To reach/
To strive/
To try to touch
Calls for bravery,
Calls for desire.
The raindrop on the tongue,
While the rest of the body is washed,
The penny that landsface up--
Meaning good luck for the finder.
The hand that itches to hold
The money.
We reach/
We seek/
We want/
We drink
The rain drop by drop--
Sky purified..
While the body rests,
Repairs are made
After yet another day
Of life’s abuses,
The mind must consolidate
What it has gained,
Versus what it has lost,
And while it balances its books,
It entertains itself with our dreams:
Sometimes it makes sense
Of the actions and responses
We experienced,
But sometimes there are
No reasons for what flits across
The inner screen.
While the movie plays,
Everything we learned
Is set against everything
We forgot.
And when it’s done,
It’s time
For another day
To begin.
All accounts
Are balanced
And ready for
Debits and credits.
(c) 201010 by the author
SOME BIRDS
Some birds still chirp,
Though night has all
But fallen now.
The birds will come again
When dawn breaks,
When the wrapping is
Removed
On a brand new day.
The birds--I wish
I knew the names--
Will be outside my window
Once a gain
When all that remains
Of night is swept aside.
Sing me awake.
Sing me to sleep.
I don’t care.
Whatever their names,
The birds are welcome.
For Jane Martin
I willl forever
]be paying off
The debts incurred
Every time I skinned my knee,
Sprained my hand
Or my heart..
Encounters brought new knowledge,
And now
It’s my obligation,
No, my pleasure
To teach what I learned
By explaining all the marks,
Nicks and cuts,
Their histories,
Their geographies,
Their biographies.
Can others learn from
My mistakes?
Have I learned from
The miscues,
The wrong words
At the wrong time?
Now
I serve...
IN THE SHADOW OF MONEY
In the shadow of money,
Where the homeless move
Their shopping carts,
Where there’s only the aroma
Of a good hot meal.
Currencies zing overhead,
Dollars and cents in all directions
But down.
Men in suits and ties hurry
To catch up with their leader.
The homeless man doesn’t wave hello or goodbye.
“A nickel or a dime,
A quarter if you will,
A dollar if you cancan.”
And still no one looks
The man--a thin dollar falls his way.
Between fast food
And faster pedestrians,
It’s a wonder anything
Catches the eye.
No one notices.
“Good morning...could you...
Never mind,
Hi there, do you have...
I just want a cup of coffee...
It’s cold, right?”
The lawyers come.
The bankers go.
The tourists--
They take pictures
Another hungry day flees the scene.
“I can watch your car
For an hour, for a dollar?”
“I can open the door for you
For just one thin dollar.”
Just a dollar...
KEARNY STREET BECKONS
ALL COMERS TO EAT, TO DRINK,
TO EARN A LIVING
TO SELL ONE’S SOUL.
“A NICKEL OR A DIME...:
Copyright (c) 2010 by the author
Sometimes caught/
Sometimes free.
Sometimes beautiful/
Sometimes hideous.
Sometimes injured/
Sometimes healed.
Sometimes loud/
Sometimes quiet.
Sometimes fast/
Sometimes at a crawl.
Sometimes hungry/
Sometimes thirsty.
Sometimes attentive/
Sometimes lost in thought
Sometimes the question/
Sometimes the answer
Sometimes there/
Sometimes here.
Sometimes loving/
Sometimes envious.
Sometimes music/
Sometimes silence.
Sometimes broken/
Sometimes repaired.
Sometimes a flower/
Sometimes a weed.
Sometimes sinful/
Sometimes holy.
