Raw Material

if I had known how can I guess what
might have been different as if I had
no choice no thoughts however useless
at the time I was imagining something
must have been not knowing the future

it had to be this though and how else
could I have come here highs lows pain
confusion all necessary no short cuts in
life it takes us all the time there is to be
whatever we can make of raw material

Who We Are

no words in the country the trees
aren't labeled berries chickens don't
advertise you can think of your own

which might include anything and
don't necessarily avoid each other
beat you relentlessly over the head

but if you take a chance and think
Utopia Eureka reminding listeners
to know the all is only what we have

Mind Process

try one and then the other
educate your intuition
then believe it because it
knows let the mind process
answers will arise from time
passing like nothing else

Give In

sometimes there's no way
something else will have to
happen don't panic it may
be better but maybe worse
you may not know for years
by then everything else has
also changed what you are
what you think you want it
now time takes its time we
might as well relax give in

Other Tongues

don't tell me everything you do think
you don't compare what little springs
to mind fairly well disposed to travel

I was there before again though new
sensations register the same as ever
changing what you quietly expected

if you did I wouldn't know who was
coming when or whether to prepare
for something else in other tongues

New Self

burning sun beckons burners brave
enough thrills arise to drive begin
a new self arises from the lost bay

I am not waiting for a cooler day
go on doing things whatever else
permits my balance enables food

or thought in order to survive it
meant everything then and now
prepares well for ecstasy to come

Wend Away

let up oh do
be who I woo
to you I glue
undo boo-hoo

or wend away
defend you say
the end I may
attend the day

rhyme oh time
I made a dime
to save the cave
he gave a rave

Pressing Duties

I never promised not to tell you
knew who I was and didn't mind
nobody cares anymore but you
and we have nothing to lose but
the truth is what I remember is
only stories I made up to explain
what made no sense at the time
and everyone has their own life
decisions pressing duties hard
to get their attention onto mine
or explain how it all worked out

Familiar Moment

others learning creeps up I am
not the same know much more
magic at my fingertips practice
perfect tender to others myself

is something happening crash
what was the familiar moment
over before anyone can notice

an error an erroneous assume
the position ready for anything

New Lingo

not makeup putty crepe hair this
is actual age Marcel not a young
companion now an older friend
even I stealing a nap in a vacant
lot are you all right are you dead
I'm perfectly fine they may not
entirely believe me really I am

how can you tell when the time
comes you did not choose to be
other than you were in disguise
no one is fooled more than you
know better behave as an elder
stating what you believe is true
flummoxed utterly by new lingo

Hidden River

what music lifts the moment strum
poetry sounding like it means more
I prefer the lute implying unknown
lyrics not be sung so I can even think

pinch me I'm awake enough already
realize the best intention to be here
and gone fishing out of hidden river
warning nothing of this long to last

be the one who gets away who calls
the odd objection with that certain
charm remembered broken hearts
offer both context and redemption

Win-Win

then is not now I know better than
who grew and stayed the same who
knew the evening game is win-win

the same music never heard before
the moment it was played the radio
connects Denmark Italy and Oregon

nothing can change and then it does

Fun Ride

galaxies whirling dwarf time we are
not here to think too hard remember
everything the spirit reappears true
love given freely taken for a fun ride

see how it goes the decision not final
until it is and then too late awaken
each possible placement recurs is that
the right word for what I might mean

At Last

chicken yard fenced car repaired
grass cut windows washed ironing
done house clean after visitors my
glasses being remade without the
polished edges everything in short
apart from fixing fucked up world
and once my new computer works
I can write my masterpiece at last

Perfect Fruit

where you are and who
could be anyone if here
you know better if there
how long do you intend
to stay putting one foot
first the other will follow

now that's settled think
twice before you go on
assume a new address
print labels license bad
copies good ideas bear
perfect fruit most years

No Change

you can live twice one now
write it all down come back
years later no change every
circumstance transformed
new characters in your life
yourself repeating learning
only how better to enjoy it

Big Waves

if I were somewhere else would something else
happen possibly not only chores maintenance
like here where the family returns to their own
and it's only us again together in separate ways

if I could fly I would do aerial acrobatics where
big waves couldn't get me down instead pinned
in my chair by gravity contemplating plans' lack
as heaven's angels have nothing to do but sing

Dream On

"I told myself it really was not worthwhile to deprive myself of society since I was either not equipped for or not up to the precious 'work' to which I had for so long been hoping to devote myself 'tomorrow' and which, may be, corresponded to no reality." (Proust, "Time Regained")

no further plans displace present
pleasant breeze not one hot day

if only all this were actual without
other considerations will impinge

financial markets war operations
competition for power and fame

if only art were all eat sleep love
growing food children dream on

Bubble Bath

you get used to the colors glowing
refined sweetness of seasons here
we go walking or not pop Advil or
hope for the MRI to show nothing
rest and bubble bath can't repair i
guess you'd come if you had lived

I had to go all the way to Paris to
get over it among the talk radios
felt stupid not to know what they
were talking about time for home
or another pastry powers the rest
better parents let children decide

Awful News

well no I didn't say so
think before you wink
outlast your other self

if not here where am I
going to see you again
in all three dimensions

I said yes and meant it
at the time we were no
better than awful news

even so I recapitulated
as if none noticed the
first time seldom best

Hidden Cameras

excuse my mirth I know you're serious
fun further purpose later was revealed
to be covering up more interesting art

deny it if you can or will be sorry about
what never would amount to anything
even if the others said something else

I know that may be unclear or untrue
no alternative in reality just a jumble
half-imagined let go before it's ready

that's what we all face hidden cameras
post us at our worst wrinkled anxious
to please me make me beautiful again

Simple Lies

what is visible is seen to be true
but rare the rest is just a rumor

what is heard is distinct silence
around the corner from allowed

what little is mentioned cannot
fairly represent the whole thing

nor is this less blank than chalk
on a hard surface nothing shows

what can be said is simple lies
beneath it the magma seethes

don't tell or ask for what you
think you want is ready made

Honest Action

keep pedaling one way down the hill
we embrace the philosophy we need

everything else goes on the same as
before the diagnosis what might be

seen again in a different light looks
like love in the form of honest action

this has an effect nothing can erase
it lives in children grow up take over

this will save the situation if they can
stay afloat true wisdom denies nothing

Hidden Machinery

special ops in 75 countries
no one knows what they do
this is no accident imagine
to whom its benefit accrues
elected government a front
for what hidden machinery
acting for whose purposes
systemic self-corruption no
conspiracy eating the world

Bright Light

the actual texture goes unmentioned
keys gates padlocks car trouble home
late alone days filled up friends event
dread empty hours of the night awake

bedding pillows bright light on Kindle
the bumpy road increasingly familiar
neighbors glad to have us back again
water mow do what it takes to go on

photos confirm what I already know
but cannot say words enough for air
for being there when I'm not imagine
the actual texture goes on without me

As If

as if starved I wallow
why not though
pigs love mud

Your People

constantly entertaining the last-time thought-form
the last time I will see this sky these cloud shapes
this mountain ridge speaks clearly sometimes yes
sometimes not yet I come again for May marriage

the adventure aspect evaporates the least emerges
amazing apparent isolation radical silence starlight
darkness other dimensions powered up as unseen
animal life encroaches recognizing willed intrusion

we as well belong here there where every intention
manifests in living forms a thousand blueberries a
few bushes not eaten thrill chickens not a matter
of what you prefer give in these are your people

Plain Food

this landscape sings to me in layers
and shades of violet green distances

this space enlarges possible thought
feeling generous radiance at speed

these passing moments figure plain
food fresh from sun warm kitchens

these people most precious gravel
kissing towering geology of math

High Walks

is that it then anybody at all
in the parking lot high walks
and sunset later then we eat

children have the last line in
the other room while we are
loving friends in the kitchen

vast is the word wide open
full-blown like nowhere else
time waits the seasons rule

Initial Conditions

keep consciousness in perspective it's
only us other entities have their own
ways of being nothing an equivalent

which cluster of galaxies matters less
than changing initial conditions who
you are is essentially indeterminate

so don't worry you need not justify
your every move is free unless some
hunk intrudes imposes another will

hard to believe military politics fits
the bill comes due all unexpected
forces hard to rise above this earth