Saturday

This ground squirrel

Wants my sandwich

     Very bad -

I've got my chair 

     And fresh air 

A view of ocean waves and 

     Surfers too 

Rain !

Is that a drop of 

Rain 

In the midst of the drought -

THEY 

Want to build more 

Houses here

THEY are from 

LA !

How will more building

Help

With the drought? 

THEY are not being 

Helpful 

As usual . . .

So now we have some remnants

Of a hurricane from "south"

I see lightening strike 

Out 

Over the ocean

It comes straight down

In a jagged way

Wouldn't want to be 

Out on a boat 

With a metal mast 

Today 

I hear thunder as 

I get home 

The Gods are playing 

Nine pins 

     They say 

The neighbors and their 

Partying don't seem to be 

     Dampened

But all their motorcycles 

Parked in the street 

Will be wet -

Some small compensation 

For the noise 

Which will probably

Continue into 

The night 

Tonight

I'm sure the 

Ground squirrel

Is safe 

Underground 

Around the boulders hauled 

From somewhere 

To hold back 

The sea 

And to provide 

A cozy place 

For my chair 

     And me. 

Bazaar!

Where are all the 

Hoards of People ?

We've worked so hard -

Cleaning out our cupboards 

And deciding what to 

Sell 

This belonged to my Aunt 

She had a long and interesting 

Life 

But in the end 

Things didn't go 

So well -

How can I sell 

Her treasures 

At the sale? 

But how long should they 

Sit in their box 

In the garage ?

What if 

I ever wanted to get 

A car in there 

Again? 

Life is not about 

Stuff -

But -

This is AMERICA 

And so

It sort of 

Is

And there's a band 

God save us - !

Singing loud 

And 

Out of tune 

Back from their break 

They bravely carry 

On

I put the only two dollars 

I made 

Into the tip basket -

I lied 

And at church no less 

The church 

Bizarre -

Bazaar !

We had great hopes 

     Coming here -

Lots of money 

And lots more room 

In our various garages 

And closets 

Almost like adding on 

     Another room 

Like people with money do -

Space -

Like they have 

In those magazines 

(Note to self) 

Stop! 

Looking at those 

Magazines - 

You know the ones -

Where everything looks chic

Even the junk

Junque! 

And is somehow color

"Colour" coordinated 

As the band sings 

An off key rendition 

Of my favorite song 

I remind myself 

Life 

     Was never meant to be 

     Any better than it is 

     

Or it would be. 

Nomenclature

It's so late 

I can't escape 

I've done it again 

Even though I swear 

     And swear again

I won't do this 

     Ever

Again 

The battery is running 

     Out 

The phone has had enough 

Of my poking 

     And prodding 

Of my curiosity

     And philosophying

Tomorrow will punish me 

Undoubtedly

And I will have 

No excuse 

No justification 

I will be angry with myself 

And it won't be funny -

When I struggle

To exist 

To listen 

To have patience 

The excuse of 

Living in the moment 

And 

Enjoying the expression of

Personality 

And 

Writing poetry

Will pale before

The effort of 

Holding it all 

Together 

-Among people 

(Which I'm not so good at 

Anyway)

What to say 

And 

How to say it 

When to laugh 

     Appropriately 

Maybe a little cleverness 

Thrown in 

(Don't push it - 

Just get by) 

Why I 

Do this to myself 

I still wonder 

It is my little 

Rebellion 

I suppose 

My small attempt at 

The artistic life 

I laugh 

At myself 

For such 

Nomenclature 

Fourth of July- 2015 -

By the rockets red glare -

And the fireworks flare 

The 4th of July 

Has come and gone 

Crowds and crowds of people 

And cars 

Carrying chairs and kids and 

Coolers

Beware of the roads 

This long weekend -

People returning to LA

Will be crawling by 

-Locals not even attempting 

The freeway 

Going to church tomorrow 

By the back roads 

     -If I go 

The Fillmore tourist train 

Rumbles through 

Green orchards 

Mountains standing

     Majestically 

     Behind 

We take pictures 

Of each other 

Taking pictures 

Chinese tourists 

Speak Chinese 

Mexican folks herd 

Their kids

The car show 

Is all lowered 

Cars 

And cars that bounce 

Unnaturally

Motorcycle folks

Make lots and lots 

Of noise 

They roar away 

The women awkwardly

Perched behind their men

How can they imagine

That is fun? 

Oh well

To each her own 

I'm sure 

Those girls probably 

have as much trouble 

With their men 

As I do 

With mine

- only different 

Happy Birthday

Birthday depression 

Is a legitimate thing 

Older -

Relentlessly 

Older 

And all the things 

I haven't done -

And all the things I'm 

Too old to do -

However,

One can always count 

Ones blessings -

One can give thanks for 

Enough to eat and 

A place to sleep 

One can

Pick oneself up 

And 

Have another cup 

Of coffee 

And please remind me 

That these grey cloudy days 

Are the price we pay 

For living near the ocean 

And 

It's one hundred degrees 

Inland !

The usa

Black like me 

Was a book 

I believe 

I remember coming up against 

Affirmative Action -

No way 

To get a job 

Then 

So to pretend 

To be someone else 

Might have made sense 

To some 

To change ones name 

To exist 

To survive 

It shows how nuts we've become 

To legislate 

What we are and what 

We can do 

And to give all the jobs 

Away to other countries too 

What's the world 

Coming to ? 

Or at least 

     The usa.

California

What to do 

What to do 

I overhear someone talking about 

     Doing things 

He speaks quickly 

And talks about money 

     Exclusively 

Having plans 

Blaming others 

Drinking more 

     Coffee 

He seems to be trying 

To impress 

Some girl 

But 

She 

Can't get a word in 

She seems to be much poorer than 

He 

Wonder where that relationship 

Is going ?

She needs to run fast 

     And far -

Or marry him 

     Immediately 

This being 

A community property 

State 

California