On reading W.B. Yeats’ “The Song of the Happy Shepherd” The poets in their foolish song Have captured for my reading Glimmers of their thoughts, long gone Desperately pleading. We walked in sunshine once as you And toiled after truth We gloried in our bodies once And reveled in our handsome youth We left our…
Category: Poetry
Hurt and Angry
Out of my mouth come words Like ugly flowers Nursed on bitter waters More black than blue More lies than true Smelling of a stinky slough Of oozing wounds and decay Unseen and hidden But real Perhaps a clear spring Still exists beneath Perhaps the Divine Hand Can heal and cleanse What I cannot yet…
Prayer while feeling rushed in daily living
Original Publish Date: 11/1/14 O God Forgive me for this busy prayer Atop my business like a layer Of dust upon my uncleaned shelves Abandoned by my cleaning elves. Hear my superficial cant Atop my awkward stumbling gait Half-witted like my untied shoe Have mercy as I wretch towards you. Grant this day some odd…
Garden Umbrella
Original Publish Date: 9.1.00 Tall, solitary, unhindered It stands with its arms down Its white canvas draped around it Like a devotee in his robe Head down in solemn discourse Pleats shuffle around in the breeze Looking like a schoolgirl’s skirt Churned back and forth listlessly During a scolding Shamed eyes looking at the ground…
These Leaves
Original Publish Date: 11.1.00 I got a Thanksgiving card from Mom today With the reds, oranges, and yellows of fall Cut out of the cover into a string of leaves and a pumpkin. She is always on time with cards Inside, some pressed leaves, real ones Presumably from her yard, Or somewhere down the country…
Resting
Original Publish Date: 7.1.1 My face droops with The solemn determination to make it Through the day Resigned and hardened To the diatribes of conscience Like the patter of weekend rain “You should not have stayed up late – again.” I have work to do. Work to do. Zzz.
Pee
Original Publication Date: 7.7.1 My mind is consumed With the solitary thought Of having to pee Other priorities ask for attention But they must wait Until I find a bathroom A restroom, a tree out of sight Anything will do It must happen now.
The Place
Original Publish Date: 7.1.1 There is a place Between all of the paradoxical dialectics Where time and truth meet And Isness replaces both So that neither exists except In the present moment. I will meet you there And we will become re-aquainted
Death
Original Publish Date: 7.1.1 Every ache Speaks of a time When we will meet You are the doorway through which Even the Saints must pass Sometimes I feel you Creeping up from behind Others, you are a distant Point of darkness That could spring up At a missed traffic light Or in a winter virus…