Frocks
Chilly April rains,
Crisp afterthoughts of winter,
Cool the warming earth
As white tree flowers give way
To Spring frocks of new green leaves
Chilly April rains,
Crisp afterthoughts of winter,
Cool the warming earth
As white tree flowers give way
To Spring frocks of new green leaves
Whenever I smile,
The whole world brightens,
Even in darkness,
For a light that shines within
Is reflected everywhere
On life’s stormy road,
When there is no place to lay
My rain-soaked body
Down, you pull my aching head
To your breast, my safe haven
Two AM, awake,
Wishing nausea away
Unsuccessfully,
Trying to resist the urge
To howl, to cry, to vomit
The pain is a friend,
A faithful companion who
Lives inside my skull,
Who wakes me after midnight
From the terror of nightmares.
Lichens cling to rocks
Mushrooms feed on felled tree trunks
Dung beetles roll dung
Vultures feast on rotting flesh
I chew up my old writings
How dare you strike me,
A tiny defenseless baby,
Unable to walk,
Unable to remember
Yet unable to forget?
Make fewer errors
And be less likely to lose,
But avoid losing
And be less likely to win:
Plan, execute, take good risks.
With my flute and dog,
I wandered up the mountain,
Seeking better views
And a bed of pine needles
To serenade the full moon.
There is no wizard
Other than the little man
Or little woman
Standing behind your curtain
Pulling the strings of your life
One need not travel
The earth’s far places to quench
The lust to wander:
Any lake, mountain or stream
Is a cosmos to explore.
No Baritone need
Play villain in life’s opera,
Though easy fame be tempting,
Corruption ubiquitous:
Choose heroic roles and soar.
In darkest hours,
The new day concealed by shade,
I wonder what comes,
Whether pain, love, even death —
All hopes and fears possible.
Is that snow upon
My head, my cheeks? Those gray white
Hairs? Reminders that,
However much I dread it,
Life’s cold winter approaches?
The heart is the forge
In which we temper passion,
Purge impurities,
And steel our inner resolve
To return hatred with love.
i wuz lyin in my own coffin, witch thay wuz a slew of folks fixin to sprankle dirt over it. fer sum reason, thay wudnt no top on the coffin. i wuz trine to let everbidy know how thay must a bin a horribull miss take a counta i wudnt dead yet! twuz one of them dream sitchewayshuns whar ye wonta scream but nuthin will cum outta yer mouth.could be thays a lank between whut i am a'feelin (helpless, hopeless, deepressd) n them dreams.
whenever i figgerd thay wudnt no way to talk em outta buryin me, i deecided i wood settle fer em rearrangin my bidy in the coffin to whar my hed wudnt jammd up agin the left hand corner, makin my hed hurt so bad i couldnt ritely see.
i woke up in a near panick with a terrbull hed ake in the same ole place. made it to the bottom of our loft stairs in time to vomit in the wastepaper bin.
In sudden darkness
We find ourselves at midday,
Looking to the sky,
The sun’s loving light dimmed by
A tiny moon of cold stone.
The full summer moon
Gradually fades, dimming
Like the ragged face
Of an old worker who slips
Into the cool shade to rest.
The big leaf of life,
Filled with holes for migraineurs,
Huge missing pieces
Of memories, histories,
Is precious for each cruel flaw.

Consider the oak,
Standing naked and upright,
Bending in the wind,
Freezing in icy snow, yet
Never a word of complaint.
The salamander,
Easily living both in
Water and on earth,
Unafraid of injury,
Proof of regeneration.
Behold wild salmon,
Swimming freely through wide seas,
Coming home to spawn
In death, feeding all others,
An orgy of sacrifice.
Humble mockingbird,
Merrily singing for all,
Master of music,
His own, that of other birds,
And even that of silence.
Still trying to heal
From traumatic wounds that left
Ugly, wicked scars,
Clues from which to reconstruct
The crimes that caged my spirit.
