Never too long at the Fair

I sit up in bed
Watching the clouds
Rally
Between the mountain spurs
They gather and disperse
Through the valleys
The crowd at the carnival
Light against dark
Winding its way
Amongst the rides
The birds as Barkers
Step this way
The greatest show on earth

Memorial Day Do-Over

On a Memorial Day weekend

Today you took your promised girl to the beach
Like your grandmother had promised us
But never did
And never would

Your Father tended the grass
As he'd promised he would
And did
But never will again

Today I mowed the grass
As promised
I would and will again

May Day May Day

on a cold rainy day in may

time is measured

not with a yardstick

but in cups of tea

in logs

chucked into the wood stove

distance not

through the fog

but far away places

that exist only in my mind

tempo in rain splat

that crackles

like the fire

Goodnight

I think

Goodnight

As I slide
Between cool sheets

Goodnight

I think

Goodnight

As I stretch
To make myself
Comfortable

Goodnight
I think

Goodnight

As I curl in
To myself

Goodnight

Hit Quit

and look
out the window
raise your eyes
from the sidewalk
and be surprised
by someone's
gorgeous garden
lush purple
petunias cascading
over stone
dark scarlet
geraniums
in the shade
against deep green
turn the page
and look up
Svengali
invidious and
Savonarola
change
direction
listen

Momentum

The point at which
You realized you
Could not have
Stopped
What
Had begun
Desire passion irration
Inertia
It had
To come to a head
And then crash
And burn
Its own energy
Propelled it forward
To disorder
Entropy
And its aftermath
Years of confusion
And disruption
Fission

To Lucca

On a hazy day
Driving the soft curves
On the quiet east bank of the river
From warm dense humid air
To cool
Tunneling
Through the dark green
Leafy linden canopy
Their swollen blossoms
Hanging heavy
With intoxicating scent