Friday, August 24, 2018

think



think of a flower
think of a gorilla picking the flower
think of a ham sandwich in the refrigerator back at base camp
think of an intrepid traveler suddenly coming on the base camp at the foot of the mountain

think of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the backpack of the intrepid traveler
think of a deposed king
think of a lock on a door
think of a man walking in the rain

i will never go back
though the door be opened wide
my part has been played and my path lies before me
quite so, quite so, i understand perfectly

returning from his enforced sabbatical
sadly, he began to repeat himself
there were too many reports to be ignored
the master understood and acted accordingly

very soon it will be over
where were we when we were interrupted?
expecting rain, if i recall
it was your turn to think of a suitable theme for the annual celebration

i have no experience in such matters
and always forget something in my reports
beastly weather, isn’t it?
not to mention the constant requests for updates from the continent

the door was unlocked after all that
and the room was empty
think of a flower
think of a gardener planting a whole row of flowers



Thursday, August 23, 2018

life coach



i want to be a life coach
and teach people what to do
they have been waiting for me
their whole life through

i want to be a life coach
and set people straight
i will have them up and running
just you wait

they need a little shove
to get on the right path
a long walk in the evening
in the morning, a cold bath

spinach, broccoli,
berries and nuts
are the only things
to put in their guts

clear spring water
is the only drink
there was something else
did you think?

yoga in the morning,
run a mile at noon
sit beneath a tree
hear the birds’ eternal tune

sit by the river,
or the ocean shore
meditate, meditate
and meditate some more

religion and politics
fall away like leaves
all that nonsense
no one really believes

if you want the true truth
there is only one source
and that is myself, the life coach of course



Wednesday, August 22, 2018

reformer




i woke up this morning
and swallowed my pills
took a clean sheet of paper
and cured the world’s ills

it took but one morning
of one single day
and when i was done
there was no more to say

o you who crave glory
and need excitement to live
i regret to destroy you
i have no solace to give

the dark clouds have parted
the sun does now shine
if you die of boredom
it is no fault of mine

your sad fellow creatures
have prayed for this event
they asked for a savior
and i was sent

hear the whisper of the river
the babble of the brook
i have written the pages
and closed the book



Sunday, August 19, 2018

a real poem




the insolent embolisms of the baroque
are patiently encapsulated
in the querulous cornices
of a watercolored zeitgeist

and the abandoned ashes of
a forgotten auto-da-fe...

boo! boo !
fuck that weak shit!
let's have some real poetry!

attenuated bilaterally in the dolorous
fortuitousness of the moment...

dolorous is right, asshole!

get him out of there!

boo! booooooo!!

all right, how about this

it's three in the morning
and i've finished my pint of wine

and i'm taking a shit behind safeway

and it's hard, it's hard
but i'm almost there

and suddenly
a car drives down the street

in front of the parking lot
and stops

a cop car

a cop gets out

i shuffle back into the shadows
with a stab in my guts

ohhhhhhh!
it moved back in a little

and the cop strides across the parking lot
it's a lady cop

with something in her hand
and i try to move sidewise

like a crab
with my pants around my ankles

and the hard turd stuck halfway out my ass
and she hits me full in the face

with her flashlight
and she says

"this is it, big boy -
the end of the line"



arctic light blues




paul bunyan would have loved this silver eternity …
the rubbing of the wings of bodhisattva flies
( flies are the supreme bodhisattvas)
in the purple twilight of pocahontas and cabeza de vaca

thumbing rides
on brooklyn bridges of li po enlightenment
over rainbows of rheingold beer bottles

as the spiders of nothingness
crawl through the beard of john greenleaf whittier
passed out on the sidewalk of heaven

and the bing bong
bix beiderbecke
ping pong canaries
of gertrude stein

answer the burger king prayers of tao ch’ien

in the thirteenth enlightenment

or maybe the 14th arrondissement

where edith piaf
devours a smiling croissant
under the disapproving gaze

of madame butterfly
who missed the last train to istanbul

or heaven
(call back later)



Friday, August 3, 2018

edward




edward was a guy
who lived on a hill
he ate and slept
and took his pills

he watched tv
but never the news
to engage in argument
he did not choose

one day a man
came to edward’s door
edward had never
seen him before

he wanted a little
of edward’s time
and asked him for a nickel
or a lousy dime

edward was naturally
courteous and polite
but something here
did not seen right

he asked the man in
and offered him a drink
but part of his brain
did not know what to think

edward gave him a sandwich
of cheese and ham
but part of him
suspected a scam

edward kept his money
in a paper sack
safely buried
in the yard out back

he had a dog named joe
and a monkey named jim
they were prepared
to give their lives for him

but edward was a human
when all was said and done
he was a dreamer
and not the only one

edward did not
understand quite why
but the stranger had a friend
in a bank in shanghai

the friend knew the details
of a terrible affair
shocking things
of which the public was unaware

the friend knew the details
of a terrible affair
shocking things
of which the public was unaware

of betraying the planet
the friend was accused
and there was not
a moment to lose

the stranger asked edward
to help his friend
there is only one way
for this story to end

edward should have listened
to joe and jim
but he trusted the stranger
so much for him

why can not stories
have better ends?
because people are lonely
and want to have friends

what is wrong with this story?
what is wrong with this tale?
why did the stranger come to edward’s door
and not send him a letter in the mail?

o humans with your tablets
devices and phones
demons wait beyond the hills and stars
and are calling in their loans