Everyday Occasion

O.K. is still O.K. after all I said
we rise to the everyday occasion
heat softens but does not melt
unaccustomed as we are to change
family coming completes the year
fresh from Spain the Cape camp
same us different horses and cats
return visits sweeter over time

Final Chapter

there are things we can do
their plane delayed weather
here too but I think I won't
this is enough for one day

every day does more if less
than it used to be running
from one thing to another
years now since I can run

this recognition of what is
enables adjustments new
perspectives on who I am
become in a final chapter

Public Words

sometimes it may be wiser
not to say what I am thinking
up and down too precipitous
to be fixed in public words
to be mistaken as permanent
something more fundamental
thought-image cloudy logic
meaning may converge if I am
fully enjoying them at the time

My Tune

everything to be done at once
I decline I change my tune
then do it anyway tada! as I
always seem to go on doing

in fact it's one thing at a time
a little bit every day adds up
huge buildings rise movies
made one shot after another

In Between

dismantle habit structure accumulated pattern limit
nothing lasts for long in this in-between existence

what I like is sentences that may go on a long time
stop not be what was thought to be coherent echo

example this less more describes creative process
racing time the soundtrack changing for the better

Our Nature

reading a novel thinking of something else
so anything that happens is slightly annoying

we want to think we are the same we're not
our sensitivities natures differently tuned

something to be said for saying what you can
whoever you are, endeavoring to be truthful

not that it makes a difference in what happens
the author decides for reasons we never know

Here You Are

why is anyone anywhere
because you thought of it
and made a decision and
acted and here you are

or you were already here
never seriously considered
living anywhere different
and here you will remain

or came for school or job
or love liked it remained
found a job had a family
they will go you will stay

you're still you but place
delineates the possible
if you are what you do
what could you do here

No Time

time or no time
what you think
or what really is
no telling which

Free Time

do I "arrange things nicely for others"
as kind friend Daniel says I suppose
I do without meaning to if I imagine
something and eventually it happens

I feel I am merely indulging myself
as usual but others can be involved
if they have the time and interest
my time at this time entirely free

that's probably not what he means
publishing books or producing plays
demands elaborate arrangements
the "others" a necessity for meaning

it's true I want things to go nicely
and am willing to make a big effort
feeling connected indeed dependent
on others to make my life complete

Be Cool

what did I do to
compare to you
unbearable now
enacting agony
man be cool it
hurts less then
return to home
forgive all of it

A Plan

I have a plan
I have time for applied attention
I don't care how we do it
a plan helps though
ego aside

The Reasons

you said it you probably thought it
meant it believed it or imagined
you might make a good impression
if I thought you thought that way
not knowing what you really think
much less what might be the case
we blunder along trying to explain
the reasons for what we can't help
doing our best to do the right thing
carried along by our invisible times
no knowing what I would have said
if I had known what I never would
no catching up your future my past
or present from another perspective

Human Suffering

if only pain freed you
from the need to choose
how can you not move
and then there it is again

this is human suffering
not to be taken seriously
even if immersed in it
as we all potentially are

do what you can anyway
this is only part of life
continuous existing for
the purpose of decision

decide to still be here
since you already are
creation constant action
in defiance of mad chaos

Thought Bricks

because I think it doesn't mean I have to say it
to someone or write it down though if I don't it
might as well not have been thought unless I am
building an invisible structure of thought bricks
thoughts per se doing their work on their own
like both of us pursuing our individual agendas

Future Wonder

no one else cares
how can I think it
matters still I do

my life composed
as works of writing
this and many more

crystalline moments
embodied if never
dressed for church

stand monumental
beautiful cemetery
for future wonder

Other Reasons

can I change the meaning
or is it no longer available
fresh use replacing cliché
deep forgotten resonance
no longer in play anyway

the end only another now
unrecoverable afterward
like every before chosen
for other reasons no idea
what I was to do with it

New Ideas

the week begins with birdsong
construction traffic the world
reasserts its stubborn existence

a scatter of plans and places
for continuity and new ideas
on the ashes of former lives

this could be the day I find
the key the door possibility
always brimming of vision

Long Over

that was yesterday this is today
what was done was done before
who did what was necessary at
the time and a place long over

Just Enough

I didn't have to drive all the way
but it was right to pay for lunch
and coffee strong and just enough
as I am the mayor of the family
also poor me with no complaints
ready to keep doing what I do
as long as I can and still want to

Seen Alone

that you can't say everything doesn't mean don't try
you may even finish the thought in a single line but
links go back to everywhere William Carlos Williams
seen alone seeing memory sees other people's bodies
more real than his own organic life on its own agenda
easy until it isn't even the seasons are never the same

Wonder Still

the same thing in a different place
(to continue the thought)
may be the same but probably not
you are not the same here as there
(although your habits overlap)
time has passed and you are older
age makes everything different
you think you are the same person
but everything has different meaning
what is it you wonder still

Where We Are

where is as important as what happens
who is there is part of where
when hardly matters
except how old everyone is
which remains the same relative to each other
all getting old together
until we die
wherever we happen to be at the time
then nothing matters anymore

Just Live

what makes us think we can teach Iraqis how to fight
people need to stop fighting not fight better American
weapons don't do us much good only jobs and capital
eliminate munitions makers military prisons then what
massive unemployment bar fights cops gone berserk
what can be the matter with us can't bear to just live

Larger Rhythm

disappointment part of the larger rhythm
long established not worth threatening
as if what happens now can affect the past
we carefully accumulated trying to be good

such is life that not everything happens as
planned knowing that you can easily adjust
talking to whoever will expecting whatever
turns out to be the chapter that follows this

My Town

I'm proud to be of a country where
it's O.K. to be gay and smoke pot
although it isn't really most people
aren't or don't or won't admit it many
disapprove some of them violently

my town popping on Fourth of July
here and there little family units
doing their fireworks in the street
no cars moving most houses dark
teenagers roam in giggling groups

I lurk on the fringes on my white
bicycle barely able to see or remain
upright amazed at the new product
long burning full of surprises cheap
compared to what else we have to do

Saying Everything

what wasn't said wouldn't have made any
difference isn't it sad how we lose control
of even imagining anything different to be
ourselves again meaning glamorous young
potentially perfectible if we did it all right
that would have made us who we became
saying everything we can think of in time

Let Me In

today I can legally smoke marijuana
for the first time in fifty-odd years of
breaking the law of course even now
it isn't really legal the feds still there
still better that the state doesn't care
turning on in Oregon is not a crime
and never really was in my opinion
now let me in brother sister let me in