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 -

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 

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. 

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 

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.