Five Dogs

five animals in the room besides
us including Rose on my lap five
dogs underfoot six dear humans
gather cook drink talk eat enjoy
each emphatically other common
thought shards language regard
personality flourished regardless

Every Minute

these vast vistas fill my heart with joy
not for the return but now I am happy
every minute even crawling thru Mora

Special Friends

swarming hummingbirds contradict executors' decisions
sucking up sugar water by the pound serious dog nosy cat
patrol my keyboard watch for bugs in pants legs eat them

I'd say more if I hadn't lost my pen plenty more to take
over rain ensures hidden effort for natural effect it's all
special friends come far deny nothing see best remains

Key Questions

bogus community or is this the now
5,000 houses each on minimum acre
covenanted low adobe-like I can't even
imagine liking it though the air is good
rain coming down somewhere breaking
promises don't last forever how can I
not ask key questions how much longer
does it matter what you're counting on

Different Languages

it wouldn't matter if I hadn't
said I'd be there when the
phone rang I said hello like
promises kept clean sheets

nor would the weather make
any difference to our plans
to be there no matter what
if not then somewhere else

something else is happening
at the same time in different
languages vary the word you
know better than to say aloud

Step It Up

stars vanish when I look at them
reappear as I look away I know
what this means I will slowly go
blind like my father who finally
couldn't drive read I'll need an
amanuensis keep on working
meanwhile better step it up do
everything I can at least bring
order to all that was revealed

Fighting Gravity

theatre alive merry wives make us
laugh under far distant skies falling
night like plot fairies enter after dark

drive off in opposite directions not apart
where we went in our beds to New York
falling out fighting gravity counting hours

comforted by art Agnes Martin painters
memory enriches present texture sustains
supermarket $35 saved by paying attention

something continues across then and now
links solitude and company which self
unifies them all articulates ineffable

Wax Disaster

dog like lion dreaming of home
wax disaster useless broom stub
bristles can't sweep barely scrub
I buy more until no more buying

one of the old ones hobbling on
the rough stone floor step up or
down we go unlockable value add
errands interludes unfold the day

Hidden Rocks

will not calmly regard what happens to just
being whether daring to sip if rain comes

called the Rio Grande it isn't big only long
and sweet for swims apart from giardiasis

and hidden rocks knock toes knees fish are
jumpin' the weather windy blustery dubious

who will tent in preference to home dream
children dads adventure beckons only some

The Only Word

what to draw the house tree other
tree objects not alone ever some
thing or texture even the sky alive

beautiful drive the only word for it
I ask for a map to see where I am
here I know dogs excited to arrive

Waiting for Rainbows

your blue bottles happy houseplants witness sudden
rain thunder change an hour comes again time open

I can wander around losing new glasses then finding
still capable of self-remembering without even trying

Head First

mountain profile cuts sky quick
clarity of air despite distance we
are always close images in time
persist moving with the seasons

open spaces our temperament
bred of northern forest longs for
sun breaks all-day interlude falls
head first in love with being here

Going Farther

don't interrupt I won'f if I don't
have anything to say as if used
to being told what to do or not

that's as big as thought is now
I've thought it all before going
farther than I thought possible

the work remains waiting time
turns back on itself like a cow
with four stomachs ruminating
or a horse asleep standing up

how can I go on doing what I
say and plan the trip is always
round but I am flat and scared

shadows like memories erased
by creeping time another side
done crisp quickly running out

once gone all doubt can be left
behind on the receding ground

Take It

if you ask me I will tell you
how can you know what to
ask to receive gladly given

what is it for if not to give
away if anyone can take it
you can being the only one

many years of hard work
lead to this moment when
transaction is finally done

how do you know it's real
unless you think it is defer
doubt and proffer welcome

No Surprises

smoothly days pass different
but the same no surprises but
a splinter blackberry or thistle

if it doesn't get done it doesn't
matter late is just about as well
as now we will inexorably part

rain improved on watering the
harvest will be shared friends
coming by to pick blueberries

other arrangements for peas
nothing will die and if it does
we'll mulch it and plant again

All Moms

all moms at the pool
dads presumed at work
back to the dark ages

Familiar Moves

we move slowly on the grass
I and five women carefully
execute the familiar moves
our minds quieting wetness
reifies our gravity and feet

the motive repeats and is
developed variously yoga
in the morning sitting still
mantras in the swimming
pool a part of my routine

I move slowly on the farm
weeding edging resetting
stones in sand picking up
water and put off mowing
my mind on other matter

Another Day

come death when it will
be done with wondering
resistances and pain we
love to live and will until
it call and then we come

wait a moment till I say
goodbye with no regret
I lived aplenty while we
could be friends lovers
family among ourselves

I'll take art and planet
with me to the grave it
is no more mine than I
am part of all remains
to die for another day

Time Spent

cherries strawberries blueberries sun
make up for sneezes even less grass
now Marion County returns to wheat

maintenance ever more spendy with
new glasses ready rear end repaired
my VW dented scratched in Portland

Alfred's died and he broke a tooth
everything can be dealt with at cost
in money time spent is never wasted

Past Love

goodbye checkbook files poetry duties
back to future Proust on Kindle easier
to hold and see and carry around real
book shelf ornament three fat volumes

finally he's getting over Albertine we all
get over something eventually find our
way beckoned to a reckoning past love
released into what else is always there

String Quartet

weddings in Vienna now Taos next May
white-hairs at the string quartet careers
in opera and what else is there to do or
be done if we weren't overwhelmed by the
present this would be an interesting time

power consuming destroying instead of
all the good that could be done instead
too many of my predictions coming true
it's not that hard to go the other way if
this then that for some other President

Born Free

if anything not nothing why not
wonder whether or not you can
be better than before or since
when once to come came true

it had to be who knew but you
must first become yourself time
started when you were born free
to manifest existing and still are

What It Takes

when nothing is possible
stop wait
something will arise
or do something anyway
sometimes that's what it takes
learn if you can do
useless repetition or practice
the same mistakes
as if writing work
gets done

Not Wanted

I thought you knew
doesn't everyone
we're not wanted in Afghanistan
oh maybe what's his name
cronies cashing in some
contractors make big bucks
they hate us being there
shooting dropping bombs
not to mention drones
stop it with the drones
let's just leave
it's messy anyway
we can't fix it

Original Mix

the ring tells the story for her
everyone happy they are moving
forward other people's children
dogs history worth continuing

I gain a sprawling Italian family
easily welcome abundantly fed
original mix American beauty
generates an audience for love

Cards Fall

wait all day
already late
other music
second start

same storm
broke again
pay my way
name no one

stop for gas
piss it away
sweat tears
throw bout

shame burns
pleasures few
cards fall
so does night