The Coffeers

To a cup of contemplation
Each morning they rise;
Until they have drank a cup
There isn't a surprise:

They're tired and sluggish
From just having woke,
And to friend or the cat
They'll hardly have spoke.

In they scoop and poor
Ingredients of a liquor,
That innervates the body
And moves them quicker.

It energizes the toes
And taps on the mind,
Giving means to a day
And to feeling, is kind.

In a Vision of a Fairtytale

In a vision of a fairytale
Where wishes come true,
In a land with a sky
That's the softest of blue,

After swinging on a star
And dancing with moonbeams,
After entertaining want
And tickling dreams,

Two souls intertwined
And came into one
In a way no one thought
Could ever be done.

I'm Not There Anymore

I realized today
I'm not where I was.
Surroundings are different,
And this gives me pause.

Cravings I have
Cannot here be filled.
The mover in me
Is forceably stilled.

The haunts I have there
Are so far away.
I can no longer enter them
At end of the day.

Sights I enjoy
Can no longer be seen.
That type of beauty
Cannot now be gleaned.

Faces I saw
From close or far
May as well be as distant
As twinkling star.

Voices and words
That tickled my ear,
I their dulcetness
Do not hear.

The love that was there,
Comfortable and warm,
Far away, it's louder now
To be heard like a storm.

The Kicking Rock

It divorced the pavement where long it was joined,
And laid about the crag with others freshly separated.
Occasionally, it could change its side like a chance coin,
But ultimately, without mode of movement, it frustrated.

Then along came the pondering toes of a wandering foot
That accidentally bumped the fuming 'lil pebble.
It shied out straight and gaily came to halt,
And on the second beat, went again fast and terrible.

Now lo and soon, those stepping toes could not the pebble keep;
It zigged and zagged for freedom left or right,
And toward the curb, into the street
The feet would dart in protective fright.

Now raging against unwillfull caging, the stone it thought.
It halted suddenly under the oppressive toes;
It stabbed and delighted in the pain it had brought,
But was soon astounded by such worse woes.

The feet had hands that reached down in spite.
They pinched the pebble dexterously despite its, "NO!"
And with no thought nor show of excessive might,
Plunged the pebble into the sewery hell below.

Creativity Problems

With banker's shoes
And banker's ties,
The Poet inside me
Slowly dies.

With mundane thought
And maudlin talk,
The pen in my hand
Can no longer walk.

Into imagination
I again retreat
In order my soul
To entreat.

I find a Poet's spirit,
The Discerning Ear,
And words again
Begin to appear.

Dancing God

I saw in a dream
That God was dancing
With the Heavenly host
He loved entertaining.
With a drink in his hand,
He was singing;
With the song on his lips
He was swinging.
Like Zarathustra
Who loved philosophizing,
I couldn't love a god
Who didn't like his dancing.

Pottery

Cold, wet hands.
Yawning clay.
Slowly it bends.
Greeting the day.
Motivating it awake slowly.
Just from sleep it remains lowly.
Sluggish.

Watered down.
Flexible.
Energy found.
Now malleable.
Potter can now pull and bend in place
The walls and bottom to a vase.
Lovely

Rings

On this finger
For the first time,
Silver will linger.

Those before now:
Trying one one
Just to see how--

What would life be,
If we were there
Permanently.

But now I see
It's not the ring
But she that be

In life from now,
Forever more,
This we both know.

Disconnected

About to depart
But
Shut down,
Cut off,
Left out,
Separated.
People, friends
That...
I long to see...
I want to talk to...
I desire to be with,
But
Walled off by silence
By absence,
By disconnect.
Torturous hours
Without a phone.

The Q-Tips

They stick up in a sea of dark--
White fuzzy hairdos that wave and fluff--
And constrast against younger stuff.

Bent down with age and experience
And often hackneyed words and thoughts,
These Q-Tips relax from lives well fought.

Before being thrown into a rubbage bin,
They wave and shake to show their rage,
And flare their spirit without a cage.

With many stories this cotton can give
Amusement and wisdom never before seen:
Something the current generation should glean.

The rock...

It was hard.
It was soft.
It was light.
It was heavy.
It was rounded.
It was jagged.
It was dark.
It was lighter.
It was sharp.
It was dull.
Maybe it wasn't a rock.
Maybe it was a tree.
Maybe it was sky.
Maybe it was air.
Maybe it was a cat.
Maybe it wasn't.

Swollen

Twice as thick,
Uneven.
Left bigger than right.
Quasimodo
In the neck.
Noncontagious,
Self conscious
Of setting afright
Those around.
Ashamed of something
Not self-caused.
Embarrassed
By being sick.

Doodling

Bored from this speech,
She for a pencil does reach,
And pictures starts to write
To ignore what one will teach.

Eyes rolled left to right;
On paper her fingers delight
Just to be scribbling down
Instead of picking a fight.

Traveling Song

When I fly to the West,
Those times are the best.
Just Do Doh Doh Do Do,
Travelin' along.

If I'm travelin' East,
I just feel like a beast,
Pat Pat Pat Tat Tattin',
Singing this song.

Talking to Jim,
As I sit next to him.
Chat Chat Chat
Tete-e-tettin' strong.

Walking so fast
With luggage that lasts
Stomp Stomp Stompin' Out
This Travelin' Song.

Thinking of You

A picture of us,
One of two ticket stubs,
A letter of yours:
Memories dancing on my brain
Makes my heart beat and grow,
Puts a tickle in my ear,
Puts an itch in my fingers,
Makes words stand on my lips.
Oh, the sway of your back,
The taste of your voice,
The sound of your listening,
The feel of your words.

Japanese

I study Japanese
Any way I please,
But every now and then
It kind of makes me sneeze.

30 minutes to wait

30 minutes to wait,
Writing down words,
Cursing at thought.
29 minutes to wait.

Playing the writer,
Sitting in the corner,
Stealing others' stories.
The starving writer.

Looking down the road,
Reading road signs,
Yelling at the curb,
Kicking the road.

Staring at the sky,
Thinking about planes,
Throwing mud at clouds,
Wanting a closer sky.

Poor

All the money
I have
Right now
Is in
My pocket.
I don't
Have a job,
But
I do
Have debt,
But
I do
Have
An education,
A bed,
Heat,
Food,
Love,
And
I try
To not
Worry
About tomorrow.

A Drowning Wish

Sitting at the bottom,
Under all the water,
A silver wish sunk,
Handcuffed to the others,
Breath by breath
It starts to go;
It fades slowly away
Into anonymity.
Once tossed,
Once wished,
Formerly hoped,
Now forgotten,
The drowning wish.

Bobble Heads

I am one of the heads
Sitting in a crowd
Bobbing up and down,
Riding down the street--
Other people to meet,
Walking around--
Shopping or going to town,
Putting food in my face--
To help get from place to place.
A few stick up,
And some are short,
But en masse,
Black and brown,
Blonde or grey,
Onward we bobble
Through the day.

Going

Walking
Not with each other
Long apart
Missing the other

Riding
With each other again
A little distant
Reremembering

Driving
Closer now
Right again
Enjoying the situation

Flying
Long together now
Old and aged
Still thankful and loved

Tumbling

Lined up tall
Black and white
A few dots
Before the fall.

With one push,
A tumble,
A roar,
A hush.

Errands

Calling here.
Going there.
Talking to him.

Sending mail.
Getting mail.
Buying on sale.

Pulling hair.
Pounding head.
Starting to wear.

Tired Legs

In my bed,
Resting my head;
Now sleepily fed.

Feet now propped
For walking's stopped
And day has all flopped.

Not moving
But just grooving,
Motionless moving.

The Streets of Chickasha

My big city walk
Compared to this
Slow town saunter.
Walking on shoulders
Absent of sidewalks.
My straight suit--
Pants and jacket--
Getting glances
From greasy jeans
And slouched tshirts.
A slack-jawed grandpa
Slowing his truck
Looking at my
Typhoid Mary tie--
Me the enigma
In oxford shoes
And my walking
And not driving.

Step by Step by Step

It's lying over there,
The place to which I trod,
I see it clear from here
E'en after this long plod.

Though spirits have been raised
Because of goal in sight,
My legs just won't be phased
And can't keep muscles tight.

I cheer and speak them on;
"It's just oe'r there," I say.
But barely they go on,
They seem to've lost their way.

"Just step and step and step;
It's one by one by one."
They carelessly have wept--
Self-pity all and done.

They take me onward now
To place o'er yonder there
I count the every bow
Of step as we go there.

Something From Nothing

Impossible to understand
The energy that comes from naught.
It makes one wonder how it can
Be ever truly wholly taught.

It's understanding something that
In words cannot be easily said.
No facts nor aides will help one
In chair that's placed in evidence's bed.

Ideas like these require belief,
A faith that this which is does come
By means uncomprehended.
No one fills gaps with facts not come.

Sleep

Sleep, sleep, enduring sleep
With such soft footsteps
Does it whispering creep.

As profound as ocean's deep,
Having powers like no other
Gently 'way does it sweep.

With titans' weight can it keep
Away the day and give more
Sleep, sleep, sleep.

Good News

2 April 2010

Wired and tried,
Caffeinated,
Longing to meet
New acquaintance,

Today brought new
News that grew
A happiness
And rarity.

Something was wanted;
Something was worried,
But all paid off
In a moment.

Nerves were tight,
Hopes weren't light.
In one moment
Only joy remained.

Moment rare
When future bears
A dream come true
And smiles settle.

Can't Sleep

1 April 2010

A note written on my hand I forgot,
Having waved goodbye to my love,
A time change many times fought,
And soaring on miles and miles above.

In a plane I'm one of three,
Three out of three hundred.
No matter how I try to be,
I'm not the one that'll be well slumbered.