T I M E
a constant coin
that never stops
turning
and you can be
heads one second
tails the next
and all the while
you’re getting older
and you’ve been where they’ve been
and you’re going where they’re going
and you look out your watercolor window
and the sun is the same
the rain, the wind
but the landscape
is different
is more
is less
TL
Farmers
and the AC
was blowin’
full blast
and all the bulbs
were burning
room to room
and the dishwasher,
the dryer,
the oven
were all ticking
and the vehicles
were parked
and the frig was full
like the faucet
like the dog
like the house
and there sat the TV
with all its channels
click, click, click
and here was this guy
peering outta the box
wearing a cowboy hat
that actually fit
like the lines on his face
still handsome and rugged and real
and he was talking ‘bout his daddy
how he farmed the land
how he survived
the Dust Bowl of ‘35
how he plowed
sunup to sundown
how his hands hurt something awful
how, even so, he’d go
pick up that ‘ole fiddle
and play
“his hands would be bleeding …”
and as he told that story
he wasn’t on TV
he was on a farm
back in Kansas
sitting on the floor
listening
to his daddy play
for him
TL
Needless
no use
for why
for where’s
the answer
in it
what can
you say
about
this day
or the one
before
or the one
after
is there
not enough
room at the table
is there
not enough
roofs overhead
is there
not enough
cloth to clothe
is there
not enough
shoes to sole
is there
not enough
water to drink
is there
not enough
wealth in the world
is there
not enough
love
not enough
understanding
not enough
thought
not enough
TL
Basic
children
teach us
what we
need
to know
TL
Light
may you
whoever you
may be
may you
but believe
not in years
flat and folded
but in the bed
of roses
may you
find yourself
in Thee
be it
shade or sun
would that you
pick one
and give it
to someone
and in the giving
would that you find
what it is you seek
in the shadow
of your sleep
TL
Gemstones
it’s covered
in concrete
the road i knew
the one
i’d walk …
past the “dead end” sign
past the pasture
with the pretty horses
past the wild plum trees
and blackberry bushes
past the homes
of factory workers
and in the summers
it’d be hard to breathe
harder, still, after a truck
kicked up a cloud
and the price for quartz
was fire on the fingers
but it’d be worth it
after you dunked off the dirt
and showed it to the sun
treasure in the trenches
end to end
just had to dig
for it
TL
Enough
how is it
there is
never enough
time
and it’s all
you can think of
at the hour
of loss
when the grains of time
fall like snow
and there you are
on your knees
in the middle of miles of winter
trying to pack it all back in the bottle
all the time you missed
but you’re no match for the sun
and there you are
in the ocean
wave upon wave
your body washed up on shore
too spent to stand
you lie in the sand
and go to sleep
for a while
and wake up
one day
somewhere
down the line
and realize
there was
in fact
enough
time
TL
Portal
this small box
took the tape
and played the past
when they were living
and breathing and being
and there was a table covered in cloth
and a white-tiered cake
and fresh flowers in a vase
and lots of food and drink
and there were memories
everywhere
60 years’ worth
“Look at Mama and Daddy,
didn’t they look good,” she said.
now, here it is
years later
60 years’ worth
standing where her Mama stood
“Look at Granny and Papa,
don’t they look good.”
TL
Healing
he gets out
of his car
and walks toward
a brick box
and goes in
and punches a button
on the wall
and waits for
the doors to open
and waits for
the doors to close
and remembers
what room
and makes his way
down the hall
floor to floor
knows ‘em all
knocks on the door
rap, rap, rap
waits for a welcome
goes in
and says something
and stands by the bed
and bows his head
and prays
TL
News
looting in London
brazen bank robbers behind bars
woman, without a face, has a mirror
three-year-old girl gone
woman went to Aruba – where is she
parents medicating their kids for no reason
Wall Street crunching
Americans, still, without a paycheck
men and women, still, in the field
people vying for presidency
back to school
TL
Poor
lined, without line
see their faces
structure the same
and there’s a heat wave
running rampant
through their veins
and they don’t know
what to do
with it
cause every day’s
the same
TL
Change
was a day
without wind
and you’re waking up
and walking around
and washing your face
and draining a drink
and clearing a plate
and pulling the door to
and pushing it fro
and doing whatever it is
you do
and you check the mail
and pay the bills
and cook something
and wash something
and wait for something
and say something
and take something
and make something
and think something
and watch something
and forget something
and then you
remember
what it was
you forgot
and you look
out the window
and the leaves
are whirling
TL
Illumination
saw the clouds
ever-changing
as the sea
and there
the heavens
opened
in wonderment
for me
soften by the hue
and shredded by the wind
this brilliant bulb
on high
shone
by and by
and over yonder
fell a sheet of rain
mid downy pillows
where down
I lay
just a moment
so it seemed
when woken
by a rumble
framed in flashes
then the clouds
settled now
mid a mighty mast
and there I sailed
the silver sea
meant for you
meant for me
a promise
there was made
anew
all things past
a present
all things here
a gift
all things yet
a trove
this much
is all
I know
TL
Seagull
the guy
with him
called him
“Bill”
“Scoot over Bill,” he said
and Bill scooted over
to let the girls aboard
and the girls glanced at Bill
and saw he had no teeth
that his body was that of a boy
and his face was that of a man
and his eyes were that of an old, old man
stuck in a body that did not fit the fire,
the fire in his belly
and when it was Bill’s turn
to strap on the safety belts
he met no eye
he just stood there
staring at the white bow of the boat
waiting for his feet to lift
from the white
and as his feet dangled in air
his smile was newborn
his eyes without sea
his heavy mind at ease
just him and the breeze
gliding over an ocean
and the minutes weren’t long enough
not nearly
like the rope
that reeled him back
to the bow
TL
Anew
the sky
was lit within
below the bosom
steep and pathless
beyond the fields
of burnt-brushed trees
and a house
of simple means
and there
this road
it just
kept rolling
rolling on by
like a river
where
think I’ll
hang it
there
TL
Less
before
the cup
was
washed
and dried
and put back
in place
it sat
with me
in Panama
taking stock
and weeding out
when up
on iridescent leg
this crab
did climb
out of the crack
in the floor
called, time
where my sole
had sunken
long and low
and in and out
he’d go
out his little hole
and flick some sand
and dart back in
and this he did
time and time again
‘til it felt ordinary
what was at first
extraordinary
TL
Gravity
half a moon
veiled in cloud
shone the sand
the ever-changing sea
and the whitecap line
reaches for
the line ahead
white tide
rolling in
bath water
draining out
TL
Free
there is something
reassuring
in the quiet night
of waiting
and knowing
you aren’t alone
that no matter your lot
you will return
same as so and so
to the same spot
and turn your eye
to the chandelier
in the sky
and bask in its beauty
if only for a time
and your being there
and believing, somehow, it was important
to be there
is in itself an admission
and as the last facet fades to fog
you feel small
as you start back
the way you came
TL
Growth
pass a field
of cattle
black shadows
barely moving
midday
and further down
the brown mare
kicks around
the dust
no orchard
for miles
just barb wire
and pasture
and she’s good
at waiting
around
for sooner
or later
TL
Dealt
they have
their cards
on the table
one solitaire
one tented
and the cards fall
where they may
and both start over
one with diamonds
the other gold
TL