Old Schmitty was 88 when we met, back when
he used his last two working fingers
to peck out short, dense treatises
on love, nature, kindness.
We’d unpack his thoughts for hours
searching the Yeomalt beach
or watching the Sound from his driftwood wicki.
I lived just up the hill,
and I’d find him whenever I came looking,
on the beach or by his [...]
When the call of the flicker
on a lonely ocean beach
is heard in my belly;
When above and below the heavens,
only I am the world-honored one,
having nothing to do with myself;
When flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle dove is heard
in our land;
And when the time I am most [...]
The tape on my right arm
protects the needle hole from invasion.
Still warm, my blood’s en-tubed within the clinic.
I sit across the street,
deliberating over coffee and scone.
Good thoughts, good friends, diet and exercise
can’t save me from
an errant thyroid,
a rebellious prostate gland,
and other debilitations.
Days will pass, this purgatory will end.
Results will wash up with other data.
I will [...]
Sharply dressed
State Patrol people
encourage us ferry riders to relax.
Mothers in airports are asked to taste
their bottled breast milk,
while web sites award prizes
to the most stupid of these measures.
In Iraq a new orphan,
both arms blown off,
knows life will never be
the same.
February 2, 2003
Today, seven astronauts exploded high in the sky.
Seven skiers perished under Canadian snows.
Thirty-three shoppers burned in a Chinese mall.
While our nation prepared to shock
and awe the people of the Middle East.
All of this makes it difficult
to smile for the camera.
This is not a problem for the children,
riding high on parents’ shoulders.
Having its share of inflations
and troubles
the boardwalk remains–
a sunny segment of community beach funk.
Too many sunglasses, incense sticks and Tibetan imports,
more rollerbladers than rastafarians or surfers.
Around one corner a palapas set, built for a movie,
Over there jugglers and musicians perform.
No muscle beach, the bodies are normal and flawed.
A red-billed, black-legged gull
reigns over it all,
laughing.
Past Last Water Camp, my dog and I
wind up the north trail,
wading deep sprawls of snow
obscuring the way.
Left behind is my city job
and the softness of a woman at dawn.
Yet worries swirl
as I ascend through mist.
I cough a blaze onto the snow,
a shock of redness.
My lungs may be the end of me.
Route finding now, I [...]
It runs
the dark road,
often coned by my bike light.
The steady line is my focus;
I breathe with it like a woman in labor.
Downhill it is my trusted guide,
but its deeper meaning is in the long uphill.
With its counsel I have reviewed my deepest concerns:
divorce, health, life course, the world.
Patiently listening to arguments
with myself and others,
it remains [...]
