Poems

On a shore in west Montana the universe grinds on a stone. Waters rush, sturdy grasses rustle. Farther out, bright-eyed iridescent trout hunt trap-mouthed for plump, delicious bugs flashing in the sun. Nearby, stolid mountains feigning sleep, await orders from deep...

On this particular day, I did what I do on other particular days, got up, washed up, ate up, cleaned up, hurried up, went downtown, sat down, got down to work, hunkered down, at the watercooler I was put down, felt let down I slowed down, left downtown, came home,...

rocking horse-head well pumping grease leak slick stains gravel hawk hovers field high spotting mouse oil spoiled earth blood bone crap hawks & humans different takes different leaves 2016  

I made it happen, I made it happen, again and again I made it happen, day after day I made it happen, I made it happen, I made it happen, over and over I made it happen, I made it happen, I made it happen, I showed up and made it happen, on Thursdays I made it happen,...

(see Surrealism under essays posted 2/8/16) On Tuesday while walking, I ran smack into the sky. Dazed. Bruised. Instantly my head filled, first with amazements, then amusements, then algorithms. Next, a cup of black coffee gave birth to a crow. “Pretty bird, pretty...

Of the things males are given to make themselves men, shoes are important among them. Impressions - in snow, in mud, in the office floors above ground. Today at the gym I will wear blue shoes. When I was a boy men did not wear blue shoes; brown, black, tan, white,...

Of the qualities God must own, constancy would be one, maybe number one. We want a God to be yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever the same. Reliable dependability. Patterns of predictable behavior. No tolerance for variance. No changing the rules mid-game. What if the...

When I wake in the morning the dictionary is awake in me, ready-at-hand to put me to use. I do not squirm into language like a tight shirt. I am language, nouns verbs modifiers. Language wears me, an elemental alphabet of possible worlds. I am a gerund, a noun made...

I am persistently cautious. Safety first. I am seventy and still alive. This morning, for instance, I put both feet on the floor upon rising from bed. I slipped into my fire-retardant robe, sipped my coffee with attention to heat. played safe with choking hazards,...