I’m dumb to leaves and prairie grass;
a million colors can’t be named.
Wind conspires with shifting light
to humble language, exult sight.
I watched a bunting taking flight
from black to blue turn as I looked.
A list of shades between the hues
would burst the bindings of a book.
A spectrum spanned, a moment took,
a world encompassed in a blink
and all I ever hoped to know
vanished when I stopped to think.
I’m not up to this game,
I never have been.
What does it mean to win?
The loser gets the same reward and quicker.
But I will not fold,
too many others have bet on my hand.
“This way to the cheese.”,
said the mouse in the maze
as he walked along walls with ease.
And daily he fed
’till the walls were removed
then he wasted away by degrees.
Grey matter and guts
and a bundle of urges,
mortality,
madness,
no wonder
the world.
Screw them all,
I will make my own rhythm
and dance when my feet tap
without being told.
Who are they anyway,
nobody’s somebodies,
certified, sanctioned,
next wave of authorities,
packaged, presented,
thrust on us, sold.
When young they took my youth away
chaotic nights, uncertain days
I used my eyes, saw through it all,
but what if I should fail and fall?
Exposed, abused, then sent to hell
“for my own good, to make me well”
I set my face and fooled them all,
but what if I should fail and fall?
I grew, and strong, I took the reigns
got good at playing money games
I learned the rules then broke them all,
but what if I should fail and fall?
Five times alone did I do right
So here’s what keeps me up at night
my family counts on me for all
but what if I should fail and fall?
(tweeted 6.5.2014)
From seed to stalk
From crawl to walk
From health unto disease
In peace or strife
We choose a life
On our feet or on our knees.
pedestrian roadblocks
an ambulance wails
the sound bounces
and with
car horns and clatter
blends into a single street sonata
somewhere
someone is waiting
minutes
or a lifetime
away
Freedom carries chains,
restrictions on the will.
Enveloped in this enigma,
even apparent improv,
defined by choice,
once made, its power
manifests in slavery.
He stops mid-trunk with much to say
in taunting reach of dogs below,
perhaps disgruntled by their play
amused at how they move so slow.