Any Words

life is a spark flying up into the black sky
also a river ever flowing and the fish in it
any words will be treasured and believed
life is weather also a ringing in your ears
and more I knew this morning in the pool

Old Books

stagnant pools of objects gather
every surface overpopulated in
transit from yesterday beyond
tomorrow I will address them
one by one worn-out clothes old
books I never want to read rooms
full of paper dense with writing
I'll never overtake I will be taken
from them never to be seen again

Limited Thinking

the difficulty is oneself
my own thinking limited
by class and happenstance
my own mind untrustable

for example the economy
works well enough for me
and the people I know
selected by commonality

from this I conclude
wrongly all kinds of stuff
vaguely valid in my bubble
actually jejeune and dumb

or the value of what I do
and believe in as if art
self-pleasuring replaces
sacrifice to answer need

congratulating myself
for love health wealth
as virtues proving I am
right in everything I do

no ability to see beyond
one's own sweet interests
buffered against remorse
justified by evolution

Not Us

I avoid speaking about anything
not tonight's extra-glittery stars
random doings of a standard day
whatever new fright in the news
that everyone is thinking about
and wishing they didn't have to
nature is what is not us humans
who get to decide what to admit
into the holy precinct of our art

Memory Foam

how long does the night go on
without respite despite memory
foam and feather pillows ears
protected by the softest plugs
bones fully charged with ease

I dream of a job at the Times
lose myself in the hidden city
shut off the first alarm return
to the comfort of the mattress
forget everything but the light

What Was Said

talk feeds on itself
the subject alive or
dead goes on being
mentioned in print
or on the web or air
every recorded death
discoverable later on
if anyone should look
wonder what was said
when we were talking

What Matters

who can say what matters
but to move through space
acting speaking or silently
recalling time stealing past

persons appear and vanish
changing and still the same
slow revealing what will be
what matters when it's done

Moderate Success

if I had known more
I could have done better
instead I pretended
I already knew enough

I "learned on the job"
and got away with it
until I couldn't bear
pretending anymore

did something else
I also never mastered
in spite of a decade
spent trying to learn

returning to my roots
I kept blundering along
stumbling into wisdom
never really unmasked

ending as well as anyone
after moderate success
making a virtue out of
ignorance and confusion

How to Play

no distance with the baby
demonstrating how to play
a whole person 18 months
much growing yet to do
already entirely himself

Earlier Attempts

back up latest version
that should be enough
revision is irrevocable
in practice not theory
posterity will deplore
archived variant texts
no one will read them
I will never have time
back up latest version
erase earlier attempts

Green Soul

down by the river
deep ancient forces
rise to the surface
everything explained
certain neurons fire
and random memories
burst like skyrockets
showers of petals fall
caressing my green soul
awake from winter sleep

Another Book

one-click living speeds the norm
rain driving across the uncaring
planet we happen to inhabit soon
another book appears unbound
ready to be readily absorbed
becoming part of myself forever

Nibbles

aisins walnuts cheddar
enable continued sitting
reading about attention

backgrounded normal
evening hunger easily
appeased with nibbles

Last Word

the first possible moment
admires a wry expression
misplaced regret merging
algebra or ancient history
with individual chemistry
finding treasures ahunting
wilder impressions of love
when the last word is said
shuts the back gate forever

The Question

the answer is yes
if the question is properly asked

Even Opera

always singing sounds better in Italian
even opera may be better in French or
German too well understood as music
supports words it doesn't really need

still we are here talking listen on the
side while making Sunday pancakes
I bought raspberries after ours expired
like forgotten devotion to the local rag

you have to use the language you have
trying to say enough but not too much
people would rather talk than listen to
what your words insist on spelling out

What I Saw

if I can see I can say
what I saw I may be
right or misperceive
or even intentionally
blind to what is real
and really happened
wanting it different
and so correcting it

Each One

aren't we all fathers and sons
or else mothers and daughters
how can it be as special as it
feels when they communicate
or don't come visit all relaxed
and friendly or losing the beat
retreat in confused remorse

aren't we all vulnerable to loss
experiencing each one acutely
even when it hasn't happened
yet knowing it eventually will
whatever the weather and our
state of health wealth common
sense counsling don't go there

Full Lives

is it as bad as Elizabeth Warren says
I am the middle class doing all right
on the downhill slope despite decades
of improvisation lucky in my parents
the younger generation managing too
eating housed enjoying their full lives
usefully employed or planning to be
there I said it that's what I had to say

Healthy Habits

what would I think about
if I thought about anything
beyond my breathing body
children grown up and gone
work substantially complete
assets conservatively invested
habitat comfortably arranged
healthy habits and routine
indeed there is a little more
another personal appearance
another book to connect me
to the world of other people
affirmation of common sense
and creativity's higher value
when I'm ready to think again

Kidding Around

actual circumstances go unnamed
everyone already knows you think
it is all the same for them although
their situation is entirely different
nothing shows you can't imagine
what they think and don't express

try again you don't want to know
the details this is no time for that
we are idealistically doing poetry
mailing out festival brochures and
kidding around on wine and cheese
regardless of whatever is going on

What Day

forget what day it is
and that it's raining
none of that matters
only that you exist
the future will come
you can be there then
remembering the real

Who You Were

call yourself anything
you can be who you like
in theory at least no one
will remember later on

inner release is harder
you will never be able
to forget who you were
before the great change

sameness as an illusion
requires to be nurtured
allowed to expire it will
naturally decay to dust

Any Sound

evil dark hates good
dissolved by light dies
hides underground in
bitter solitude crying

so sound kills silence
eaten up emptiness no
longer exists except as
an imaginary concept

in darkness any sound
implies light elsewhere
others act and interact
expecting nothing else

Do Something

I was thinking something the mind
has its own mind an insistent agenda

denial is good but doesn't work what
happens will eventually be known

inevitably I put it aside do something
close to intentional barely imagined

information valueless if no one cares
to stop and seriously think about it

This Moment

is this reality or fiction
this writing this moment
on a cold winter night

you reading it on screen
or paper sitting down or
running to catch a train

what I mean and what
you think about it later
all does actually exist