Kind Words

signifying for its own sake
forms descry averages we
respond in kind words are
all we have unconditional
deployments wither hearts

thus in cars read reasons
to be happy brave serious
about how much it costs
what it says about status
what kind of person I am

which season explains if
states of love are fruiting
what drug might help see
what you know of timing
whether the year can end

Friendly Ways

whether the other brother emerges
wishing which ditch overflows most
warmly saying what you want to hear

which is this breathing wriggling
balance attention sizzle after dinner
quietly going separate friendly ways

doesn't bother the father cares most
warmly reminded of what someone
said when he was ready to go to bed

Perfect Sense

I am less saying anything than making
artifacts existing where before there was
nothing doing my thing like a chicken

believe me I am speaking perfect sense
on some level more specific than writing
"about" something even more imaginary

even if not my pleasure in the creative
acts like a neurotransmitter focusing
the disparate deeds of normal waking life

Good Fortune

modes of being lost and found
contentment light-hearted lust
intellectual absorption pattern
musical or physical competing
for glory virtue high low bored

gain loss wrong question rather
ask yourself this moment listen
wind rain humming twittering
process will or no recourse but
giving in embrace good fortune

Situation Found

everything changes but not until it
suddenly does even if you see it
coming until then you are stuck at
this apparent end point everything
in place every day the same old
you very slowly sliding downhill

how do we reconcile this contrast
exist in contradictory dimensions
make sense of the situation found
paradise and nightmare according
to what where when weak delusion
maintained by quantum ignorance

When to Lead

fudge it a little what the heck
nothing's at stake no one dies

kindness good humor weighs
more than following the rules

honest generous and loved
by all who knew him besides

obedience has limits decide
when to follow when to lead

Begin Again

infinite random detail crowds in
St. Peter's I can't imagine believing
anything so officially sanctioned

we like our little ways reading
Dickens after dinner crosswords
before sleep together and apart

definite blessings deserve notice
good lucky spotty when the norm
falling apart sucks millions down

not all problems can be solved
but we can do much better past
solstice now we can begin again

This Night

sweet baby Jesus encourage precious
sentiment better story without religion

this night carols ring the protestants
triumph whatever the shopping lights

I celebrate solstice another turning
day forward when you might be sad

wish joy to the world another birth
naturally be mother and father too

Flowing Out

advice to all men
put the toilet seat down
after every time you go
women appreciate it
and mind if you forget
as if they don't exist

putting down the lid as well
will stop the chi from flowing out
we all need all our chi!

Too Brief

I have been reading not writing
both at once unfortunately awkward
ironing lunching listening to Peter
Bogdanovich talk about his movie
playing backgammon very badly
the day pleasant but too brief
a nap and only an hour left
too quickly gone

Doing Less

"Either way, I promised myself, I would never write a novel." —Ben Lerner

fine with me that nothing is happening let's
lie low and wait for longer days adjust to
doing less more slowly but not less well
I know the form now nothing immediate
to fear fend off but unavoidable bedtime

Long Nights

Havel the best of men if only
others were as gentle and polite

his simplicity not simple shows
Czech subtle complex weird

that something better possible
enlivens short days long nights

painfully extended still thinking
clearly suffering troubled world

my hero standing up enjoying
palace laughs at power wielding

pressing on with what was right
a play of lives and highest comedy

Present Pit

boobies rule again against all kind
sense unled allow continued war
against our own sweeter interests
manipulative twits have their way
why pay attention to these clowns
they are taking over can probably
be worse than even the present pit

Two Musics

let it go make it happen
play the notes as written
be glad your fingers can
move ask your brain how
many small-town friends
appear annually seldom
glimpsed or never good
talking to like tonight's
two parties in one block
two musics being heard

Weird People

now withdraw the mercenaries
and the weird people at the embassy
how much did that cost us
who else is there doing what
why is it all a secret

You Alone

adjust your position again
comfort is here somewhere

say what is really going on
listen heart murmurs truth

dare to make sense of it if
you alone can do you must

forcing anyone act against
basic rule of animal nature

gang up on weak common
flaw begs careful correction

Just Enough

little pains mean less
what anyone thinks
hardly matters I want
respect recognition it
doesn't matter either
private is just enough
immediate closeness
soothes every wound

Both Ways

if I knew more I would tell you
too much too little smart accept
what is no purpose no ambition

no one told me misled blinded
knowing not to trust them I was
wrong both ways doubly failed

you can read about it in the holy
books crystal vision might well
improve scene "imminent threat

and long-term hoplessness" not
normal happy animal spreading
love and beauty answer all need

The End

exactly the costume I wore at Yale
blue buttondown crewneck Shetland
sweater grey flannels comfortable in
winter that was fifty-six years past
before anything am I still the same
after all original self reclaiming me
didn't make myself my parents were
transitional figures I am the end of
many lives come recently unmoored
need not cannot resist being true to
type no single part uniquely mine
only this synthesis and pass it on

Good Plays

does it make it more real if I write it down
maybe moved it to a different brain region
it's already real but over happened when it
did now something else and soon forgotten

stop time waits in words openable anytime
everyone knows if they care to examine if
any other purpose wills revisits good plays
or any other remotely possible significance

Glowing Screen

everybody blurs together
not just the characters in "Our Mutual Friend"
but actual conversations
who said he was having prostate trouble
random input overload
I am never not reading in fragments and jumps
Robertson Davies NYRB
words and pictures on the glowing screen
pleasure density thrills

Plain Sight

no why just what
satisfies unnecessarily suppressed curiosity
without blowing anything up

stanzas
come in all sizes
lines of any length like formal views through tall French windows

number magic hides in plain sight beside the Juno fountain
paths describe the possible
your hand in mine a dimension sublime

so we go on
manifest form composed of all time
seasoned in love

Beige Study

we know more about less and less
about more the first thrill long lost
still trumpeting ceaseless devotion

I said what I could quite clearly if
you know the code if not hopeless
word for discouraged intervention

medium length beige study crispy
on the outside in case of tenderness
call for help I am ready in waiting

Something Soft

more is eventually less as you know
some people don't say so who cares
more may not live longer than seen
slipping into something soft unless
you wish to keep promising better

that said he ate another clementine
both sweet and tart as remembered
holidays since everything changed
you hadn't noticed wishing further
repetitions of the same sad stories

it will have to do while you wake
up another contested morn greets
the winter weather count on time
for profit lost on spending whose
capital ideas were largely realized

Total Confusion

I'm so good that anything I write
even in total confusion has value
someday someone will recognize
its brilliance then everybody will

so I imagined when I was young
look where it got me is anybody
listening if I am saying anything
it's for the walls the gods for you

Buy Time

dire consequences loom grotesque
wreckage of all philosophies sell
what you can while there's time

no buy time keep going it won't
catch up give more care believe
meanwhile anything can happen

panic never helps do something
fill time weigh sensation matters
it more than you think you think

Art Value

after Chopin what to say beauty
fine feeling exquisite expression
doubting nothing of art value in
the pinch of floating free within
the strictest steady arching pulse
this is the form that must emerge
nor prince nor pauper welcomed
to play piano in historic houses
whether yes or no will be O.K.

Best Defense

the solitary man gets up early
stays up late does most things
alone not by choice it's culture
circumstances outcome habit
no white-man alternative on
offer we like what's familiar

my way is not the highway
no one likes traffic the best
defense immunity talk radio
music we can be in perfect
sync don't even think about
what miss not being Italian

Not Me

if I'm not here where am I
see myself reading making
rice to go with the chicken
hear the tv nattering if not
screaming at the other end
of the house but it's not me
I am thinking of something
else that takes me away to
nowhere no one can know

How Far

not even words it's all spelled out
in numbers not even numbers but
digital representations of numbers
how far we have come from ding
an sich still my feet rest on a real
aghan my mother made with love
in every stitch better than virtual