try to solve this one

watching the wind
fan my fire higher
almost grabbed a newer
book wanted to start
a new chapter
but somehow
talked myself into
finishing this one
stay focused and finish
what has motivated
all along keep on writing
no matter how funny
they look at me
it only motivates me to put
more words down like
my life is a crossword puzzle
who is going to try
to solve this one
without a hidden word or phrase
done that a time or two
and probably again
not here streaming the thoughts
live out in the backyard
late night or what I consider
late night after eight
when you keep the hours kept
started the fire with a paper bag
and a spark burst into
another late night blaze
into another current year...

countless ways

shouldn’t try
to put myself
somewhere I would
probably not last long
enough to make it to
the current year
another to add to the stack
so high it might topple over
but not too high
seeing everything clearer
up above sort things
out and rejoin work in progress
every year since
been solo
been better
in countless ways…

countdown to the current year

last day/night
one month straight
everyday another thought
or the continuation of
one from yesterday
the day before
and the day before that
last night/day
wish I could force
myself to the coast
for a sunrise
can’t guarantee
I will want to wake
before the year’s
first light
last few hours
before it becomes
a new day/year
by the calendar
that we all go by
makes enough sense
not to question
too much more than normal
last few minutes
hoping the fire
will make it until midnight...

couldn't help but notice

trying to twist it tighter
and see what the mind
will produce see how things might
come out a little different
couldn’t help but get noticed
as the beard gets bigger
guess my roots could be
shivite or rasta from creation
this much eye know
trying also to find the loose
ends to tie up before
the new year even if it doesn’t matter
it’s only two days away
what will there be come the current year
when it arrives I will be trying
to twist it around another corner
another year and see if I can
make it make sense
see what the mind might produce
life surrounding produce
couldn’t help but notice…

learn to forget

woke up to an icy ride
wish I could wake to watch
my garden grow
all the more reason
to make a plan
and drop some seeds
wish I still had my
king-man spot
lost it with that
biggest mistake of
my life type of shit
can’t stop remembering
have to learn to forget…

interesting, no?

under the small roof
because the rain and
the cold has returned
hadn’t even noticed that my shoe
getting soaked as my foot
sticks out from under the roof
now the foot is cold
and I have to go inside
to find a dry sock
interesting, no?…

plan my escape

how will this moment in time
be described in the future
how will we know if they lie
about it in the future
and this begs the question
how much of what we are told
actually true not much I am thinking
and so many will call
me skeptical and crazy
or more crazy than skeptical
nothing stopping anyone
from sitting down and proving me wrong
tell me why you believe what you do
how can we be sure history will be accurately
recorded and written
especially since some of us do not believe
history going back merely fifty years
I don’t know why I am such a skeptic
guess I understand that in order
to control people the mind’s
need to be molded to accept
their own enslavement
and maybe I am crazy
but I will rattle the cage
and rage against my own
enslavement and plan my escape...

behind the neighborhood

hard to see the words
under the shadow of my hand
as it skids across the page
out under the clouds
and create some of my own
the only way to figure
the way out sitting
back to the woods
tonight facing
the back of the house
hard to see the words
when there is only
one light on out
behind the neighborhood...

only confusion

if co-workers and family
members don’t count
then I am fresh out
one maybe two on occasion
but most have fallen
off the most recently
seen list long ago
some fairly recent but
not enough to keep
me from perpetual
solitude everything
important is blended
and distorted into
the fata morgana of my mind
no one notices these things
flipped and far away
never mind the huge hump
and I can’t find someone to ask
if co-workers and family members
don’t count what does that say
strange times because
no one ever seems happy
with their situation
maybe they are
and I just can’t tell from
where I stand a lone tree
in the forest silently screaming
no questions answered
only confusion...

really wouldn't mind

coffee before sleep
who does it like this
wake up and wind down
the same style in reverse
somehow a small cup
what’s the difference
been drinking it all day
seems like years
been doing it this way
probably because it has been years
haven’t been to many exotic places
it doesn’t stop me from exploring
all these places in my mind
sounds strange maybe a cop out
or the normal ride down the mind wave
until bed time arrives
it could be earlier than this
and I really wouldn’t mind...

fifty-seven degrees

nearly sixty degrees
two days after Xmas
cleaned the car
so it is a comfortable ride
once I head back to the workplace
nearly sixty degrees
desire to be outside
under the sun visible at last
all the previous night’s clouds
blown away even as
sunlight fades now the air
is still warmer than previous
days cloud filled still no one around
to see the sky change colors
right before eyes stuck in this head
mind circling around ideas
that I won’t let stagnate
or even sit still for hours
still enjoying flowers
picked on the last day of October...

surfing clouds

the clouds look like
a giant is standing
high above blowing smoke
across the sky
and the tops of trees
bending letting it blow
by without damage
while anything not tied
or weighed down will be moved
warmer than you would think
standing inside looking out
the sound of the wind as it approaches
hard to describe maybe a train
pushing air through a mountain tunnel
louder and louder as it approaches
then passes and continues
like waves on the beach
there is another blast
right on the heels
of the last out back surfing the wind
waves without moving closing eyes
and letting thoughts flow...

woke by wind

wind woke me
before light shines
over this part of the earth
and I felt I needed
to sit outside in it
and so I did for about
thirty minutes
the birds know enough
to stay low but even
that doesn’t help
blown from one spot to another
drawn to thoughts that
made the idea of riding solo
more appealing
wind woke me like the calm
of the cold cement
one night in Plymouth
that changed everything
and woke me from a slumber
of a different kind
pursuing something
that never existed
like wind is there
but never stays still
long enough to hold onto
barely able to harness it’s power
and redirect the strength
and realize there is still
sun to shine through somewhere
and at night Orion can be
seen standing strong
reminder to always overpower
any and all weakness
until it is gone…

get up too early to be late

only need a couple
minutes of your time
check out a few words
see my thoughts
drawn out long hand
originally then typed
to be presented
obviously goes without
saying but I wrote
it anyway gloved hands
planning an escape if I had
a place to go or
someone to meet
be there early
probably waiting never
late get up too early
to be late time
to get warm again…

always happening

an hour early
but it’s always
happening
no matter
the time always
ready for action
sit down and chill
reaction and today
just a fraction
of what tomorrow
has in store an hour early
but no one is watching anyway
no one is here to hear
the sigh from behind boxes
ghost whispers from
another artist quite possibly
the smartest one all around
the corner made her laugh
a time or two it wouldn’t be so bad
to turn back time for a few
then jump back to reality
but which one is the wonder
the one perceived
or the one standing being
perceived an hour early
no one seems to mind
as I continue the chain
unbroken…

stars right now

after a great day
to rest relax
and spend some
time in quiet
contemplation
enjoying the sun
just as I enjoy
the stars right now

another new book
to fill everyone
knows what to get me
as a gift blank book
they know I fill them
with my random thoughts
enjoying the stars right now
where I sit four
seasons strong

back to work tomorrow
then another off day
strange change
to the work week
not to mention
the stars right now
but there they are…

Xmas sunrise

sun begins
to melt the thin
layer of yesterday’s
rain frozen over night
and it changes right
before eyes
twenty-five minutes
of steam escaping
the clutches of gravity
sun begins
to warm everything
around sky is clear
and as blue as it ever
appears not a plane
overhead this morning
sun begins
to melt into smiles
from the youngest
trying to figure it all out
no one truly knows
why but there are many
stories that keep
the tradition alive
this morning sun warms
the page the hand
and the face
painting thoughts
on the wall
and as time passes
like shadows
the paintings change
before eyes all day…

ninety plus years

great night together
with the crew
Italian kitchen Brockton
Xmas eve tradition
many years now
so lucky to have such
a tight knit family
youngest to oldest
spans almost one hundred years
great night
fire dying down
out behind the house
and silence takes over
the city everyone relaxing
with family and friends
not many out
on the slippery roads
great night together
much rest tomorrow…

Xmas eve 2016

almost that time of year
when for one day
everyone gathers
with those closest to them
does minimal or no work
almost that time
when everyone starts
showing up with gifts
for each other
it’s that giving season
bringing in the new year
shortly trying to keep
the string of days
written unbroken
successful so far
even as everyone
arrives to share
Xmas eve dinner together…

one more exhausting day

warmer tonight
wish it
was twenty-four hours
from now
one more exhausting
day…