Bad Weather For Ducks

We all woke up

     Today hearing a sound 

Miraculous

And

Wonderful 

Rain

Actual rain

Water !

Falling from 

     The sky !

How it got up there-

     In order 

     To fall-

I'm not so 

     Clear on-

Condensation 

     "They" say 

. . . Ok

But the problem is 

     It quit

After I went out to see it 

And everything

Just a little bit -

Just a tease -

As our lawns are dying and 

Our reservoirs are drying 

We need it to rain solid 

For a week 

Like it 

Used to do 

I can remember when

Lakewood would 

Flood

- Most likely that is why "they"

Called it 

That

Adobe soil

Would create seasonal lakes -

That the ducks 

Would 

Sit 

Upon

There was enough open land 

Then -

Not so 

Anymore 

Where ?

Are the ducks 

Going to 

Sit -

To repose -

On their way north 

Or -

South 

Or - wherever 

They go

Where is There?

Waiting. Simply 

Waiting 

Old. Old. Country music 

Playing -

Waiting 

To board the giant metal thing 

Which will hurl me 

Into the air 

Press me back into 

My seat 

And force a silent 

Prayer

From

     The best 

Of us. 

There are no atheists 

In foxholes

Or during 

Takeoff 

     I'll bet

If I don't die 

Of boredom first

 -Death by 

      Waiting -

They -

The engineers 

And ticket takers 

Say 

These things are 

Safe 

More so than 

The cars

And the trucks 

Driven by 

     the half-drunk 

          Rest of us!

Rushing here and 

THERE -

There we are -

-are we there yet ?

They say 

We are -

Or should be -

I feel vaguely guilty -

For never knowing 

What that was 

Or who they are 

Or 

Where is there? 

Drama

Family gathering 

It's a good 

     Thing 

Repeat after me 

"It's a good thing" 

Thousands of dollars to 

     Get here 

To sit with people 

I don't know 

But 

They are good people. 

They will tell you so. 

How can I explain 

The fractured family 

And I -

Was on the other side 

Of the great 

Divide 

Left alone 

To survive 

As best one can 

There are so many stories 

I've never heard 

But that's ok 

I was busy -

Surviving 

Type A types 

Don't get it 

They can't let it 

Be -

What it is 

They must take life 

And wrestle it 

To the ground 

They have hearts 

      Which have 

Not been 

Broken 

Not stomped

And stood upon 

And laughed at 

And left 

And threatened

With 

Death 

Not to be too 

Overly dramatic but. -

Pretzels

I resolve 

From now on 

To get over myself 

     And -

Love everyone 

Whether

     They deserve it 

Or not ! 

I write this while suspended 

Unnaturally in 

     The ether . . .

I am on a plane ! 

Me !!

One who has the terror 

Of the air !! 

     Big time 

The glass of wine 

Helps 

     Somewhat 

As does 

The solitaire'

     On the phone 

I finally have an excuse 

To play as much as I want 

To keep me 

From contemplating 

The fall 

     From this height 

I remind myself 

     That air - 

Is an actual 

     "Thing" 

And that "wings"

     Are designed to know 

     All about this 

And there's this nice 

     Idaho couple beside me 

All potatoes and 

     And politeness 

Thank God !

And I just happened

To get a forward seat 

With a little more leg 

     Room 

( note to self, 

Ask for this - 

In future )

Speak about the 

Terrible disease . . .

Fear of flying !

     

The little towns 

So small below -

-As we are squeezed

      In here like 

Sardines 

      In a can 

There is no table - no 

Tray 

We balance our cups 

Politely -

Daintily eating some 

Small servings of 

Peanuts 

And 

Pretzels 

They give us these

     I am certain 

To kindly distract us 

     From thinking about 

     How far up in the air 

We are !

We can endure 

Much 

With 

Pretzels !!!

LADIES !!!

My ,

How times have changed 

The wedding reception today 

Is for 

Two ladies 

Together 

What can I say? 

When I was raised 

One didn't even know 

What that was

I'm still 

Shocked 

But I can hide it 

Well 

It's ok now 

     They say -

Now 

I wish "they" would 

Make up their minds

And print a manual 

So we would know 

What's coming -

What to get prepared for 

How to buy a card 

For the happy couple 

-The wedding, in Central Park 

Complete with 

     Carriage ride !

Goodness gracious 

I question the entire 

Premise

Of marriage -

Always have 

Tried it for awhile 

Couldn't get the hang of 

Having someone underfoot 

- always -

And 

Living with 

A guy - !

Guys are weird,

Different -

Always have been

Always will be 

- watching sports -

- beating their hairy chests -

Love them 

Do 

But need some 

SPACE

some time to process

Some time to 

BE

Oh well 

I go along 

LIFE will never! 

Listen to me -

Be quiet, 

Be calm, 

Be filled with bliss - 

And get along

Do not ! 

Have natural disasters 

Or sadness, sickness of 

     Any kind -

LIFE 

Doesn't listen to 

me

WTF ?

I make the mistake of
Reading about catastrophe!
     And how all the world is
     Mad
At all the rest of the world
     And how
All of that will lead to
World War Three!

I make the mistake of watching
     U tube
(No longer can afford T V)
And watching all the people talking about
     Catastrophe!
And how the economic system
     Is not happy
And will shortly
     Cease to be!

Dear me
It is not like they
     Said it would be
In school -
We were given the idea
That the world was a benevolent,
     Ordered thing
Something that philosophers
Could
Philosophize
About

Plato could sit and contemplate
Aristotle could argue
And Socrates had it all
     Figured out

I studied this -
I had to memorize
     And take tests
And write papers !
And now you're telling me
That it was all for naught

This - "education" -
Was not cheap
It was supposed to prepare me
For living here -
On This Earth !

I don't want to say it didn't
Work
But WTF.

Where?

Where ?

Where can I go 

To get 

A little peace -

A little space -

Even in the book store 

here 

The children fuss and wiggle 

The music reminds me 

Only 

Of what a bad mood I've been in 

Lately 

And then this unmentionable 

Bibliophile guy 

Has to snap his fingers  

Too -

To some nonexistent beat 

     in bad canned Music 

Please  -  please 

Give me some space 

Some space and time 

Before I die 

But 

I realize it's space 

Inside we really 

Need 

And that doesn't take going anywhere 

It only means 

- Sit  down 

sit still 

- Be 

Alone 

With me 

Why is that so 

Difficult 

So hard 

To do 

When it is so simple 

Too 

It's crowded in here 

Inside my head 

I was never taught to -

Never told to -

Be content 

With what 

Exists 

With what we have -

Where would go 

The economy? 

If we all became content 

The vast market crash 

Would do us 

Good 

We could stop and look around 

And say hi 

How're you ?

In every country on every

Continent 

Just 

How are you doing 

Today ?

I say 

Let us continue 

To talk to each other 

Over internet and things -

Let the common person 

Continue to post 

About -

How was their day ? 

In every country 

Every way -

And then we will know 

That we're not all so very 

Different 

After all 

And when they come and offer us 

A gun 

To go and do some 

"Agenda"

Then we will know 

That there is no enemy -

Everyone 

All the "common" people want 

Is just to 

" get along"

Others have an idea 

About 

Ruling the world 

But I know 

- listen to Lao tsu -

The World is 

Sacred 

Don't touch it !