Wednesday, December 29, 2010

all day it lasted

new thought
same lined page below
recording the thoughts
that pop into the head
trying to remember
what it felt like to grow up
just so I can identify
with the younger one
around the house
there were days when nothing
could erase the darkness
all day it lasted
one day realized
it can be no more
new thought of confidence
in decision to face it myself
determination not to let
it disturb another day in my life
remembering suddenly those years
it took to change and realize change
really never ends until
the bitter end of times
whenever it arrives to stop time
and it really doesn’t make much sense
all for what there has got to be a purpose
in this here new thought…

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

the broom

the broom is on the floor
but it won’t pick anything up
unless someone picks it up
the coffee is always hot
but drinkable just the same
sometime it gets lonely
at the kitchen table
no one needs me
or joins me for dinner
will leave my coat on
just in case I have to leave
or go hang with the cat
not because I have fleas
just because the smell in the air
is new shoe smell
that’s the only way to describe it
the broom is still on the floor
because everyone walks
right over it…

Monday, November 8, 2010

apparently enough

feel like twisting the mind
it’s the only way to get thought out
right around four o’clock
and nearly dark as these eyes
been open all day to everything
around and no one has been around
just a lot of rain getting lost
in the drips in the bowl until full
then overflowing doesn’t matter
everything is wet two days now
and the chill doesn’t help
out around the house
random strange thoughts
had one when the television
turned on seemingly by itself
not at all that odd
except no remote control involved
in a thought more about it
after it gets dark pen will still move
quick-like drinking too much
and not eating enough
always hungry without the smoke
everything is different
spot to put thought down
like words just for the sake
of taking thought out of the mind
twisted in the wind
and the storm never really got
too strong apparently enough…

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

cat trips me up

the cat trips me up as I
walk around the room looking for my place
within the head I carry
while I walk wherever I might
walk for days at a time when others
might sit or run the other way
when I think about it long enough
do I really have anything to say
and who is really listening
to the voice everyone else hears
not like the voice heard in the head
born into this world without choice
decision already made myself fall asleep
with pen in hand book open
for thought coffee is still hot
been there all day…

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

suddenly clear

feel accomplished
just about nothing
today made me wonder
what to do not under
estimate someday
someone day it’ll
be important
notes taken
unseasonable day
no wind no clouds
this is what needs
to be positive change
made it all possible
cleared the air
almost as fast
all of a sudden…

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

unhealthy

just listening to the sound
the fire crackles
as the afternoon starts to expire
eyes get lost
in the lines in the lawn
last cut a week now
may not need it again this year
more random observations
from the chair
in the middle of the yard
I just want to sleep
bored with pen in hand…

Sunday, October 10, 2010

note taker

nothing to say at all
the wind makes me nervous
that one of the pines will fall
and destroy all that has been built below
chance taken to be here
but where else and who else
would put up with all the thoughts
passing by like the parade
that doesn’t end
the cat is tired caught by the dog
but only for a second
will probably have nightmares for weeks
but he’s got nothing to say either
because he’s a cat and cats don’t speak
or I can’t hear them
or I just don’t have anything better to do
then to try to make something out of nothing
marking up blank spots in notebooks
am I the note taker
keeping track of something
for someone I haven’t even met
in a time I do not know
why I move the pen so much
all the time but not enough
to make it matter to those
who need to take notice
whoever they are and wherever they might be
not where I sit head to table
because I threw away
my addiction nearly one month ago…

down gets me down

no thought is perfect
situation gone bad
move resulting in a set back
far enough it still unfolds
correctly read the thought
notice it will run on
top of that it doesn’t stop
me from pushing forward
movement is positive
even on a cloudy day
today turned out
nothing but sun and blue above
the stars were bright before
the sun rose up this morning
it must mean something
hasn’t been said
so many times
how hard has it been
to put down smoke
for days at a time
like this would be easy
some would like to think
simple acts are the easiest to put down
with the quickness first to say
it’s the hardest things I have ever tried to do
something positive everyday
drama gets me down
and being down gets me down
as well as I can be
given the skills accumulated
after all these years
what would we do
if it wasn’t done here
where it all began
with limited time
why would we waste it
a part of the whole
dug myself down
as if I was expecting a battle
and got the entire war
all at once…

random note 1010

is there any significance
to the date and historic events
if so then something historic
should happen today
probably won’t but it should
ten ten ten
and the ink doesn’t dry so fast
probably shouldn’t have touched words
before they had a chance
to sit and sink into the page
stares back at me daring me to look away
and I do with blurry eyes
focused on something that isn’t present
at the moment the cat
is always with me
even if I made him sleep outside

ten ten / twenty-ten

the date says a lot
not exactly sure what it means
and from where i sit
it must not mean much
it's a boring day
the weather is nice
it is cool like fall should be...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

16 days without

can’t explain why
it is so hard to understand why
it began almost twenty years ago
follow the leader and got hooked
like all the other fools
sucking on smoke can’t explain why
still not easy by now to feel
as though quitting has been a success
drinking coffee and trying to find something
to fill the void where once a cigar was held
now with a pen trying to write my way
out of the habit I don’t want to miss
but I do
it’s been sixteen days
shouldn’t be hard to make it one more…

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

eleven times three

hard to look into the glass
showing who I am to others
see it different eyes seeing Fall
in the air all around
each corner holds something
still is not quite right
now is the only time held
close so it will not disappear
too fast already a memory
only made to fade
like the color of this shirt
hard to look into the mind
left alone will flip out of control
what is seen and heard
by the smallest ears in the house
still knows the sound
of my voice heard as I try
to sleep anytime of day
fine for some rest of the day spent undoing
the rest gathered over the closed eyes hours
hard to look into the eyes
of the self my worst critic
analyzing every move made
every brick laid before feet
as I walk from there
to here and back to where
I started to see clear
like the skies until the clouds
push themselves between
these eyes and the sun 
working hard until the day is done...

Sunday, September 5, 2010

pointing out the obvious

afternoon sun reaching through trees
the cat joins me at the table
neighbors are starting to get loud
labor day weekend
summer's last dance
until the next time around
pointless thoughts
pointing out the obvious
to anyone paying attention
given to a random detail
burned out fire smell in the air cooler now
afternoon sun and the birds will sing all day long
and the cat falls asleep against my arm...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

wouldn't have known it then

I work in a different kind of market now
still selling the food
still stacking the fruit for the most part
all the workers are a little friendlier different from in the typical market
even the customers are less irritated almost glad to be there
some who come every day
just like the old market where I was nearly twenty years
the regulars who knew me by name
work passes faster in a different kind of market
still miss that sixth day of work
and the higher pay gone in a blink of an eye
an extremely unfortunate turn of events
somehow all for the best
wouldn't have known it then
when the entire life got changed
no one in the old market had my back
let me walk and burn the bridge
thoughts are different in a different kind of market
still selling the food
still stacking the fruit for the most part
it's all the same eventually
even in a different kind of market...

Friday, August 6, 2010

trapped otherwise

don't know what to say
or how to say it right
in the middle of another summer day
lone guitar heard
through the backyard trees
carried as the wind picks up
and brings it louder
to the untrained ear
it sounds out of tune
in here for an eye full
of words poor conveyors
of these thoughts
trapped otherwise
never fully realized
how important it is
to move the pen daily
meditations to better the self
blinded in the afternoon
sun rise this morning
was picture worthy
snap shot to begin
the day is right here...

Thursday, August 5, 2010

old thirty-three

sometimes haunted by
thoughts from the old house
words written forever trapped
the back of wood panel walls
never to be seen again
the piece never to be completed
sometimes haunted by the thoughts
from the basement
at old 33…

slight breeze

the kind of heat
when the slightest breeze
feels cooler than the last
might be the imagination
rumble in the distance
sounded as real as the sweat
running down forehead
onto the page below
the boy uses a sprinkler
under a trampoline
to cool down
flipping over and over
and then he will tire
lasts about fifteen minutes
the kind of heat they call oppressive
the humidity makes it hard to breathe
still it makes every breeze appreciated
and anticipated like tonight’s rain
as if the first in days
which it is how many hot ones
before the cooler air
comes back around…

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

nothing to do

sun is shining and the air is heavy
no one reads poetry
if they do I don’t know them
well enough to tell them I have
something or nothing to say
boring myself would be an understatement
at this point I need a GPS for life

sun is shining through a hazy sky
looking down to where I sit
daily trying to understand
why I put pen to page
and used to do it daily
as if I had something to say
or was it nothing to do…

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

day to day ramble


a ramble that won't ever stop
the madness of an ordinary day
to day transitions hardly noticed
many things on the way to this point
to the part that makes sense
out of a ramble that might be hard
to get moving once stopped
and left dormant thoughts build up
need to find their way out
through a hole this ramble dug
to release some pressure

a ramble that won't ever stop
right in the middle of one thought
onto the next time the ramble comes
out of nowhere nothing between
mind and pen at that moment
the ramble takes over this time and space
for thoughts to take hold of something
tangible the way the humidity makes
the air all around feel heavy
as the ramble rolls on...

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

with the wind

the wind always picks up
when he’s thinking deeply
about life and what it might mean
everything means something
isn’t that what they say
the wind dies down a bit
he feels the humidity
his arm sticks to the page
only he see his smoke
travel with the wind
as it reveals something
each moment it moves
the air and if he had any
it would move his hair…

stare long enough

when staring sometimes
sight gets blurred
nothing can be seen
stare long enough
into nothing
the mind numbs
fully conscious black out
time freezes for a moment
only in the mind
the clock hands still move
in the other room
caught staring out a window
got lost in all the green
makes the room disappear
is the glass even there
at that moment who wouldn’t feel relaxed
find that moment
as often as possible
staring and getting stuck in the stare…

Friday, July 16, 2010

water glass

water glass not clear through
new eyes
see truth is life is hard
rough road for any and every
one minute water is like glass
and the next intense waves
of emotion shoot
through the pen and
only one gets to watch
the ink dry on the page
every few days necessary
if not daily
thought will get trapped
up inside…

it wasn't supposed to


where to begin to understand this life
has got to mean something
like the smell of fire
that lingers as the last hints of smoke
trail into sunset trees
reflection seen in table glass
what comes next
whatever it is it too will pass
too quick want to slow it all down somehow
where to rebuild some confidence
never held to one set of rules
tomorrow will come even if we don't get it
probably never will
where to begin right here in the moment
every moment counts as long as we let
them fall behind to make room
for all that is new about today
it won't make sense
it wasn't supposed to
where to begin and how we fit in...

Thursday, July 8, 2010

leaf from branch


sitting breathing living
enjoying the day
and all it has brought
to this reality
that is here right now
and a cool breeze reminds
the mind to release itself
into the wind
like leaf from branch
not worried about the fall or flight
just flowing until the mind returns
a seated position relaxed
without pressure to be that way
just relaxed and floating feline
from table to floor with a thud
then continue on it's way
no thought on distance of fall
relaxed again sitting watching
wind ripple water in the pool
reflecting sky clouds and sun
mind returns again
as pen dances across the page
hardly knowing what
words will come next...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

burn out before dark


left alone with thought
watching the fire burn out before dark
wishing to know more
explore places will never see
too late now to start it up again
the fire must be left alone
with thought tangled tighter
some days it's harder to see above clouds
even with the clearest skies above
wishing to figure it all out
untangle the web by day
break tomorrow
left alone with thought
all that solitude replaced with company
no one here to offer encouraging words
advise or criticism some eyes need to be found
to find this thought discovered while
sitting alone tan canopy and glass table
looking right through
catching the eyes dozing one minute
pen moving the next
left alone with thought
buried under the weight of the day
wouldn't end if the light would stick around
a little longer days ahead six more times
before the reverse is true
left alone with this thought...

thoughts left random


ten minutes per thought
game played while thinking
and power writing
just like power walking
without the walking
holding a pen instead
feet stay still beneath
mind studies the irony
of every situation pausing to quench thirst
for relief the only distraction at the moment
when they pour powerful into the head
they are immediately dropped onto the page
may never be seen other than these eyes
only allowing ten minutes then onto the next
some think thoughts need to be
refined to become poems
some thoughts just want to be thoughts
and left to their random ways...

out from the shade


sun becomes the day
has no clouds interrupting
the warmth felt
as soon as you step
out from the shade
serves it's purpose too
sitting on the porch under canopy
hot coffee to drink until I can drink no more
too shaky to write at times
sitting and just thinking
without the pen I feel useless
sun warms the spot enough
to never want to return indoors
wishing it was always like this
nice-fro is what some still call me
if they call me at all
and most of them don't...


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

ode to the steps


pushing buttons just to see
how much I can take
the heaviest weight
keep piling it on top
you can't crush me
no matter how loud you get
no matter what you say
you won't break me
don't know how I fit into this life
even when I think I do I don't
but I do know I will outlast
both of them
and smile on the other side of right now
smile right now but no one
around to see how much better
since then when truly alone
in the basement every night
and my own bed every night
sharing space is so much better but
day time sometimes impedes
closeness can't worry just be patient
and I will come out on top sure of it
no matter what type of bond
they think they have and will never have with me
facing all the challenges steps of progression
through unlearning what I thought I knew
but don't and won't break like trees
in the breeze bending with ease
praying on knees for relief of pressure put on
standing tall no matter what comes next
the steps won't trip me up
firmly knowing I am where I need to be
understood and respected not
tolerated and disrespected whenever possible
two cents put in and won't buy my ear
for any amount of time wasted walked all over
and realizing even the rug has a purpose
at times wondering how it got under the steps...

Thursday, May 20, 2010

smoke watch dream


smoke watching swirl round
wet wood turns it black
as night or dad's coffee
but he's drinking it
on the other side of the equator
at the moment
envious only of a simplified life
not much but having
the beach at my feet
only a dream
at the moment
the rest of my life
would be the same
swirling smoke around a fire
my beautiful girl by my side
would not even mind working
if life was simplified
less worries less bills less stress
the beach at my feet
smoke watching dream
taking a walk on that beach
cins hand in mine
walking until we wake up
then walk some more
smoke watch dream...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

mt pad

moving the pen all day
makes me feel productive
as I know I am
every day brings a new challenge
this mind to a think off
alone as often
when it gets dark again…

day off search


staring into the fire
blinded by smoke
trying to find balance
wherever it might be
somewhere deep within
the coals of this fire
started with one spark
burns for hours
the sun goes away for the day
staring into the fire
blinded by brightness
the flame stares back
can't find that balance
even though sun shined down
without cloud interruption
staring into the fire
searching for something
on my day off...