Poetry

(For Shaggy) He wasn’t big and he wasn’t small. He lived to eat and to chase his ball. His raison d’etre: Fun, fun fun. His single speed was run, run, run. He loved to laugh in his doggish way. To lick my bowl and to have his say. Past fifty years he’s been away and […]

Fortunately, We all still care About the children, On both sides of the walls We build between each other…

No ducks ply the slough, no great egrets glide. Wrung out clouds pattern the marsh in light ink. Air as crisp as cave-cooled watermelon. Silence ambushes me in this quiet place of still water, wood pilings— remains of a mill— an old railway track. My lungs catch a scent I am an egret sensing fish […]

Beautiful walk along Clam Beach shore Scampered over dunes and grass and more Driftwood wet upon the sand Placed there gently by ocean’s hand A misty day, no sun is seen The water a pale metallic green No voices heard, nor others this day Save a man, his daughter, their dog at play The mighty […]

No longer willowy, taut and bronzed, perhaps faintly recalling their golden youth, they are pale fleshed; their yellowed skin contrasts with the scintillant, deep green river. They are round, dimpled at the shoulders, their arms are soft, bellies contentedly filled out, thighs widened by sitting and work. They sought this broad and shadowy pool. Broad-leafed […]

How we were drawn into this light, Released from bedtime curfews, And freed from morning’s grasp: Those signatories of winter With their dark ink now all blurred and faded. In this light, We might hear the rhythm of seasons, Or trace the day’s soft edge. Maybe rediscover the contours of our soul, Or we might […]

Wondering when the other shoe will drop. The hammer will fall Wondering while my chicken cooks with rice Why others need a dime. A quart of milk. Ok. I am ok. Wondering when the fist will fall. At the hand that never strikes but may Wondering with my back to the wall Why others bleed. […]

Dangles above the coastline Where countless stars and waves Welcome me home. One of these stars Is extremely rare Having immigrated From a Dwarf Galaxy Far, far away … All of the waves come From foreign lands Much closer to home.

Eureka’s sky does ominous so well! The unswerving day makes orderly retreat Down C Street, where mean hubcaps cast a spell From 101, subwoofers on the beat. Around the world the headlines bask like snakes And barely give a rattle as we pass. “It’s only politics, for heavens sakes And what’s that got to do […]

Dedicated to my friend Tony Humbugs Westkamper and his lovely wife Hadassah The aging entomologist won his fair lady             not with blandishments of  youth –                         dancing,                                     archery,                                                 bumpers of beer,                                                             dark-side adventures ,                                                                         or concerted rock, but strolling in fog-shrouded woods,             under firs,                         slow musing in dripping shadows                                     near the slipping down of purling waters, wooed […]

Is not an equation Waiting for resolution. It is the Sun rising Chasing darkness Into the corners Of mindfulness, Letting Go…