why do it that way?
March 1, 2007
this may be
your only life –
so why do it
like everyone else?
pretzel arm
February 21, 2007
I am one of those people who love to sweat. Whether running full stride on a warm evening or playing pick-up basketball in the steamy sun, it all seems very cleansing to me.
When I was young, I remember playing with friends, cousins, and siblings long after dark. We would play hide and seek, flashlight tag, and spy. Dirt rings formed around our necks and became badges of festive accomplishment – Doctor of Fun. We went indoors only when enticed by ice cream or threatened with the loss of privilege.
Upon entering the house, a ghostly light in the living room would reveal a gaggle of younger children already lying on the floor facing the television. Their bowls of ice cream sat protected in front of each of them. Quickly we’d run into the kitchen for our share and then peck our way onto the rug which had now become a beach.
As my body cooled, salt formed on the skin. I could lick my forearm like a big pretzel. It seemed a shame to take a bath and wash it all off.
outside the skinner box (on writing poems)
January 25, 2007
One always has a way
to spend some time.
Waiting becomes
observation
reception
expression
refinement.
You always have the means
to climb from
electric holes
and breath in
creation.
dying for Christmas
January 20, 2007
The tree we cut
and carried
into our home
the one
we shackled
trimmed
sang to
and toasted
(rip a suckling child
from its mother)
(put makeup on a statue)
(be happy at a rape)
now lies on
its side
alone
with her hooks
and tinsel
riffling in the wind
I wish I had an angel friend
January 17, 2007
I wish I had an angel friend
to watch over your tiny travels –
to walk with you through wander worlds
of daisy, stream, and meadow.
I wish to have an angel friend
when it becomes your time
to go exploring on your own
to catch you if too high you climb
above this grownup world of pace
too fast to see my child’s face.
your choice
January 5, 2007
if you believe you are alone –
you are always alone
if you believe in guidance –
it is everywhere
disco moon
January 4, 2007
all eyes on the sky
this moon is a disco moon!
we dance tonight!
Did you get your PlayStation3 yet?
December 23, 2006
Photo by Mike Wells – Uganda (1980)
If you want to love Jesus
December 22, 2006
He looks like this:
Not this:
Missing Him
December 21, 2006
Let’s work backwards:
First, I will miss him just sitting in his chair
content to smile as if he had no needs –
connected by spirit, happy to be.
I will miss the shuffle of his brave feet
planting the walker ahead like an ice axe;
climbing mountains we could not see.
I will miss him presiding above the fondue
a sorcerer in the candle light,
stirring up batches of yuletide glee.
I will miss him saying grace at the helm
from which he would love, work, and lead
a life of no regret – a life of family.
This is a re-post of a poem I wrote last Christmas about my father in law who had just passed away that October. A poem about the night he died is here:The night Joe left
qazse 