Dark Night 3 (greed)

the consequence of excess is showing now
the earth is waking up to all the greed
the raping of it's forests and it's air
the taking of it's life by slow degree

the arctic shelf is melting rapidly
fires are blazing storms are taking hold
the ocean is rebelling openly
as our race is being slowly told

it is to late to take the damage back
it's time to reclaim everything that's lost
our selfish notions put us on the rack
and into memory we are slowly tossed

in my heart i pray this isn't so
i fear it's where the human race may go

dark night 2 (the storm)

there are things that teach us all great lessons
when the elements so touch us that we can't
imagine that our lives could be in session
with the gods prevailing 'ore our rants

when circumstance or nature brings a shock
that even the most jaded can't avoid
we are inundated and we're mocked
by nature showing power ever poised

we hear of the disasters far and wide
affecting people from another place
and when disaster shows up by our side
we're shocked to know we're part of the human race

humbled by the circumstance today
i pray for those who suffer in harms way

dark night 1

in the dark night of the soul i'm told to go
where all of the dark night's river
flows and grows
it is where the boojums life is led
down the road named ignorance and dred

i happen upon it every once and a while
watching it with it's manufactured smile
lead me down my very own primrose path
while easing me into it's subtly powerful wrath

i am the sucker the one who was born in that minute
sometimes the singer who's melodies' ever so off
or i am the batter who's timing has passed it's limit
or the banker who's forgotton
the difference 'tween spendin and cost

suddenly i know why the darkness is greatfully here
so i can see that i make all of my fears

salem

witches and ghosts of the sea
shops and merchants
who sell with glee
wonderful food
makes me feel good
feels southern
as southern can be

wandering throughout the old streets
captains who sailed all the oceans
had houses now preserved to see
so that we can imagine their notions
black doors are painted out front
letting us know who lives there
magik and wicken no stunts
it's serious for foul or for fair
sailboats and yachts on the water
dotting out to the horizon
a feeling of safe everywhere
from dusk to the sunny sunrising
the legends of dungeons and trials
of hangings of local hysteria
are still in the air to this day
twas a plague even worse than maleria
so now i sit here in the dream
thinking i saw what i saw
deciphering seem after seem
recomending these sights to you all

sunrise

this day of wonder
rising up from in the east
the sun bringing life

turning it over

i turn it over
to the thing that made me
i turn it over to the whole
to that that gives me eyes to see
to that that that sends me music
to that that gives me Lora Lee
to that that makes me be
to all the voices i have heard
that help me carry on
to all the knowing
to the word
that creates my
living world
i turn it over
because i can't
do this all alone
because i know
that this bright light
so briefly does it glow
all the blessings
that i have
are here because of it
i cherish what i have for now
every single bit
i turn it all over to love
to the great i am
the be
the is ness of the moment
the gift
the great alone
the wonder
the mystery
to the one god
the all gods
the reaching
the holding
the letting go
to all holy
sacred
ideas
to the
single idea
i turn it over
i give it up
i let go
knowing
i am held up
as i step
yet again
into the abyss
into
the cloud of unknowing
into primal
essential
faith
i let go
i turn it over

amen

monday

well well well well
monday now at last
monday gives me fits
monday gives me gas
monday makes me want to cry
or makes me scream in fits
i really don't like monday
don't like it one li'l bit
monday makes me worry
monday all the bills
monday all the phone calls
monday breaks my will
monday is the day of morning
for all who go to work
for those on unemployment
makes us feel like jerks
spending all the live long day
trying to be proactive
creating work on this and that
not much of it attractive
monday makes me scream and cry
for just some small relief
from climbing up the walls
and screaming "oh good grief"
monday is a day for looking
down another week
of hoping for a little break
a living i do seek
oh well i guess i'll have to
put in this crappy time
so that when the calls come in
i'll make another dime

saturday morning

i think i'll go get breakfast
in the middle of our town
little place called george's
good place to have around
maybe eggs over easy
maybe i'll have 'em poached
while i listen to my buddy ed
complain or tell a joke
the coffee's really good
the folks around are friendly
except for private clubbers
who sometimes drive a bently
so i'll get in my pick up truck
i'll drive a mile or so
maybe i'll get the rock star spot
it's the parking place of gold
i'll ease into the diner
i'll say hello hello to al
he's the aussie cashier there
who talks really really loud
i'll order me some breakfast
maybe i'll read the paper
'til ed comes in all smiling
what a mischief maker
he pinches all the waitresses
he complains about his eggs
he moons about his love life
how his buisness is in the dregs
he tells me great long stories
with his great big hands
he says "quickly" every time
he's the leader of the band
the dishes rattle everywhere
familys all chatter
while coffee's poured abundantly
it's really all that matters
so i leave here presently
after i brush my teeth
brush out my unnruly hair
for the strangers i might meet
so long and take it easy
try to stay in trouble
i am off to george's now
i guess i'll leave my stubble

crawford

seems like the world just sings the same old tunes
while love has died for reasons yet unknown
everywhere the sages read their runes
while childern die of hunger all alone

why do i sit here doing no one good
waiting for a call to save my comfort
why is it i do nothing when i could
be out there helping those with no resort

the world is tyranized by greed and power
religions face has turned to satens bed
the ruin of man is marching every hour
to the beat of crawford texas' head

while chidren die of hunger every second
war tilts it's awful power in all directions

damp

this day is damp as you can see
it drains the soul of all it's glee
it makes a joke of misery
sags the toast and ruins my tea

i am a man who's suit won't fit
when the damp gets into it
my feet swell up a little bit
it drains me of my mother wit

combine all that with no real job
makes me feel like an old fat slob
without a reason to hob nob
can't even pet my old dog bob

so i sit on my fat ass
watch tv smoking grass
waiting for the time to pass
right along with all my gas

as you can tell i don't feel good
feeling trapped in the neighborhood
can't figure out what do i could
burnt out ruined stick of wood

so here i am feeling sorry for me
too damn lazy to take a pee
lost in obsessive thoughts of gee
feeling old as the oldest tree

it'll stop one of these days
i can feel it through the haze
waiting has it's curious ways
then i'll be clearly out of this daze

so worry not about this old man
he has taken many a stand
down to the very last grain of sand
and wound up in the promised land

doo dee doo dee dum dee dee
it's turned around i'm filled with glee

so tired

put her on the plane
gone for five days visiting
not much sleep last night

freedom

kris said it
buddha said it too
jesus preached it
so did
mohammad
moses
sitting bull
chief seattle
gandi
i say it
your gut says it

about freedom

(two monks were sitting on a stone
next to a flowering bodhi tree
nearby a single man did roam
close enough for the holy men to see
this man carried a tiny cotton sack
slung across his back as light as feathers
walking with the wind at his back
oblivious to time or place or weather
the holy men observed with greatest care
and soon enough one spoke out to the other
how he saw such freedom in the stare
of the traveler unlike any other
his companion disagreed with such
as he thought he carried far too much)

the young man knows
as does the old man
the eagle knows
the shepard knows
the hermit knows
as does
the oak
as
the great wind
the open spaces
know
the infant
the dying
the condemned
the true saints
know
those who
explore love
know

freedom

deep inside
like a song never lost
or forgotton
that thrives
in us
as
we wander
laugh and blunder
as we fret and carry on
freedom is the need
the driving force
to live freely
to fear nothing
to know endings
to embrace beginnings
to die with wonder
adventure
joy
love is that
no thing is that
being is that
no loss
only gain

as i let go
as i let go
as i let go

here then comes

freedom

ten o'clock evening on the west branch

ten o'clock
or so
yes it is
the end of a good day
glad to be home and feeling
this
good day
home
with the
fruit of my labor
the fruit of my marriage
the good fruit of my great life
the goodness of my bride
the kindness
the enthusiasm
the care
the positive
constant
love
this is a good thing
i have been here
in this
bliss
always
i have seen it
in my mind
in my agonies
in my vision
for many years
for many lifetimes
from creation to
endless
creation
i have lain in the arms of many
i have seen it in their eyes
their bodies
their pain
their passion
i have traveled
dark paths
i have worshiped creation
on my knees
blue sky snow capped
visions
i have wept
fire
i have dreamed
dreams
now
i am here
in this bliss
glad
wonder seizing me
joy
along the west branch
for as long as
it
chooses
to
stay

Sonnett for Lora Lee (From last October)

Sonnet for Lora Lee on a quiet October Night

There are reasons everywhere I go
That show the way to love and its full trust
There are a countless billion trillion foes
to keep my eyes from chipping at their rust
I have seen the passion of my childhood
turned and shaken till the autumn winds
swirl their perfect colors through the woods
and bare the tallest trees of all their sins
As I approach the resting of my day
and years are fewer with the passing moons
the light has finally shone my every way
and focused on the life inside these rooms
It is the simple love that at last rests
so deeply in my grateful, beating chest.

early day

cool quiet morning
cats all huddled fast asleep
silence feels like gold

this place

i have hung my traveling hat
on many new door posts
found myself in countries that
the faint of heart would boast
i have looked way down inside
the deepest echoing wells
and cast my lot with those whose fate
would surly lead to hell
i have wandered to and fro
among those lost highways
where angels tred and satens hoards
had ravished long ago
i have been to heavens gate
and plumeted to earth
i've witnessed death and sighs
in ectacy and birth
i have seen the world go round
from war to peace and then
the battle's fought as they repeat
the same theme once again
i have been a traveler
in the vastness of my soul
lost in the dark and wandering
from pole to lonely pole
i have seen the agony
of a father who's only son
lost his life in a forign land
to the strains of infections gun
oh i do not wish to join that club
with agonies so great
i can only hope that he will heal
that joy will be his fate

now i stand above the clouds
away from the freezing wind
in the warmth of love i'm held
i'm sheltered from the din
oh i am greatful day and night
for this the angels song
as i pass from youth to age
at last i do belong
so judge me not for i know well
that this spell could fast be broken
then again it can last long
if we keep our hearts devotion
as for the lost and weary hearts
i cannot know the path
i can only pray that healing rays
will hold them soft and fast
if there be a guiding hand
who's light shines from within
may it bring abundance there
so peace can reign again

pickles and cherry pie

hot cup of coffee
pickles and cherry pie
home in the evening
laugh i thought i'd die
keeping the minute
that i look into your eyes
holding on tight
as the book of all this flys
finding my memories
right up in the rose night sky

it looks
like i'm
just living my life

holding up the mirror
sea mist in my eye
drinking your fountian
breathing every sigh
the flowers in the yard
like
seasons on the fly
watching like a baby
trying not to cry
breathing in our time here
letting out a sigh

it looks like i'm
just
living my life

i lay down right with you
i know i'm living hard
not to many one of these days
to make my own reward
you hold me like a meadow
don't want to stop or go too far
finding the best place
to rest under the stars
feeling so happy
like a filled up mason jar

you and me
we're livin' our life

the tree tops glisten
with this early evening light
i see this paradise
that is here with all my might
every thing wrong
has worked it's way to right

i guess you could say
we're livin a life

passing this show
as it is passing me
getting my heart right out
wearing it on my sleeve
i lived in lots of rainbows
i've lost a lot of sleep
i v'e worshiped lots of hero's
played a lot of hide and seek
wandered down the highways
wishin some how we would meet
well
well well well
now we're living our life

we're livin our life like
a trillion souls
who've past
like galaxies
sailing on the winds
of these universal seas
happy as the breezes
in the backyard swaying trees

at last
at last
at last
we're livin our life

glad to be home here
with the late night tv on
taking a day
to be with you alone
got everything i need
with you here i've just grown

and
ohh oh oh oh
we're livin a life
we're livin a life
we're livin our life
thank god
we're livin this life

angels and seagulls

i saw a light shine
last night
seagulls
evening sun
a storm clearing
the air
for angels
for souls
who
brought together
sang to me
of art
being
life
i sat in wonder
voices
claimed me
poetry danced
innocence
springing
a fleeting glance
into
the heart
of
struggle
life does not change
over time
lifes puzzles
remain unsolved
yet
the journey
the path
feels its way
like an infant
rising to its feet
falling
then rising again
angels teach
seagulls soar
and
love
fleeting as the wind
holds
claim to life
feeds the innocent
stretches the patience
of the foolish
whose path
diminished
wanders
in the winds
of loss
yet
there in that
maelstrom
light shines
seagulls skip and fly
against the red evening clouds
and
angels sing
and
i hold tight
to the mast
laughing in the wind
knowing
i have love
i have it
she stood before me
her heart
as beautiful
as gods heart
her message
piercing
my darkness
an angel
on the wings of
seagulls
singing
as
i
gladly fell
to loves sword
once again

august

ohhhhhh
hottt
sizzle
oooof
sssssssssssss
ssssssssssss
egg fries
pavement melts
head exploding
sweating
puffing
huffing
heat
wet shirt
pants soaked
feet
in the oven
slow moving
begging
for rain
earth
cracks
puffs
smokes with
melting
dali clocks
trees still
grasses burnt
sky haze
ohhhh
air
cool
air
water
fresh and wet
come on
come on
come on