it's always time

it’s always hardest

trying to begin a new thought

knowing it’s there

waiting to be expressed

as unaltered as possible

it’s always unpredictable

wait, that means a contradiction

it’s always time

to smoke out a thought or two

hardest to put down

quite habit forming

good thing it grows on trees

too bad I am not a farmer

it always makes more sense

if you are sitting hear(here)

with me as I experience the night

folded into a tiny triangle

and flicked across the room

always hardest when

it slides under the door out of view

as if the claws could compete with

the wooden door

more sirens to here(hear)

sitting smoking out more thought…

sounds the silent night makes

sirens cut through the silence

of every night never fails

thunder thump of a car stereo

jumbo jets overhead

and the commuter rail arrives downtown

all at the same time

stand still sitting out

here on the porch

in the broken chair

like puff the magic dragon

like eye puff to make the day drag on

and on top of that the dogs set each other off

one will start and around the neighborhood

the howling starts the slightest

silent disturbance sets it all off

for hours inspiration his only reason for being

the one hears all the sounds the silent night makes

into thoughts and words and maybe no one

is impressed with his pass-the-time invention

sitting on the porch eye hear his every thought

stand still and drop to the page

even the scratching of the pen contributes
to the silence disruption

in the city that does not sleep…

hits him hard

it hits him hard at times

reality and what this life

is supposed to mean

only what we make it mean

I am sure of it

it hits him hard

as he watches the dog rest

without a care in the world

worries he will never be

an idol in America

hasn’t moved much in thirty years

what will he make it mean

it hits him hard at times

like a sand bag from above

hope it misses everyone else

many purposes together

how is it we fit

like to talk of peace

in terms of dollars

I want to work at a bookstore

and read everything written

it hits him hard

hardly at all

he mostly has to crumble

the entire thing

in six days

six nights

and tonight the sky is clear

the moon is full and rising

across the street

over the roof in treetops

two weeks until mountains will

hide the rising moon

the only mountain around here

is the one of buried trash

I see it on the ride back home…

this pen this mind this heart

you could say eye

have become discouraged

at long last had enough

have to move into change

find where eye fit

struggling to wonder

why this mind works

the way it does

not make sense

to pay the bills got to work

and the government

is a millionaire’s club

how fitting

you could say eye

am discouraged

if you even felt it necessary

to restate the obvious

battle in this mind

won’t shut down at night

it spins on overdrive

all around town

to find a quiet spot

back at home on the back porch

until midnight maybe later

catching up on night time

rest missed with thought in hand

in mind in pen and ink

all over hands reaching

into pockets not their own

you could say eye

have discouraged this self

happiness carved

into flesh left arm

turn back ten years and write

it all over again

beginning from the end

where eye left off the edge

of this page turns to reveal more

and there will be no end eye

cannot begin from

a non-existent point given

to those who need to catch up

slow down thoughts too fast

rain hard will flood the gutters

and overflow like this pen

this mind this heart…

when I ask

when I asked him

why he watched the sport

he explained it was all about

grown men making left hand turns

he could use a good turn to the left

he’s always been on the right

and it is a relief to see

someone from the right

at least a little bit mystified by

the left turns…

when someone asked

they said New Brunswick

in a tent and my question

then becomes

does that make me Canadian

when I asked for advise

it’s because I want and need

guidance of some kind

and everyone says

I shouldn’t quit the job

where else am I going

to get these benefits

so tired of being a hard

working fool that

doesn’t follow rules

that don’t make sense…