View

Grass...

   as

 far

    as

I

see.

Percolate

I worry.

Too much.

When will I

allow

peace to rule

my thoughts

instead of

the squall?

Isn't that

just a

decision?

Or a

state of mind?

Insight

It's only a moment

when critical lines and movie

scenes conspire to give you

insight and connections

that aren't always present. Only

a moment when a revelation

that is related to a song lyric

and the two movies you saw

last week, and that line from

a book, mix in an alchemy

that is surprising, even shocking

to you and you savor that moment,

drinking it deeply, smiling, only to

see it slip like water through your fingers

until at last it is no more.

Yesterday's Tomorrow

What events unforseen

will occur today remain

unknown to me

or you and gain

prominent attention

when I pause too long

and deign to mention

them in a song.

No telling where they lead

but I assure you now

in word and deed

and solemn vow

with all my heart I pray,

God, spare me Dathan's foolish end 

for Salome's and Mary's way:

Death reversed, Life on lend.

Prey

Yesterday,

across some distance -

   a marsh

   a field

   a farm - 

too hard to see,

a red-tailed hawk

fought gusts

to glide in the broken

sun, aggressive.  Today, in light

rain, he sits on a lonely 

limb in a snag, feathers

roughed, still, patient.

I face the rain, chin up,

like I mean it, but

wonder which version

of the hawk I am 

today.

The Hull

When I've run myself into the ground

exhausted and hollow

I am the hull of an abandoned ship

battered by the relentless surf

rusting, creaking, pitted by salt spray

and sand, dilapidated, surrendered 

to driving rain and wind.

I seek refuge in

   a smile, a laugh

salvage and salve and sun.

Heart Attack

A tough guy

figured it all out

drowning though

middle of a drought

waste of time

missing overt facts

tunnel vision

riding the wrong tracks

a coronary problem

diagnosed in part

not easy to fix

this hardness of heart

sometimes bewildered

much more than obtuse

feel freedom again

release and turn loose.