Month: February 2015

Rearden

you’re supposed

to be

outside right now

sweeping the entryway

readying your mind

for the day

and it’s a long one

got a cap and a crown

cavities

to drill down

some wisdom

a bridge

and that stubborn girl’s

coming in

maybe if you’d stuck around

now, we sit there waiting

for you to come around

the corner

and appear in the doorway

with those magnifying eyes

missing nothing

he don’t miss nothing either

you’d like him

Gamotis

he admires your work

as you would his

gonna go see him

this morning

and get a brushing

and hope it’s just that

you know how it is

anyways, things are running

like clockwork

around there

you’d be proud

proud of ‘em

the girls

they kept it together

professional

but you already knew that …

knew they would

(March 10, 1948 – September 14, 2013)

TL

Seven Stars

Mc

Far

land

U

S

A

TL

DWTS

and the stars align

Derek Hough

has changed his mind

TL

Base

in the per

plexity

the quan

dary

the con

voluted

thing

be but

a lov

er

of sim

ple

things

like

base

ball

TL

Birdy Bird

in the cage

of the cat

the bird

flew not where

and even if

not with half a wing

on the mend

with the blue sky

in her eye

and the glint of sun

threaded through wet needles

she meant to rest

for but a moment

but fell fast asleep

on a limb

too high

and dropped

like a longleaf pine

that lives

but 500 years

TL

Flurry

there is

a quiet

at the end

of a lane

a pause

before it turns

to a street

becomes a road

an interchange

you close your eyes

and there’s a butterfly

why is it there

you watch it wink

down the path

beyond your reach

you open your eyes

and pause

before you take a hard right

‘cause you coulda sworn you felt it

the slightest brush

but that’s absurd

there are no butterflies

in the dead of winter

mustta been a snowflake

that fell

a drop that froze

overnight

TL

Bob Simon

he told

the stories

from the ground floor

not an escalator scraper

or an anchor’s cushion

he stood in the dirt

his boots muddy

his eyes full

of things

he never spoke

his compassion felt

across the lines

the way he gave dignity

to the deprived

there was no difference

between the dignitary or the derelict

he held them with the same gaze

gave them the same billing

he was what a reporter ought to be

humane

(May 29, 1941 – Feb. 11, 2015)

TL

Be Super

stadium seats

television screens

radio speakers

online apps

the playback …

an All-American flash

a snippet

to carry in the pocket

that thing coaches preach

in leagues big and little

in fields wide and narrow

backyards, city parks, the street

from the mud hole to the mountain

“believe you can … and you will”

TL