Questions

the past is a shadow
that lingers in our mind
the future is a question
whose answer we will find
knowing what will happen
could terrify us all
living in the past
might make us very small
living for the moment
is a careless thing to do
cautious observation
will likely see us through

1983

greyhounds running away

greyhounds running away 2008

"sunswarm"

green is green,
and gold is gold,
as grass and sun embrace. . .
the sun is man,
the woman grass,
she gazes at this face. . .
i am sun,
my heat intense,
my sweat is like the rain. . .
you are grass,
you draw my heat,
into your own domain. . .
green is gold,
and gold is green,
your eyes and hair strike fire. . .
i move inside,
your private world,
surrounded by desire. . .
i am me,
and you are you,
together we are one. . .
the sun sinks low,
the grass finds sleep,
and now the day is done. . .

8-1-1982

Torso

blue sky, blue sea, blue day, blue me .. . . 2008

turndown blues

thoughts of you are mostly grim
and usually get me down
i think of all those times that couldn't swim
and why we let them drown

sometimes i forget the ways
we rolled the dice of love
gambled nights against the days
and went from push to shove

we danced like fools fal'n into a whirl
and stiffed the fiddler's due
times ran wild and in a swirl
that turned the whole world blue

1979

Steeplechase wreck

Hooves flying a-rumble, the horses a-stumble
The jockeys a-tumble, piled in a jumble 2008

Daily courage

Stand to reason
hold your ground
keep your sense
when fears abound. . .

Time goes on
it won't wait
take a chance
its only fate. . .

Heavy things
will come to naught
and fearsome worry
just a thought. . .

1991

Moonsloops

Moon

Texas Bleakhouse

. . .lone and crumbling,
wracked by gulfcoast sun and surf,
windblown sand and
mindblown misery,
what spirit dwells here
who once laughed and loved
and now can do naught but feel
the presence of others
and try to make them aware. . .
perhaps the house itself
is the spirit now
filled with shattered glass
and broken plaster pieces
amid a sad clutter of broken hearts
and broken dreams,
a home gone bad,
hanging on with tooth and claw
to this jagged spit of surf torn beach,
the bleakhouse stands sadly all alone
at the edge of hammering brownsurf
and sunblast winds. . . .

June18, 1988
Sargent Beach, Texas

I'd like to be, beneath the sea. . . .

In an Octopusses Garden in the Shade 2007

The lame and the halt. . . .

. . .so now i drag
the ball and chain
of perverse irony,
how wrong it seems
after all the years
of heat and exhaustion
and willful determination
to the finish line;
to suffer now the ignominious
fate of a lame and crippled fan
of all the brave souls
who still vie with themselves
and others in the
quest for the self. . .

September 2006

Greyhound Racer

The end of the Race 2008

the blink

time out of mind
gone in a hurry
fun in a landslide
sometimes a puzzle

inspired by your absence
i think of the hours
that turned into days
of the weekend we lost

where did it go
before it was over?
lost in a blink
or maybe a nod

a sorcerers spell
or the gift of the gods
all in a fleeting
of terrible odds

1990

The Iron Grey

THE IRONGREY 2007

Blue and Yellow Spiders

Blue and Yellow Spiders 2007

warm winter days

the january sun
is a slow ball of heat
we only feel
or only think about
when skies are blue
and thoughts are high
and winds are down

warm winter days
make mellow moods

2007

The half-marathon

surrounded in the cold mist,
by hundreds of other runners,
so healthy we glow with energy
yet we stamp our feet
and complain of aches and pains,
but we transform
when the pop of the starters gun sounds;
we take off
with a triumphant cry,
it is a three race combination,
a five-k, a ten-k, and
the half-marathon,
the pack thins at one and a half miles
when the five-k runners turn and head back,
then at three miles, the ten-k runners turn,
when they turn i am nearly alone
and i am content with my own self,
i am now hot and the next ten miles are mine,
i slowly catch and pass five other runners
who suffer but smile.
I finish in 118 minutes.

1-17-87

Sunset in Valhalla

The hammer of Thor strikes fearful hard

All along the Avenue (not the watchtower)

in comes the kings assistant
a big smile on his face,
he drove the captains limosine
in the local stock car race,
the drummers wife sat crying
'cause she heard a sad old song,
and her mexican chihuahua
was sniffing at her bong,
all the leaves are falling
the rains are gettin' cool,
and the moon is ragged yellow
and the poets just a fool,
raindrops still are dancin'
'cross the window late at night,
and the cross-eyed cat is waiting
for a mouse to start a fight,
the surgeon with his scalpel
is sneakin' down the hall,
and the patient, he is worried,
he's climbin' up the wall,
there goes the two-stroke biker
poppin' wheelies in the air,
and there sits Mother Hubbard
in her chartreuse rocking chair,
all along the avenue
they're comin'. two by two,
but the lonesome spotted puppy
just sits and howls for you,
the water faucets plugged
but so's the river, too,
the street is kinda dirty
and the sky just isn't blue,
the singer 's pumping gasoline
pouring ethyl in the tank,
clothespin 'tween his nostrils
since the smell is awful rank,
the groundhog saw his shadow
'cause he knew things were amiss,
the muskrat saw his lover rise
and blew her a teary kiss,
did i just see Uncle Wiggily
sittin' on that fence
lookin' like Joan Crawford
from a telescopic distance,
the painter sits and pouts,
he moans and groans a lot,
he gripes and fusses constantly
and forgets the things he's got,
and all along the avenue
they're comin' two by two,
askin' when they see me
if I ever thought of you.

1972

Confrontation