If I Can I Will

yoga light hang weed granola

tai chi everything working again

in time for another long drive if

I can I will be there curtain time

the butter device eaten the fire

escape the seduction applause

if this is all I could say if asked

Holy Theatre

wash the windows mow the grass

better than doing nothing gazing

dully wake up write about Indian

holy theatre pass it on what else

slow connection sabotages more

same endlessly amazing images

not enough I'm hungry to choose

doing as doing something choice

Better Living

say it don't just think it doesn't count

until it's put in words or action better

living when the lotus blooms I'm here

for you and others if I can remember

uneven music only Roberto can keep

time well enough to drum with other

songs vague hesitant I need a beat

to function act alive beyond thought

My Beauty

when I am old praise my beauty

make sure I wash my hair brush

my teeth dress myself in colors

don't let me fall apart too badly

or if I do remember me in better

days gone by are always present

when I am bony hold me in your

arms as if I were soft and spring

upon us warm me with your love

if I am cold don't be deceived if I

don't seem to care I have nought

else but human body tenderness

More Meaning

autumn rugs miscellaneous info

informs the in-between seasons

unpredictable inspiration or not

quite there all patterns dissolve

unmentionable invitation while

considering what thought catch

floating past as if in meditation

a movement has more meaning

that's why I asked you here to

meet what passes for quality in

democracy argument is a noise

distinct as what actually exists

Wild Being

between or after some to be last

words about age though young

in dreams doesn't matter we all

are mainly human isn't that true

so I phoned so I tried to keep in

touch you had your own network

as if everyday worries press less

email attach photographs like you

still the language evolving past

my urgency imagined wild being

thrusting upward to peaks of joy

above the mirror lake unfishable

In Bits

I'm O.K. thanks whatever no further

surgery maybe viral swimming heat

help dust-mop floor laugh at Streep

what happens happens at a distance

publisher L.A. family friends all over

links proliferate warm bodies apart

there we are in bits little wonder as

if literary act replaces ordinary lives

as if we ourselves could be digitized

Heat Pad

pain right hip start stops me

stranded leaning on the piano

sit down unaccustomed chair

wait for help to hobble across

room to chair heat pad helps

later almost better for tai chi

not really what can it mean I

thought I was fine not failing

can't I just roll or slide along

feel good if I don't try to walk

Other Lives

cards say I'm home 400 miles today

450 yesterday from Many Glacier too

much driving alone "reading" novels

each peak beckons if I only could

falling through land forms hidden

canyons lost towns empty stretches

trees wheat grass rocks road crazy

gets to you passing never staying

I only talk to the help nothing say

to anyone else but platitudes the

usual mountain goats astonishing

steeps unimaginable other lives

Party Tricks

it should be a relief that it isn't true

just a thought if that those two jobs

you never show up for the columns

not written and the other thing you

try to go downtown but your heart

isn't in it you have given up flying

is just a party trick they won't tear

down the Plaza despite what GM

did across the street would be like

changing the Place de la Concorde

don't even think it stop the words

One Place

what to wonder whether miles matter

going away might mean coming back

one place as good as another except

yesterday began coffee Janet's trailer

take-away granola missed turn found

finer path plans often predict events

and so I arrived at Glacier is unique

we're all in thrall as on a pilgrimage

nature beyond hard roads a scratch

rain snow closed pass still climbed

mountains in glimpses cloud gaps

driving through what was imagined

Only Itself

does bacon give you cancer or beef

did he really say chirping at the bit

what if the answer is yes what then

accidentally almost went to Canada

long short cut back through alpine

meadows ghost towns mirror lakes

different kinds of landscapes like

western Massachusetts or northern

New Mexico finally Idaho only itself

Side Roads

many men are standing in the North Fork of the Stillaguamish

fishing Thursday morning are they unemployed craggy peaks

appear that mountain feeling side roads beckon in Rockport

on the Skagit humpies are running thick a fish on every cast

fighting for its life clouds wreathe the tops of the Picket Range

Twisp a fertile valley I remember from long ago in Omak I stop

What Else

good genes good habits what else

can you do pray for peace

Not Now

a soft departure wondering how not

to go too fast land lightly zoom off

the next scenic highway beckoning

less interpreter than documentarian

I am not possessive about Søren or
even my own story only want it told

how busy other people are doing I

can't imagine what did I do all that

and more thinking if not now when

Same Old

business as usual more bitter lees

Congo rape dismemberment death

why say so it won't go away so I can 

Obama powerless to make the change

he promised instead the same white guy

gang keeps telling the same old sad story

Having Fun

remind me why I am the one who does what I do again

not everything then is my own fault if fault there be yes

there is no other explanation unless you like to be silly

what time was still is if I am still really the same person

when sheer frivolity was a valid alternative to revolution

can I think that way again again feel good about myself

doing what I do art play giving pleasure and having fun

Other Cells

beautiful Raimund Hoghe 9/11

robbed of his Algerian dancer still

we stayed the ritual saved us from

despair his courage playful wise

these a reason to remain awake

in spite of stupid conniving failed

ideals de trop when we only work

to win we are not our best self

which time is this to redo what

mattered mostly first fresh fallen

for always love true who counted

other cells the same old person

Do Good

forgotten birthdays suddenly come back

a piece of cake in the wilderness or on a

sloop sweetly told is enough connection

no way to explain to the redneck right

their own difficulties not thus improved

if our democracy the best doesn't work

send all soldiers home stop arms sale

war doesn't help fewer guns is better

being elected main chance to do good

Little Noises

spinning disk untoward delays little noises

what is it thinking meanwhile Federer wins

the cereus blooms I finish my ironing home

quiet after tai chi wide sky gestures in pink

smug is useless people may not change but

something does when you least expect what

follows enlarges on the past embrace each

moment passing eternal ready for anything 

Another Language

too much already translated into words as

good a way of living as we can know I

imagine gods have another language too

subtle for limited mind or do we speak it

not knowing and no one notices or listens

closely enough my own attention febrile

at best flickering light in a vast darkness

Chilly Nights

images account for hours acting

solo holiday in thirty minutes too

long something meaningless to do

raspberries and crème frâiche yum

for meaning look to literature art

philosophy music ineffable truth

or not not everything is good for

me even if many others love it

what else new season for duvet

blanket too porous chilly nights

Given Cues

wind added horse calling who

wins who stays away laughing

deliberately slowly as if I am

about to do something else

instead same calm progress

responding to the given cues

because of became identity

simple summation runs true

Think Food

rain changes overnight seasons
mood swings erratic routine no
porch further varnish wet above
surface dimpled winners losing

nothing to think food is good I
am lucky to have all this which
need say more than anyone is
ready to make an impression

Only Listen

america disaster failing world peace
today I scrupulously washed wiped
varnished kitchen dining floor zip
to the city for time-based art found
videos of people tripping babbling
laughing falling down dancers do
amazing gender flip twist audience
cheers fabulous workout artists have
plenty of ideas if they'd only listen
medical chocolate dark road hum
tomorrow clean back porch recycle
swim library tennis piano mow pick
movies my words no longer crystal
even so spare us all fellow human

En Route

potential visitors imaginary fill the empty
house life clean a worthy goal momentous
varnishing before a play-like performance

if it isn't art what is (it) what I said again
amazing wit awaiting gleaners may notice
unuttered sentiments alphabetically filed

where the time goes must have passed
en route tomorrow already gone without
adequate expression of stolen favorites

98 Percent

celebrate with kisses cards presents
heartfelt appreciation good getting
better all time well-practiced love

concentrated pesto in the freezer
raspberries horses cats contented
moon 98 percent glad stayed home

we feed each other tai chi balance
even as the ease of summer ends

Ordinary Day

somebody wins it sometimes me
ordinary day simultaneous special
click through screens as Bergman
makes it meaningful for the actors

no faking detailed attention just
so is the absolute max each one
match fun for someone making it
up as he goes trippingly along

not that I can read about it before
it happens to me who used to be
there with able bodies in amber
waving gaily to the teeming horde