Worse Noise

this was the last chance we missed it
still time for fun and good lives if we
pay attention on the right level deal
with what comes up as always though
the general outlook obviously sucks

I hate to say it but it's true I too think
about Schoenberg tuning out all but
art politico stars of delusion media
making matters worse noise alarms
ambitious struts I know what I know

One Day

somebody died who was responsible
and if so what are we to do about it
that is the question with no answer

short statements are not always true
the fact has slipped into something
more comfortable ready to converse

that took care of one day as no one
else before you came in collaging
as if choices need never be made

Nothing Personal

news is just things going on as they do
nothing personal unless it is we are all
supposedly affected numbers changed
I don't feel it only conversation hardly
matters until I have to sell or suddenly
run out leave chaos not of my making

Final Fruits

I do this I do that pretty much per
plan now here I am in my chair
doing the other always part of it

whether young in picture perfect
act is everything I never stopped
saying what unsaid stays forever

capital improvement gathers in
final fruits the seasons revolve
the answers answer themselves

it's raining too hard to drive so
fast velocity central to the road
experience never to be missed

Invisible

it's all so familiar the nip in the air
varied evocative textures underfoot
a balance of considerations first this
then that what else is new don't get
me wrong I care I still can play still
hold my own keep getting better up
to a point I've been to before I know
the scale I am happy to be invisible

Nothing Doing

nothing interferes with nothing doing
there is always more on another level
if that's what you think why do more
recovery is not just any point of view
murmurs may be louder than shouts
anything is good if you can handle it

Come Back

read all that come back for more
words we need to clarify being
different the same old problem
one or many idea or experience

take a whack what do you think
will happen after dinner do we
have to do something else or is
this enough

Many Live

sometimes the cards play out often
things happen as they can pleasing
colored patterns for the usual years
the norm is functionality after all

we wouldn't be here thank lucky
stars always with us under clouds
hidden in sunlight can be happy
in the long aftermath unchanged

have confidence that many live
as others die improve the world
as others trash it the odds good
you are basically okay for now

tomorrow good hour to be alive
protected by distance comforted
proximity loving quirky friends
family thinking exhalt the day

Another Book

briefly Dickens allows for ambiguity the sentence
flows about mean reputation scene the waterfront
other characters denied alliteration too easily said
what done began a different path to same results
if you know what's good take care briars abound

that said he bowed politely withdrew left us all to
wonder that we live so purely forgotten even now
remembered justification unserved unsummoned
wishing it were other becoming golden shadows
anticipate what might have become another book

Many Places

each self answer as part of many
parts overlapping interest bearing
pepper spray agree to suffer for
what matters more than comfort
more than personal engagement

heroes of the only moment we
know something is happening
the same in many places as if
awake I am going back enough
progress already made to hope

Asking Why

what is the meaning of anything no one
knows despite centuries of smart people
asking why all this suffering and cruelty
who are we it is not too late to figure out

A Shock

the story goes on and so do I
and so do you then we meet

a shock you are not like me
is it an insuperable obstacle

we can talk it over change
ways understandings hours

no end or beginning means
this telling is all it can be

Second Rising

you can say it still goes on
without a future it's not the
same game you might win

all win together now lose
the attitude democracy is
starting overdue fairness

you can say it still works
some still freely laughing
silly guiltless loving alive

human yeast bubbles up
second rising like a wind
energy whirls heavy away

Take Time

calming rain patters equally with
Mozart's busy winds think slowly
go on spend it all reject nothing

only relax take time by the hand
invite everything in make dinner
no one doubts your earnest will

eagerly sleep get ready another
wealth of possibities may arise
hot porridge against a cold day

Proposal

dance with me
dream with me
sleep with me
think with me
meet with me
feel with me
eat with me
be new with me
march with me
play with me
sing with me
read with me
act with me
work with me
live with me
be old with me

The Only Future

do I have to hear how bad things are
brutal Berkeley cops feds help evict
occupying idealist realists hoping to
save us from ourselves we need them
badly they are the best of youth will
win deserve to theirs the only future

the old will not yield gracefully smug
rich give up their perks powerful cede
police militarized for just this there
they are no surprise who will rise to
call them on their havoc who listen
reasons of heart dearer than money

Immediate Satisfaction

this what is all there is that
came before doesn't matter
however formative wounds
heart throbs happiness now

so listen to me every day as
in immediate satisfaction as
in I tell you what I don't even
know or begin to think I may

Go Through

fold up fold in the pleasure collapse
let it all go it all goes back into void
release every tension hunger held idea
now isn't that better or would be if real

these are the felt thoughts embellished
in the weary brain check in often hear
imagine something more than music
be there go through let the rest be done

Ready Void

cognition is incomplete until discharged in act
says William James my brother in thought as a
play needs to be acted as I gradually do as what
was intended to happen arises in the ready void

he can philosophize for me as others do politics
while I continue to construct a life like a novel
people enter we make scenes I am often alone
with books thoughts pictures feelings the body

Quite Obvious

every day the same I like
it took me fifty sixty years
to learn the form that fits
crossword alarm phone I
willingly rise to write or
unwrite the case may be
peculiar or quite obvious

Her Night

full again the idle moon
moves amused by lovers
wistful in its frigid light

we are those few among
many worship her night
obey our tides commune

warmth lost in reflection
returns from within each
bright soul being heaven

Well Put

hugo you're the man I thought about
reading between the sheets of rain or
shine on foods in the larder thanks
giving up what went wrong before

I'm softer on the outside in for good
grateful graceful if I can remember
anything you said was true who can
doubt something that's so well put

In Media

I am here now too
I am up to date in
my own way VW
Kindle MacBook
Air live in media
feelings mediated
as everything else
goes on as always
seeking to resolve
missteps failures
ambiguities alive
decades afterward
groping for real

Dawn Comes

the writer paces
dawn comes wet
alpaca replaces silk
furnace comes on

this skin bursting
time-straitened
wirelessly wired
squirmily sensate

bone and muscle
word for word
ocean of sound
embrace it yield

Keep Up

give give more can you find
a taker who can or cares to
keep up go on what else is

there there it's not so awful
think what might have gone
down where the fishes roam

Superior Strength

art object as trophy
brought back by the artist from the hunt
proof that she has been there
demonstrating by its size and ferocity her bravery
her superior strength

wrestle it to the ground
protect yourself as best you can
it is wily
don't let go
bring it back for all to see

Eternal Reward

suddenly done but enjoy the slow
learn practice knowing the form
savor warmth against my lips are
yours in the moment flowing on
keep time for music better when
playing characters longer lived

we are only human don't expect
close enough for fingers perfect
limited by mind slow think upon
each move weighted calibrated
as if eternal reward awaits your
sudden return restores my sight

No Calls

despite dailiness I'm left behind
half-hatched plays littering my
shelf proliferate poems unread

it is what it is and always was
my so-called career devolving
into final form in file drawers

no calls asking I don't want to
anyway I'm busy I've done what
I did my best in case you noticed

Too Much

do I say too much
so nothing means

Possibly Dance

An avalanche of words, dreams, thoughts patiently explained, one's own ideas echoed, insights, banality, stupidity, screenfuls of words; if once were enough we would stop them. Breathe. Possibly sing. Move. Possibly dance.

Art is practical, not decoration but what we should do. Do this in memory of your soul. Artists think too; their words are the same. The doers do so we can be. Abundance would let us give more of our lives to art, words-and-music, pictures, imagination pure in mind and body. Let 20% work so 80% can bliss out on art ecstasy. Work is not who but when in your life it is time to do the chores. Now. It won't take long.