So Much Stays

This day
light stronger than fire
blue looking the other way

me not knowing what to
make of it
but waste

head in a million tomorrows
when the bills are paid off
and there's a house
that some other stranger
can't make me leave home from

after 12 years
I know the grass here
and so many taller things

like wrinkles on my hand
I remember branches that held
my child's first swing

endless summer lemonade
from the faithful tree of myers
sweet blooms and fruit 18 months a year

cracks in the walls
and fences I've watched slowly lose weight
to bugs and lichen

These words and a little more
I can take
but so much stays

Without Sheets

I sleep
without sheets

so little to cover

what happiness
is worth containment
anyway

and even better
if it is not work at all
to guard this empty prison

read books all day
and cash the checks
if they come

or go to work
anyway
since there is little to miss

and thus
pay the bills

keep the heat
on

to stand in
for blankets
all too scratchy anyway

I sleep
smiles
or frowns
just to keep to the clock

yes
like rises
and sets
I see the sun

and I sleep
without sheets

Chairs Hung on the Wall

chairs hung on the wall
tables put away

shoes not at home
here

well
where's the livin'

if this
is your safe
and wonderful
refuge

it is my calling
to set to trail
and find on

find on
and on

dirt is life
life is dirty
and I want it all

this put away life of yours
is all neatly arranged and all
but so little more than it is

I like all I have
under the dirty rugs
and in the frig

always something
to pull together
but never a plan
to have
weeks in holding
to let free

sure I trip over many things
in this my life
but they just take me down
to see the things
so far out of normal view

and make me feel
taller still
once I stand again

Honesty

Will honesty ever be so simple

ever be
simple

ever be
honesty

ever be
both

ever be
both
in moments
not so far apart
as to be un-connectable

ever be so
so ever

talk soft
or just be careful with words

too much
says as much

just be
honesty

and I'll for a change
take that simple
truth

and lay
softly
to sleep
with you

nothing
less

Off I Go

morning's here
and came
quite eclectic

here on the cliffs
over the ocean

low fresh light
brings out more mystery
on the water just before the waves

little more mirror
yet dark

clouds
and orange

just east
mountains stay dark for now
this side of the rising

less voices
and engines
leave more room for the sloshing
and distant hum of large buildings breathing

things still
so many captured
still under covers

so many
that I can hear more
in the less

layers not yet piled on
hiding the stillness
that can be

hello
sun
morning's here
and off I go

off
I go

Wondering Away

wondering
so much

but today

just
where the sun
went

and died

still clouds
show it's there
alive somewhere

yet
back so far
away

that all is still
finding its way
without shadow


full the
lacking
feeling

we all have

wondering

no one comes back here
without purpose

this is not
the site
of search
and discovery in one

even if both often
happen separately

wondering

what is lost
in all these misses

that and this
that should be
thus

wondering
takes
all

all
it does
and leaves
those
that walk not
away

away
far
away

If

If you need
a hint
I forget my dreams
easier than all else

there you have me
but walls I have armed
to bump
the entry
if not attack

games
of mind

all real
unless you know better
and can find that know
in the moments of need

the halls
will take
take your feet
if you must search
but they will not reward
as much as they will tire

that which is built
can do its purpose
while the new arrivals
only their disappointment
if not content

Behind Hello

hello
sand

sand that folds
flows or rolls
as needed

dictated by the waves
and gravity
of soil and moon

and nothing more
than will willing...
stay

like weeds
looking for such
and lettuce pretending
all the same
with so much better
the taste

the taste

like sand paper
to lemonade

a good match
gone rough or
sour
at best

all
we left
left behind
behind

To Be

to be
at center

then see
see
a set of rings

zeroing

zeroing in
on a different home

a different ground zero

yet
to find both
both true

mine and theirs
true

that is
the real
life
we kill
over

so the same
sake one or two
misforgivings

take the heart
of another believer
solely for believing
in a different end

idiots in the way
mean both bad
and good
on purpose and
negligence

There is too often
only the good we leave
in our wake
and not all the needs we hold inside
left behind fulfilled.