Picking Up My Own Slack

Picking up my own slack
is worse than that of someone else.
There's no superior feeling.
There's no pride if I were to tell
"Yeah, I didn't do it then,
so today I did it double."
No, there's just a nagging feeling
like I've gotten into trouble.

Monitor

"Why is my butt crying?"
I wondered in my head.
Then I remembered I wore the monitor
and the crying was in bed.

I Miss the Days

I miss the days that I remember.

I've missed the days when I forget.

Seems the only days I haven't missed

are the days that haven't happened yet.

Surprised

You fall, and you're surprised.
And we're surprised that you don't cry.
And I guess that you are wise
to choose not to cry without a why.

How do You Imagine Heaven?

How do you imagine heaven?
A desert nomad imagines green
and water flowing all around.
A relocated businessman imagines
a family reunion in a small town.
And I imagine something like
the big kitchen in the hostel in Lisboa,
where we're all laughing and talking and cooking together.

Get to Work

Let's get to work, 

remembering

we get  to work.

Attention Anthropologists

Immediate Availability

Attention anthropologists:

Great case-study material.

Will consider any offer.

Poster included.

Ode to Kitchens

A place to heat, a place to cool,
a place for goose or greens or gruel,
a place for kindness and for kin,
a place to start each day again
with coffee from the coffeepot.
A kitchen is a lovely spot.

Complicated

Life is complicated, eh?
There's not much else that I can say.

Summer Solstice

The longest day of the year.
The shortest night.
I think of those whose days are filled with fear,
their dark with fright,
so no matter where the earth does turn,
they cannot win.
Oh Lord, please give this earth
a brand new spin.

To Let Rest

True love lets him sleep till noon
or even past. I'll wake him soon,
but I have found, sometimes the best
way to love is to let rest.

A Luka Luka Bluka

A luka luka bluka leh?
Yes, soon we will go out and play.
Ek koba kuba goba woo?
Yes, and daddy will come too.
Odak odook bolayaglo.
Oh, now that I didn't know.
A deeka deeka beeka nee.
I love it when you talk to me.

Just Fine

The excess of society
just means that we, the patient we,
can often get something for free.
And when there's something someone needs
that's a business opportunity.
And so we all will be just fine
or maybe we'll run out of line.

Another Hill

It seems we have come to another hill.
Put it in the lowest gear and pedal hard.
And even if we have to walk this one,
someday we'll come coasting into the yard.

Sleeping

Sleeping is not easy,

at least not for me. But you– maybe.

No, sleep is not my forte.

And so I empathize with my baby. 

Australia

We always wanted to visit Australia,
and now you're going to be living there.
That exotic land of kangaroos,
and dingos, and koala bears.
But as you know, Australia is normal,
and though it's on the other side of earth,
you'll always feel right side up,
yes, even at first.

Buildings

There comes a time
in a building's life
when you start to compare
demolition and repair.
For a building,
there is no such thing as
aging gracefully,
dying with any scrap of dignity.
Only scraps of scrap.
Because a building is not alive.
These bricks are not like cells;
they don't have organelles.
These walls are not like skin;
they can't choose what to let in.
And so we work our living bodies
and we burn our living skin
as we strive to keep alive
these buildings we live in.

My Latest Idea

I have about three thousand ideas a day
and only three of them are any good,
and one of them is just "we should go to bed now,"
so it doesn't really count.
But still, that adds up to quite a few good ideas,
and my latest idea is bound to be one of them.

Good For Us

Being hungry is good for us.
For us, it means it's time to eat.
For us, it means we might lose something that we don't want anyway.
For us, it means the food will taste that much better.
For others, it means that there is not enough to eat.
Yes, being hungry is good, for us.

Games

We have a shelf of games.
We do not play them much
because our baby likes to eat
dice and tiles and such.
When she's around, cards quake
and checkers try to flee.
She thinks it is a game,
and we cannot disagree.

First Bird

First bird of the morning,
I heard you sing,
but now I hear thunder in your same sky.
Maybe there's rain
to come for the ground,
but while it is raining, where will you hide?

The Bottom of the Middle

There is a spectrum from
taking advantage
to being taken advantage of.
There are those who do one
or the other,
then some people in between
who can freely give and receive
not only gifts and help
but also respect and admiration.
And then there are some
in the bottom of the middle of that spectrum
who are told by some to stop freeloading
and others to stop working for free,
and that is not a fun place to be.

Sliding Puzzle

Life is like a sliding puzzle,

the kind with nine or sixteen squares

that only work when there's a space,

so if your life seems full, beware.

Mail

The mailwoman comes just once a day,
so I just check the mailbox once.
I know that all the junk will come,
just once a day, about at lunch.
My email comes in when it pleases,
and so I could check it constantly
just to find, like the paper mail,
there's rarely anything for me.

Leave a Comment

If you have missed my poetry,
well, I have missed it too.
Each day flies past
so very fast
and there's so much to do.
So if you've missed my poetry,
please give me some first lines
or leave a comment
with a topic
and I'll respond with rhymes.

I Will Be Tired Today

I will be tired today.
My thoughts will be with those
who worked all night,
or prayed all night,
or defended their own lives
all night.
And I just can't sleep,
knowing there are
poems to be written,
words to be said…
like something to be said
for my big, safe, warm bed.

Forgiving

Well there's no such thing as free,
free lunch, free love, free living.
There's a cost for everything…
and a God who is forgiving.

Plank

There's a plank in my eye,
and it hurts a lot,
but I think someone else
put this plank in this spot!

Right Now

In the morning sun, when your shadow is long,

I see how you're growing, healthy and strong,

and how you will be so tall someday

and what a joy it will be to watch you play.

And when it is later, almost noon,

your shadow curls up, almost like a cocoon;

I remember when you were a baby just born

and I long to hold you like on your first morn.

And as the day goes, and the sun sets too fast,

I think of the present, the future and past,

and your shadow gets longer, and you're a day older

and a little voice whispers, "Right now– you should hold her."

June

June, when all things warm, even my heart,
which, when it's cold, is difficult to start.
June, when flowers bloom and blows the breeze,
and it becomes so easy just to sneeze.