night ahead

first day of summer
up early stacking peppers
for the people
out of work early
home for the rest of the day
to relax and put down
some thoughts
down at last
saw the strawberry moon
not as impressive
as once lead to believe
can't say that it surprises me
either don't trust anything
inspect in some way myself
or research or whatever
cooler breeze clearing
the pollen away
for the moment
rest before a fire tonight
another restful night ahead...

socially distorted

palindrome of a day
by date race car
name isn't Bob
could be today
doesn't matter much
maybe it does
somewhere
I think I have needed
to rest the arm
for future and I just heard
an interesting quote
“we had the chance
to elect Ron Paul twice
and failed, Donald Trump
is what we deserve.”
maybe it's what we deserve
in order to wash away
the 1984 style
backwards social
distortion...

from moving across

it's as if something
holds my hand
back from moving
across the page
nice day spent most
of it outside sat
in the garden
moved some plants
drank some coffee
spent some time with
the family and that
is what is important...

funny how?

wish I knew
then
as I do now
as the saying
goes
they laugh
because
they say
I am funny
no one
really knows...

spotlight on the waterfall

spotlight on the waterfall
a new addition to the night time
scenery on the observation deck
where sitting I unfold my mind
nearly the entire day spent
moving the pen the page
the new book with two stripes
that no one will see
the pen behaves as the air is cooler
only going where it is put
did I mention all the movement
today and into the night
later than most nights
temperature is almost perfect
slight breeze is enough to keep it cool
sweat shirt style hood up
in the neighborhood
probably the only one up
wonder how many beers
it took Miz today
it was two for breakfast
and an admission that it wouldn't
end in a good spot because of it
acknowledged though identified
as destructive and continued
never understood it but smoking
became my vice and until I quit
I cannot judge him for being addicted
to something he uses to ease the mind
in the ever increasing
insanity of the world...

sky watching

watching the sky go from
light to darkness
back to light with a few
stray rumbles in the distance
the forecast is a murky one
for the night
a new book to fill
puts a silver lining around that cloud
and all the ones I will put
around my head all night
and most of the day
spent thinking writing
and being inspired by the silence
of this warm day seeing years
ahead and behind as one
big blended picture
at times the colors mix
and things need to be slowed down
to notice the important details
remember all the people I used
to write with around about and they
become the painting called the past
and most of the time I will keep
on walking without a thought
at times I linger because there are
a few I wouldn't mind seeing again
as if they would even remember
and maybe they do mostly though
I think too much and have to spend
the day erasing old thoughts
and broken dreams from the mind
how many books will it take
and I wonder the date when this
book might be full...

wall of green

last thoughts on book sixty-nine
six months worth of thought
or half of a year bound up
in a book so worn
the cover front and back
no longer attached
a reminder to detach at times
and stand back to look
at the landscape
the book has been
a pleasant escape
from the everyday struggle
to find happiness as it exists
all around just have to choose
to be a part of it and
not let it pass on by
how many cars now
if I started counting in October
and here I sit again on the porch
in June making sense of the madness
some call it life and most
don't think this much
but I think that's okay
because I don't swim well
and my brother and sister do
we all have our strengths
and we live with the weakness
that our humanity brings
and always getting stronger
none of us know how much longer
we have shouldn't we make the most
of what we call life
waking to work not without
appreciating everything
right outside the back door
the summer makes the small
wooded area behind the house
look like a wall of green...

leaking pen

the pen is leaking
all over the place
as if it expect to be used
more this month
so it is a little backed up
it's probably just warm
out here in the afternoon
sun hope it stays clear for stars
and with that
thought two drops of rain
fall together and make a mess
of what I was doing
gotta move and now there
are spots all over the page
this book has seen better days
in September twenty-15
it looked it's best
ready to get beat up
with all this random
but methodical
the creative thoughts
destroy what has been taught
a bit more logical based
in what can be seen and
experienced...

both, if you live here

jumped over the string
there and kept on running
no one chasing just running
to get the blood flowing
the bird in the trees
could make the ears bleed
don't even have to wait
the twenty minutes
or call anyone to bring
something by because
I can drive on down
to the shop place my order
wash the car the only debt left
it's budgeted into monthly
expenses and necessary
to the everyday grind
thing most of us do until
we get tired and make a plan
to slow down and stop
the madness enjoy the sun
and a day in the garden
or both, if you live here...

make them real

it's official
at this point the pen
wants to sprint to the end
of another poorly designed
leather bound volume
all the pages have become
detached from the binding
hoping to be out of the book
by the end of the day
avoiding any and all chances
of showers and damaging hale
predictions or forecast or
guess what we might get sun still
shining and the clouds move
steadily to the east when
I sit in this chair back to the house
facing east as the sun moves west
in the sky or so it seems to this eye
and this guy doesn't necessarily
everything he was taught
especially when what is seen
nearly everyday contradicts
it's official and I am probably wrong
to some and I am okay with that
because the truth is easy
to explain and remember
always had trouble with made up
stories even when I told them
to make tomorrow easier to deal with
and then falls apart truth sometimes
harder in the long run is much
easier to deal with and it's official
I have the ability to see that clearer
single digit pages remain now
until I shift gears again
and take off in the next book
I put my thoughts in
it's official even dreams
can be truth if you make them real...

papa working the beets

papa's in the garden
working the beets
now then onto the rest
of the crops the attention
given the weeding
and thinning out
surely helps can't hurt
papa's enjoying his retirement
and conversations
with everyone at different
times of the day
or altogether at times
takes amazing pictures
and finds meaning in
the little things
one hundred year old
wheelbarrow and pitchfork
still frozen in time
needs to be a painting
on the wall symbolizing
papa's work in the garden...

here there & everywhere

still thinking
somehow betrayed myself
every time I don't
move the pen daily
my best friend
haven't seen him
in over a year
starting to think
things have changed
got a message today
from him he had beer
for breakfast and I made
it to the dispensary before mine
we do pick our poison
as I still struggle with
cigarettes still thinking
somehow it all serves a purpose
knowing though
they really don't
and I do and it's why I do not drink
still thinking better off up
in my cloud being alone
isn't as bad as wishing you were
because shit ain't right
still thinking elevated without
the elevated talk
won't talk down to anyone
who will converse
here there or anywhere...

quiet too long

it's been awhile
since gone quiet
for this long
and I don't mind
except I hoped to
have this volume
filled and instead
it is starting to fall apart
didn't even realize it
until I opened it tonight
and saw ten days
without a recorded thought
to document the day
end up at a place I sat
early twenty years ago
and find myself alone here
and it's a lot less smokey
then it was back then
it's been awhile since
you could smoke anywhere
indoors too many days
skipped distracted with all the work
physical in one place
computer work at home
for my brother from
another mother
all the distractions
have led me to be quiet
too long...

watch it grow

put seeds down
with dad
now we watch
the garden grow
as we feed and water
and enjoy the spot
created as a peaceful
place the family
is tight and the way it
should be always
seems to be the time
to write is as the daylight
fades away...

a real angel

wish I could stop
my sister's tears
the sadness maybe
from her fears
packaged beautifully
seen in angels eyes
real angels not
the belief in them
the reality of her
the smile and hope she brings
don't forget the smiles
and miracle she is at her
hottest crying hour
she will cool and grow
into this thing called life
one thing learned from
this family is that fear
can be conquered with support
but I am no teacher
if I was I would teach
understanding and search
for truth by any means
necessary without fear
life is but a dream...

the page reflects

can't hardly believe
the chill in the air
looking at the calendar
and forecast for tomorrow
supposed to hit eighty
and humid never made it
above fifty today sun should
still be illuminating
the lower western sky
but the clouds
help darkness approach
quicker luckily the page
reflects light under
the pen...

doesn't seem real

when there are only a few
pages left in a book
I am filling
the rush of completion
is upon me
and I want to put
everything else on hold
to finish the task at hand
even if I know it could
still take days
to be done and onto the next
chapter another pile organized
nicely to flip through
in the future
thought that doesn't exist
until I put it here
what if you don't know
I exist maybe you do
and wonder where I went
but I have been right here
all along or so I thought
anymore questions
might have to wait until
further discussion volume
seventy doesn't seem
real yet...

what we know

what we know
or think we know
how much does it even matter
who is going to change the game
change the world
how much does it matter
what we know and
what we think we know
for sure to be truth
how much of what we believe
can we prove or even speak
upon at length
what do you think about
as you sit and read
or get distracted
and some won't attempt
to read and it's exactly why
I try to keep it short
bend the thought inward
and wonder about what I truly
know and pass that like this torch
to those who aren't distracted
and able to turn discovery
on your own thoughts
and the journey they
will take you on
no matter what
you think you know...

born day of the jester

the jester still sings
twelve x thirty-five
even as he turns
seventy-five
wonder what his days
look like his nights
filled for decades
with live music
and amazing musicians
might not be moving
as fast might be napping
on the tour bus
before the show
just keeping up his end
of the bargain
the one that pushed him
fifty plus years ago
to take that trip
down the long lonely road
filled with all the riches
you could ever desire
lyrics expose the truth
treasure buried beneath
the blues he's been brought to
in his own style
the jester reaches a milestone
another year older
on this rainy day
at twelve x thirty-five...

no opponent

don't even have
a chess game
set up and ready to go
but wish we could
throw down like we did
when we were
on Kingman
we never had to agree
leaning to the opposite
side of where I was twenty
years ago now
a different time twenty
years later and
I don't even have
an opponent...