Weed-Free

too slow to notice I seem to know the moves
why are they so easy at first so hard to learn
grass pleasant under foot irritates passages

then suddenly a month is over solstice past
doing something every day adds up change
clothes rhythm breathe deep into the belly

you can call this kicks preparing products
is the fun once they come out it's over then
something else comes up sweet weed-free

Tell Me

making them look like idiots is fun
maybe
but it doesn't do any good they
already look like idiots pandering to
dupes
who like idiots to reassure them
in their idiotic opinions
but
what else can we do
if you're so smart tell me

More Plays

chance makes plans not to be obvious
more plays surfacing all the time even
now the coolth arrives quietly clicking

what specific question can we answer
keeping secret means of self-respect
a symbol means less than thing itself

or so I was told and repeated widely
how we looked when we were young
recalling what came after if we must

Dark Trees

the moon rises on time
defines time all but brown
above dark trees the face
benign almost winking

later will be whiter still
pale haloed will a curfew
keep kids wholesome I
would worry if I could

Just Read

do you read me you who took
my card you who know me better
but how well is that how well do I
know you your family history is
vague how many children I know
you told me or you who notice
my existence after I am gone

I can only hope you do and will
thought tentacles reaching out
writing everything be my friend
at least my reader that's enough
don't say a word just read

Running Down

if not this now then what when
you tell me how I will do it pick
blueberries just before dark an
evening days years rolling past

natural as it is to see the world
running down it's a conspiracy
how tell the story as if making
it up to me I would not buy in

Even Rocks

there was something I was going to say
a regret a concern a plan that wasn't it

one book all but done two others work
something to do with what can't be said

will it come to me if I don't think about it
try try me try to remember try patience

what I realized is that everything moves
it's natural even rocks' atoms whirl

Major Characters

thanks for saying so is what
I meant to say appreciation
helps open yourself to it and
there it is another good idea

further sermon is this really
my voice or am I faking does
it matter what you think may
be going on or is it a dream

Living Theatre more than real
major characters from another
life intense conviction feeling
I have something else to do

Falling Over

what is balance
not falling over
being a critic
being a Libra
moderation in all things
I speak of my Libra nature
smiling laughing
like a Libra

well I am losing it
my sense of balance
edge lover always
I can't walk on rocks
much less water
I tip and stagger
amused but knowing
if I should fall
I would break something

otherwise
more balanced than ever
what matters more than
everything in proportion
new clarity not afraid
to say something
might be obvious
or not

Straight Enough

a pang to my heart inevitable as a son
departs but another will come and it is
summer first blueberries blue though
barely ripe the swing swings straight
or straight enough the grapes draped
date play title makes it a breakthrough

Sudden Tears

quiet enough the night sings a father's reward
acknowledged easily none more precious than
another unique engagement squandered time
comes back again tomorrow and the day after

Bach's finest melodies played two at once or
twice as well known for eruptions misplaced
good intentions bringing sudden tears I said
I'm sorry I am forgiven once and once again

fluff the curry and aioli add artichokes enjoy
the same dinner different rice good for some
vegetable pickers defy merchandise flying off
the shelves or handle every emotion physical

A Deep Hole

the mines don't pay but they dig
anyway leave minor devastation
a deep hole some concrete ruins

while the waterfall pours down
accelleration visible the forest
grows ferns many greens glow

El Niño accounts for part of this
cold wet spring I don't mind but
global confusion looming large

a picnic a terrible play we have
a good time lucky stars benign
chance put us here unharmed

Going Well

another play begins it's "Hamlet"
of all things what a good idea it
sounds fine if Kory less a word
man that's what rehearsals for

two months off now forget it
if I can maybe fix my hip keep
writing enjoy the summer if it
ever comes my art going well

Change Now

misuse the war metaphor again
oil no assault on our shores no
enemy to fight but our own bad
habits they begin with thinking
or rather not thinking spending
too much energy driving growth
the wrong goal grow vegetables

drilling for oil is inherently risky
especially so deep no one can be
perfectly careful always accidents
obsess as if this tragedy isolated
no it is part of a vaster tragedy
no one leading we are stumbling
mindlessly downhill change now

Great Pleasure

is this better or worse
or nothing doing I can't
tell non-critical of life
give me art or not at all

O.K I dissimulate not
jealous or even envious
actually I can and take
great pleasure in it too

join me in the revels
much to celebrate also
mourn you remember
even if friends forgot

Being Seen

if I were you I would not be me
or sorry take your pick are you
I must hope not because I care

if you were me what would you
say to another hand of solitaire
cinnamon toast a glass of milk

you are my hope immortal all
that matters to me everything
I am depends upon your eyes

being that means being seen
otherwise the room is empty

Not Enough

he suddenly turns on me
furious sarcastic condescending mean
denounces me classes me with
"ruling class persons" sneers at the
"wealth of the Connecticut WASP"

my time in Connecticut
two bright years at Hotchkiss
two clouded years at Yale
nine months in the loony bin
(albeit free to go)
ten years working in a factory
(albeit a harpsichord factory)
calls me a parasite

I was never rich
I wish I were but not enough
it's true I am not a great pianist
but no one will accompany you more sympathetically
no one try harder to play beautifully

Carry On

it couldn't have been more perfect
the first summer day for a poetry
party celebrating ten festive years

the founders showed and we who
carry on to share poems eat drink
a magnum of champagne whisky

absinthe nobody liked but me tell
curious stories laugh act silly Ruth
retired Pat turns eighty tomorrow

while the perfect summer evening
magically embraced us warm and
kindly after weeks of chilling rain

A Gift

dead friends come back in dreams
and die again
or disconcertingly disappear
I wake to realize

I'm glad to see them anyway
if briefly
remembered fondness never dies
a gift beyond

Moments Alive

aesthetic traces have to satisfy
nothing else remains knowing
moments alive tasting sublime

can I share this insight tonight
a Salon about music the model
of all art experience I surmise

you can hold it in your hand
hang it on the wall run it on
the screen still only the now

Only Plans

give me actors I will give you a play
my Hamlet was building gas stations
in rainy Washington messages lost in
space I didn't know what to think but
here he is again I am greatly relieved

other things can happen but this was
my first idea I want to see it tested
if it can smoothly move ahead plans
are only plans and sometimes change
but sometimes not you never know

My Novel

fragments linger
my job at the paper
when there still were papers
my editor friends with an agent
who would surely like my novel
which I had forgotten
what was the name of my novel

several gray stone apartment buildings
on the edge of a cliff above the city
on a bay wrapped around by mountains
my motorcycle repaired in a nearby alley
they must be reserved for the rich
I would like to go inside
there is a party
the walls are glass
the view is stunning

Poetry Food

everybody loves the super-kitsch
even super-loud do I belong there
I doubt it but I'm on the schedule
time tell something else happens
even I have other ideas and yet I
hope all will be well spoken done

my only idea for poetry food is
pasta al Dante I can easily make
for any number with a minimum
of boiling while the sun shines on
whoever comes calling for more
imaginary membership at large

Be Better

someone I care about
talks little carefully in
simple clear sentence
forms true being lives

quietly confiding who
listens counts beating
hearts mindful smiles
glitter gaily to delight

follow this a naturally
occurring blessing if
I knew more I would
be better than I can

Damage Done

sleep roiled with dreams tinnitus
like clashing knives hip hurtful
today limping never mind I'm
happy in spite of arctic tragedy
described by Gretel all too well

how can the greater and lesser
devastation impinge so little on
my own well-being as I used to
say I'm worried about the world
as opposed to my personal life

even more so now that the end
is closer I don't mind but don't
want others to suffer but they
have and do the damage done
and nothing can undo it alas

Eat Better

wild spending linen software
travels books car repairs an
extra hundred for dawdling
does it matter I don't know

earning nothing I hope it
all works out so far it has

going out to dinner less we
eat better from the garden
debt free I pay my bills at
once after this flurry calm

Badly Scratched

I could see better but I'm all right
or almost maybe Ogle can fix my
reading glasses so I don't have to
use the old ones badly scratched

that one thing a serious cookie a
long sought kitchen thing a book
some art Stumptown coffee best
wandering around parking thrice

home to another skunk trapped
and shot upsetting I am upset at
dinner Beethoven absorbs it all
friendly balloonists over Parma

Poles Apart

opposites do not exist in nature
except as aspects of unity poles
apart while joined in singularity

one might be the other without
violating its integrity viz. open
or closed a door is still a door

let not the mind mislead itself
with words can mean anything
without implying real existing

Too Fast

is this too fast my confidence
wavers I repeat I repeat like rain

older happier for no reason learn
new tricks make same mistakes

more to come will make it better
if I can wait I will believe biology

it's all too slow yet all gets done
in time unless it comes too late