border shift

counter to mind
and ulterior lines
the borders to this country
are drawn with fine
markers and pencils
they shift
as the population swells
and we are fuller
for the grace we give
to the people
who live now,
in the bosom
of our fractious family

nothing new

nothing new
under the bleeding sun
stricken orange
speared in side
her life trickling out
and we find our own
pushing up
rising
from inside

king of rocks

"the provocative, irresolvable arena of relationship...", Bruce Tift


51 and I've barely started
to jump into the fray
relationship I don't do well
I mostly stay away

with people at recovery groups
and 4 or 5 friends from childhood
with my family and my coworkers
I get along rather good

but seek outside those circles
or deepen with those I know
I feel like an alien with beak and flippers
a strange and jittery joke

relationship, like enlightenment
continues to remain elusive
I opt for time spent reading alone
in my apartment, my castle, reclusive

do her deed

please, no more
squeezing this brittle-boned
shrivel-hearted miser

the heart will expand on its own
the skeleton become pliable
the mind blown away
along with the brown leaves
nature will do her deed

still, I cannot conceive
this birthing
of a new me

no cry

two girlfriends in a cafe
watch the petite cop
her tattoo covered arms
her tightly worn, short hair
eyes big and moist
lips sculpted on a face
with smooth complexion

on their way out
I hear one say to the other
"I once told a lady in Starbuck's
she was pretty.
She said, 'Thank you'
and started to cry."

park, 7-1-18

the boats
the blues played
in the gazebo
by the docks
the fisher folk
the fisher king
apparent in gnats
and fat fish
families cooking on grills
babies who try to crawl away
the dried mud
of the riverbank
the dead leaves
moaning into dust
red and orange berries
couple walking
softly talking