 
     And only holding close 
          And feeling the heart beat 
What can this mean 
What can it be for 
     How could we sell it 
     For a profit 

And of course, 
That's the beauty 
     Of it 



Monday, September 1, 2014

Perfection

Everyone seems to have 
Their own 
Agenda 

Wanting me to follow 
Theirs --

Even the six year old 
Who makes up rules 
To suit herself -
She let's herself win 
But not every time 
So as
Not to
Create suspicion -

She's too cute 
To say no to -
Now 
But someday someone 
Surely
Will
Life itself will 
Have it's way -
It always does

And you -
You
Want me to be 
Someone special 
Someone perfect 
And I -
Just want to 
Run 
To hide -

The answer is 
A certain degree 
Of confidence 
I suppose -

And

Better hiding techniques 
-Camouflage 
-Smoke screens 
-Carefully covering 
     Tracks 

Let the six year old compose 
-all the rules she wants to 
But you -
Will have to know 
That I'm not perfect 
Now -
And won't be -
Probably -
Ever

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.