What Good

making myself useful is the least
I can do anything I put my mind to

body another matter now I'm old
strength senses fading unperfected

what good can what I know do me
now that time asserts its dominion

A Haircut

I keep forgetting what I am doing
what am I doing fetching almonds
stirring the stew feeling a bit better
having practiced Mozart practicing
helps no problem at the gym my hip
no longer hurting and got a haircut
that always makes me feel younger

Say When

either day is fine for us
no further plans I want
to mention absent trips
you'll find me at home

regular routine loosens
any time early enough
waiting for midnight I
write in order to read

say when and I'll come
always glad to see you
still devoted to the art
we conspire to sustain

Realization

the real me is
not written down

Still You

later it is more about symptoms
and specialists you don't want to
talk about what's really going on
is still your life still you inside

Miles Apart

out of range too cruel
as if we should be talking
although miles apart

days of absence pass
both busy doing things
we want to be doing

the moon connects us
each thinking of the other
painfully out of range

Excellent Company

they're my people Froelicher Schuyler
Porter Ashbery O'Hara gone too soon
that's how I wanted to live beautiful
things fine food excellent company
"At a certain point, I have an idea,
and then I have to resolve it." I was
late to the party distracted by youth
not self enough yet to seize the time
immortalized in paintings and poems

Every Word

how much noise is in my head
quite a bit and all the others
reciting poetry brilliantly managed
by the bar waitress food cart honchos
much was said some of it intelligible
too many poets mumble and croon
poetry depends on every word

Flying Low

like flying low over a patchy landscape it
could be the American West green islands
in prairies of dormant grass as good as dead

no signs of human habitation no straight
lines scored across the empty land no roads
farms etc. of course not it's the summer lawn

Close Attention

I am one who regrets knowing
whether to remember all that
happened to be happening at
a time I happened to be paying
close attention what I learned
was never do any of that again

now I really should know better
but I still remember times I was
not thinking clearly just doing
what happened to be happening
thankful someone else making
plans I could fairly safely follow

Smart Kid

I don't "get" the cartoons now
have I changed or have they
well both me just a smart kid
from Kansas City their world
of attitude what I aspired to
New York was sophisticated
its currency personal charm
now you have to be ironic at
three removes of plain stupid
taking place in a ruined world
unkown never to be seen again

One Man

this is a piece of something I am writing
it is all a piece one man indivisible

All Over

planning my death
what is to happen
when I am not alive
or compos mentis
not to leave a mess
or undue confusion

not just the money
but my literary work
all come to naught
potential unrealized
when I am not here
as living validation

I really don't care
it's all over for me
my spirit reunited
with the mighty All
air we all breathe
souls we all co-own

Sweeping the Floor

Feeling lost and empty is not funny.
Sweeping the floor helps.
You are not actually paralyzed.
Everything doesn't have to be funny.
Louis C.K. doesn't have to be funny and he's a comedian.
We are all comedians.
You can be funny if you want to be funny.

Easy Path

what you didn't know surprises
an easy path to the swimming hole
long hidden in blackberries

an unexplained explosion outside
a horse kicking a board probably
or something is terribly wrong

swiftly catch the fleeting glimpse
revelation comes in tiny sips
oceanic moments easily missed

Looking On

silence a thick mixture of sound
even close to midnight on the farm
our own systems hum and puff
crickets chirp traffic approaches
out of the patchy prairie darkness

longing for simplicity as humans
we blindly complicate our lives
contrive to need a million things
smug that we actually have them
several buildings barely hold it all

delight as well in multiplicities
inexhaustible manyness of days
people art weather various acts
all one with each other animals
looking on as we puzzle it out

Further Hope

an earnestly modern sensibility
encourages intensity of attitude
or is it the other way around

certain tensions propel good work
trying to keep up with yourself
without giving up further hope

no one minds if you don't do it
your own desire for expression
more than enough to keep it real

The Dragon

"...young men from miles around were sent to Elizavetgrad just to look at her."

awoken the dragon demands to be fed
Tibetan thunder reminds it of wetness
cold Himalayan light around the world
shining in the middle of our dull night

shtetl life survives amid the alien corn
the dragon unappeased thrashes alone
barbed red tail breaking ancient china
demanding we sacrifice our only child

everything was supposed to be harder
mathematics Everest none can climb
the dragon not intended even to exist
lest every day dissolve itself into dust

Other Forms

old expectations keep slipping
into other forms can I adjust I
must I know this little territory
inside out by now I've been here
long enough to not be surprised
by transformation like it or no

I Will

if I can I will
things tell me what is possible
don't try just do
what is done is what was possible

then I know more
whether to keep on with this
or something else
which might prove surprising

the light is changed
animals recognize the seasons
I do what I can
as the opportunity arises

Cracked Skin

"What shocks the virtuous philosopher delights the camelion Poet..." (Keats)

distracted only partly by consuming pain
in my case cracked skin hands and possible
tooth not feeling at all right what the point
of saying so when chocolate sundae of ideas
sparkle practical farm matters carry forward
projects live for friends things getting done

Precious Living

no more quickly do I address the dirt
piles of rubbish waiting to be welcome
to the presidential birthday for the rich
and famous glittering in their celebrity

my quality of life depends on luck good
habits cultivated friends even from afar
count as blessings brighten twilight hours
as well as every aspect of precious living

Their Taste

pears falling fiercely off the tree
demand to be picked or picked up
allowed to ripen voluptuously eaten
my hands so sore I can barely pare
and peel them to complete granola
barely type this tribute to their taste
sweet juicy delicate perfectly pear

All Young

the clock runs as if time
were a measue of anything
real we need to know about
granola toasting chickens
and turkeys crowing aloud

light marks the daily round
changing with the seasons
advancing age marks years
we have known each other
since we were all young

Some Roads

officially old we stride forward anyway
watching our footing not wanting to fall
and break something not easily repaired

this full summer promises another winter
makes you think it all just a cycle but no
some roads go somewhere some just end

Desire for Light

flowers bloom weeds
grasses flourish trees
reach toward the sky
earthbound I relish
share desire for light
need food water light
to live and reproduce
images beyond being
present upon the land
fauna and flora one

Knowing All

do I have to be aware of everything
care and have a defensible opinion
not that anyone is asking what I think

events will still catch me by surprise
there is not a thing I can do about it
even knowing all there is to know