CLAP RAG SHUFFLE©

AMICUS BRIEF

discovery, entertainment, distraction, knowledge

banners flap in the breeze

from here on out these words are wings

before this

action and experience carried the day

we evolved

language developed thoughts

action and experience were transformed

abstracted

hallelujah

we are dolphins in the sea

riding Cassini around Saturn

viewing images almost as far removed as mathematics

leaving a certain emptiness

the nub, isn't it?

that gentle ache that follows a glorious sunset

or a spider's web glistening after rain

it's no big deal

to be what we were before language

evolution does not jettison its roots

and in light of all this

in a blaze of enlightenment

 blizzards, tornadoes, floods and drought mock TV "news"

which goes only so far as what everyone can see for themselves

in light of all this

I have to say it's a nice day

sun shining here in California

in February

my work is pleasant

those who have put their attention where directed

scurry to and fro

stirring up trade to generate more profits

leaders and corporations

and here I scribble

civilization at the tip of a felt point pen

which is almost out of ink

FAITH

arrangements of the universe call for belt tightening

first one delusion, then another

gone

but then the whole emerges

a flight of birds out of fog

which hides the unforeseen

the way back home is held in trust

many days and misadventures intervene

travels continue

lighter and less encumbered

make another hole in the belt

CLEAN ROOM

a laundry room

clothes pass through

only to start over again

clean dirty, dirty clean

planets, molecules, atoms, quarks

strange garments

clothing what?

the landlord doesn't care

so long as everyone pays

underpants, omg! we are naked

where is the payment?

naked entering, naked leaving

room was empty all along

AIMLESS

ANCESTRAL FLOWERS BLOOM AGAIN

out of the usual mud

much the same

yet now

there is no fanfare

no beating drum

rivers do not leap their banks

Tabitha at the foot of the bed

bides her time

until eventually I get my pen

climbs up to the editor's pillow

Susan is slogging through a cold

I bring her some medicine

get her to eat

the weather obeys its own laws

regardless of who wants to notice

as our collective mistakes

go carefully unacknowledged

it can't be figured out

but here it is

the sun shines

too much for February

a hundred year meteor strikes Russia

again

an ill rock that blows no one good

yet think of the tourist revenue

all of this on a page

glossed with the dark side of technological miracles

 the manifold stuff that cannot be digested in one gut

when a toe gets stubbed

what does its DNA say

tomorrow the back lawn will get fertilizer

in two weeks

with water from our reservoirs

it will be green

celebrate the dream

I have no grand design

other than the one that has me

I ramble on

Tabitha's tail is twitching

aimless reaches the goal