Almost Done

someone already said that thought that
better than any quick digging can redo

Bach believed in God Beethoven Bach
even winter wonderland failed its mojo

is it late are we there yet almost done
summarizing three millennia of ideas

Comfort Zone

even snuffling you are my joy
the party only partly regretted
we are enough unto ourselves

midnight can be when we like
eastern time our comfort zone
even living happily in Oregon

no regrets for the passing year
surgery and exercise enable us
to keep on doing what we love

Good Habits

I am this not that I think
but what can I possibly know
the mind constantly fools itself
justifying what it thought before

I am the kind of person who
for example never says no
deciding long ago on a general yes
thinking I can always change my mind

and what if I am entirely deceived
good habits a costume over sloth
fastidious to a fault but lazy
no one will know if I don't say

Idle Dreams

when rain stops speaking
silence returns the favor

the fire murmurs secrets
only a fool would doubt

the space between lines
knows less than nothing

an insignificant evening
whiled away with words

remembered possibilities
awoken by a stolen kiss

the math of idle dreams
totaling up to minus one

Left Behind

is this all there is of me
these tastes and habits
carefully curated over
years now inescapable

is it enough for me to
live the way I'm made
as if given any choice
I'd be exactly the same

or shall I force reboot
into an alternate reality
revise earlier decisions
be the one I left behind

which was that a looser
universe might permit
such chic shenanigans
this one plainly doesn't

Perfect Results

the cognac of my youth still tastes the same
Mother's lamb sauce old-time hard sauce on
persimmon pudding incomparably delicious

thus we celebrate Christmas with traditions
remembering the future better than the past
though nothing has improved little changed

only greater clarity of intention all the time
simply being alive with love and willingness
to strive for perfect results inclusive of error

Old Friends

new people are a good idea
if you manage to know them
one might become a friend

surprise me being someone
unexpectedly interesting not
that I seriously lack friends

others know each other better
already old when I arrived I
feel relatively welcome here

old friends far away or dead
one starts again again boldly
extending a friendly warmth

Happy at Last

the boyhood flavor is the orange bread my mother used to make
from Fannie Farmer
the novel is La Princesse de Montpensier by Madame de Lafayette
the local weather is trivial
a snowstorm
frigid temperatures
the Brahms is the piano part of the third violin sonata
the villain hero is Donald Trump
happy at last

Your Eyes

looking is looking at something
randomly selected from the field
presenting itself before your eyes

objects related by shape or color
define themselves by your look

unobserved they merely buzz
awaiting differentation calmly
or excitedly longing to be born

the field itself is loosely bounded
as peripheral vision edges off
into the continuity you presume

open your eyes and look around
what you see is never all there is

so look as long as you still can
by seeing create your existence

More Sense

not much can be said
without telling the whole story
and no one has time for that

a novel leaves most of it out
so it makes more sense
than the actual experience

possibly a song is best
barely suggesting the events
killing you with feeling

Lost Adventure

local weather overwhelms
planned family decorating

anticipated boyhood flavor
redeems the lost adventure

as respect validates a whim
thereby grace will intervene

Changing Weather

years passed without our noticing
as if another winter was the same
and so were we better all the time
not minding the changing weather

months passed as we were acting
like backdrops flying in and out
the light dissolving into darkness
while time leapt crazily forward

hours passed appropriate meals
appeared on the table to be eaten
appointments were kept or broken
according to need and who we are

Mighty Surge

one mistake leads to flurry
wild chaos proliferates yet
Brahms goes on as long as
rhythm persists hands land
again on consonance again

hugely or barely beyond me
the mighty surge embracing
mind emotion vast complex
contained in capacious form
pouring hot from our hearts

Just Me

if you can't do it yourself
it probably won't happen

or is it just me reluctant
to lose myself in a group

humans lean on teamwork
to have any impact at all

A Year Ahead

what is not cancelled may not happen anyway
but probably will most intentions are realized
surprisingly much gets done a little at a time

so I don't say what I won't do but what I will
unless the situation changes my appointments
rule benevolently I can make them a year ahead

Diluted Value

political slapstick disavows reprisal
no one can win when it isn't a game
the villain hero takes home the cake

making fun of it is beside the point
none return from beyond the grave
diluted value can never be regained

incoherently we struggle to concur
each promoting a different analysis
hoping some of our values survive

Old Stories

how much do I need to know
not to be wrong about everything

or is the human brain so wired
it will always be able to fool me

learning is a form of forgetting
all over again from the beginning

old stories have to be told again
or the young will never know them

nothing is new when you are old
every place you go you remember

Chair Time

driving in fog inside and out
wet above and below freezing
carefully lead ourselves home

stillness within and without a
cognitive ease leaning forward
enables my creative chair time

think enough but not too much
examining words hidden sense
emerges slyly grinning amazed

Bloody Night

dim dawn barely breaks
in the dark time never
really dark Christmas
lights left on all day

electricity seems free
though billed monthly
each light too trivial to
count adds up to suicide

whole earth electrified
murderous Phillipines
glitters in bloody night
like a natural condition

Almost True

hiking is serious walking
going for a walk is easier
going for a hike is harder
even an identical distance
this is the power of words
say it and it's almost true

All This

how quickly does the quick brain do
what it does react automatically decide
what we slowly then attempt to justify

I think about things without reaching
articulatable positions knowing I know
what I think before I actually think it

I want the facts the actual situation how
it came to be whether anything can be
done to right wrongs and make it better

being who I am is not subject to change
I should have done more for other people
but it's too late instead I've done all this

Do It

interest is potential gain
of coin or intellection

you know what you need
more than you can think

mental energies flow
where will commands

do it and be pleased
then you can relax

Gray Again

dawn comes slowly probably gray
again I arise more promptly today
disconcerted by a dream of crazy
motel room sex in a hidden town
I can walk to from my remoteness

the story goes on like this in days
activities succeed in filling nicely
we are recovering again from pain
we will forget to remember when
the pleasant present's course is run