Duck Dynasty

I said what I thought,
But my big mistake
Was just that I ought
Not have said it at all,
Because there are some
Subjects which fall
Into the category of
That which should
Not be mentioned,
At least in good
And politically correct
Public conversations,
Which hide all our true
Views, and their variations,
Obfuscate and misconstrue,
What we know we knew.

The Mating Habits Of Millennials

It starts with feelers, sounding-out
Mutual views on stocks and art,
And Red or Blue, or what about
The new trends about to start,
Read on my tablet-can't-be-without,
Then the attempted mutual access
To browse each others' hearts,
Over Pinot Noir and watercress,
And once the data is collected,
Parsed, analyzed, a die is cast,
The potential mate selected,
With hopes it all will somehow last...

Aaron's Rod

So here I sit, under a holy tree,
Playing a surreal song with my flute,
Perhaps you will listen to me,
My musical magic, what a hoot!

  

Behind Black Friday

The dirt-cheap shirt you just bought
At Walmart, is cheap because I sew
All day for way-less-than minimum wage,
Just thought that you should know...

Book Bug

I crack open an old good book,
Pages brittle, yellowed at the edges,
And a tiny movement makes me look
At a small insect which emerges
From where pages meet the binding,
And it crawls across the print, headed
To some place of its own finding,
Could this be a bookworm, I think,
Wondering how could it possibly survive
All these years, it makes me appreciate
That the bug, and I, are both alive,
It in a novel, and me in a chair,
In this passing moment we share.

Fukushima Dai-Ichi

That such advanced technology
Could fail so completely,
Was way beyond the pitifully
Inadequate analysis of the chance,
The risk that came from the sea,
Caused by fatal hubris of engineers,
And mistakes, which produced a
Curse, which will last for years.

Artist's Battle Cry

Declare war on that which holds back
The words I need to say, I need to sing,
Cast curses on that soul-stifling black
Feeling that tries to squash everything
Good before it gets started and flying,
Imagination, creation on the wing,
Leaving poems and songs in the dying
Of the day, in the path of what it will bring.

For A Grandchild

Genes from four,
And many more,
Flowed down through two
To you,
My grandson,
Swaddled on the bed...
Welcome to the outside,
And all that lies ahead,
We promise to nourish you
With warmth and love,
And your ancestors
Are smiling from above,
You are your parents' joy,
A miracle of life,
A fine baby boy.

Rebel

I will not consent,
I will not break,
Will not be bent,
And I will take
My punishment,
Because I cannot give
Up freedom, I will fight
You as long as I live.

Don't dictate, dominate,
Don't tread on me,
You will never, ever,
Contain what's free,
It will erode, corrode, explode
In your face eventually.

Behold our rebellion,
With or without a cause,
Behold your downfall,
You, with your control, your laws,
Were bound to lose it all,
What fell and broke, what was...

Matsuri 祭り

They sing a song, I don't understand
The words, but the music makes
Me happy anyway, and the band
Is really good, it performs dramatically,
Making the people dance and sway
Together, stomping a mysterious beat
With the tunes the musicians play,
But the words and cries are still
Opaque, I know there's no way,
Not enough time, to learn their
Meaning, and so I get swept away
Into the mosh pit of hot emotion,
A foreigner among the island tribe,
Lost in their passion and commotion.

Bed Transition

How warm and wonderful
Is the dimly fuzzy zone,
Of consciousness,
Experienced while prone,
In between asleep and awake,
Waiting for the journeys
Your dreams will take.

Internal Conflict

The toughest fight to win,
Is the long drawn-out one,
Against the enemy within.

There is no maneuver or retreat
From yourself, the battlefield,
Made of water and meat.

Never surrender, never relent,
Spirit must master flesh,
Its energy focused and spent
Where hope and healing mesh.

My Lisa

I carried you on my shoulders,
You were so light, and I could
Have kept you up there for
So long as you as you would
Have wanted, you were not
Heavy, it wasn't much, it was
Totally cool, it meant a lot
For me to be your father, and
That the shoulder ride you got
Was not a fluke or chance,
It was me holding you, a lovely
Child, above, in a happy dance,
I stepped and pranced, unconscious,
And melted into a father's trance.

Resumption

It was a minor victory, when I recalled
Something that I needed to do,
But had forgotten, because I was so
Busy with some other follow through,
So, I now embark, happily, on the task
I was originally supposed to pursue,
Why I forgot it in the first place,
How it came back, I wish I only knew...

Hamlet Was Onto Something

We all have to hold, then play,
The cards we have drawn,
Dealt from the deck of life
By a joker, who once upon
A time may have been a
Savior, or maybe Genghis Khan,
The muses of fate and chance
Look down at us and yawn
At our urges and machinations,
Sound and fury, and then gone.

Kyoto's Secret

The Japanese garden looks controlled
And peaceful, but don't be fooled,
Because it hides a powerful and old
Surge of animistic energy and pride,
An ancient urge to kick your ass,
Which the pines, sand, and rocks hide.

Depopulation On The Plains

A small town is bounded
By fields and fences, and
The reason it was founded,
No longer as vital-strong,
Like back when there were
Young ones, all now long
Gone to cities, vice bringing
In the corn, no longer grounded
In the harvest, scythe-swinging,
Now rusted, shrunken, surrounded,
All lost, but for the clinging.

After-5 Advice

For wine drinking time,
I've a time-tested motto,
Drink till you're truly buzzing,
But quit before going blotto.

The Power Of Curves

To a pretty face and figure
Most men will succumb,
And do things, which afterwards,
Are seen as pretty dumb.

Social Salespersons

Some politicians chant
Punchlines and promises,
Others simply rant,
Stop talking, they can't,
Trust them to much,
I shan't.

A Failed Life Line

Four people, one woman and three men,
Tie themselves together to mountain-climb,
Figuring it would be much safer than
Going alone, up the slopes of Mount Fuji,
And all seems to be going well, when
The oldest guy has a heart attack, and falls,
Dragging all down on the ice, never again
To resume upward progress, they tumble
Bounce on the the deadly rocks, gravity's Zen.

If Flowers Could Talk

We are arraigned and aligned
To attract butterflies and bees,
Not humans like you, who
Stare at, sniff us, as you please;
We bloom, unaware of our
Beauty, no intent to please,
Our colors are about survival,
As we sway on a summer breeze.

Photo by Geoffrey Hamilton, 1955-2011