The Gardener
Santa Clara, CA 95051
theroot_us@yahoo.com

  • HomeClick to open the Home menu
    • The Wave
    • The Henge
    • Jeans Are
    • Ghost Play
    • Tesla's Tavern
    • Daft
    • Coy Pond
    • Extreme Weather
    • The Visitor
    • Contagion
    • summation
    • Renewal
    • Friendly
    • Sound Check
    • Bee Tracks
    • Backyard Jungle
    • Dew Drops
    • The Hit
    • Rufus
    • Iridescent Bird
    • Tiger Tale
    • Early Bird
    • Red Rice
    • Etched
    • The Riddle
    • Orange
    • Insight
    • Peace Corps
    • going for the gold
    • diamond dew lights
    • a path of pavers
  • the hive trapperClick to open the the hive trapper menu
    • ripe cherries
    • bumble bee weed
    • dry humor
    • the space thimble
    • the play zoo
    • grasshopper's rondo
    • a homeric backhoe
    • fire and ice
    • bell hop"s bling
    • a parade of comets
    • cockroach country
    • the sand castle
    • a chimney charcoal starter
    • extra sensory reality
    • three florets
    • scrounging dumptster diamonds
    • doing a back flip
    • destined for compost
    • on fielding cattle
  • an orange fordClick to open the an orange ford menu
    • world wide weeds
    • mythic flower song
    • ah the loafster
    • go turn any stone
    • a seasonal meal
    • crow's wheel rhumba
    • our nested realms
    • on a leafless tree
    • crows hackberry home
    • hen house serenade
    • plain as day
    • on becoming conscious
    • an even match
    • a history of tomorrow
    • eddies in the stream
    • means and ends meet
    • junco on the fence
    • the splendiferous song
    • everywhere the axis
    • the labyrinth wriggles
    • wood hole winery
    • on machine awareness
    • the teetering tower
    • robin song science
    • a fly ornithology
    • the tale of yo-jimbo
    • the word bucket
    • the midnight tuba
    • time out of mind
  • Water SpoutClick to open the Water Spout menu
    • no blind spot
    • liberation
    • sun feather
    • creek shimmer
    • the engine telegraph
    • doom glow
    • the village bell
    • inner ear
    • free the clouds
    • noodles
    • og's paradox
    • fireflies at sunset
    • hue and laughter
    • for frankie
    • reason on the level
  • Atop the May poleClick to open the Atop the May pole menu
    • weeds
    • autonomous wheelbarrow
    • Bright colors Big balloons
    • bocce balls
    • human action
    • nasturtium
    • meaning
    • the trumpet
    • time lapse
    • tall tail
    • a better breeze
    • sunday thunder
    • two-way mirror
    • what we knew
    • larry 9-3-62
    • enough is
    • profusion
    • a jitney once
    • time's up
    • the cosmic well
    • the magic mountains
    • planchette pen
    • blankety blank
  • HeresayClick to open the Heresay menu
    • Heresay Three
    • Heresay Two
    • Heresay Four
    • Heresay Five
    • Heresay Six
    • Heresay Seven
    • Heresay Eight
    • Heresay Nine
    • Heresay Ten
    • Heresay Thirteen
    • Heresay Fourteen
    • Heresay Fifteen
    • Heresay Sixteen
    • Heresay Seventeen
    • Heresay Eighteen
    • Heresay Nineteen
    • Heresay Twenty
    • Heresay Eleven
    • Heresay Twelve
  • Being-TimeClick to open the Being-Time menu
    • Dominoes
    • Wood Duck Theater
    • Said The Crows
    • Frankie & I
    • From Here To
    • Larry Again
    • Pale Shadows
    • Rogue Wave
    • Fragen Shade
    • Dove Tail
    • Half-eaten Peach
    • Twilight Ozone
    • Midnight Sun
    • Granma's Kitchen
    • Category Zero
    • Ever After
    • Heresay
  • Cat's CradleClick to open the Cat's Cradle menu
    • Not A Quant
    • Sing, Sing, Sing
    • The Vortex
  • Living SpaceClick to open the Living Space menu
    • Planet Bliss
    • Blefirmagest
    • When We Wake
    • My Way
    • Music Loom
    • Banjo Blues
    • Reality Show
    • Twinkle
    • Frames
    • Ancient Pond
  • The ViewClick to open the The View menu
    • The Orion Factor
    • Humpty
    • The Unexplained
    • Untitled
    • Frankie
    • Thunder Fingers
    • Frankie & Twinkie
    • Death and Oranges
    • Clinkers
    • Brown Rice
    • Happens To Be
    • Twilight Tea
    • Fossils or Fusion
    • Three-Way Quartet
    • Artless Art
    • Blues Dhalia
    • Unboxed
  • TimelessClick to open the Timeless menu
    • Fossils
    • Just Add Water
    • O'l Factory
    • bAlls
    • Holo Words
    • Communique
    • Flight Line
    • The Leap
    • just SO
    • Tipster
    • Tripology
    • Twitch Hunt
    • An Audience
  • FusionClick to open the Fusion menu
    • Wheelbarrow
    • Endless
    • Segnaro
    • A New Page
    • Make It So
    • Gravel Gavel
    • Right On
    • Conspirit
    • Mind City
    • Hackberry Breeze
    • Peace Happens
    • For Sure
    • Sage Flat
    • Enchantment
  • The VanishingClick to open the The Vanishing menu
    • Sonorous Sun
    • Flung
    • Shuttlecock
    • Rhyme Time
    • JOY
    • Win-Lose-Draw
    • Text
    • Pale Blue Dot
    • Heliotrope
    • Cadillac Cat
    • Baker's Dozen
    • Roux
    • Crazy Quilt
    • The Warehouse
  • Beneath TreesClick to open the Beneath Trees menu
    • The Visitor
    • The Castle
    • The Airplane
    • Here Goes
    • Wood Song
    • Renegade Rider
    • Hot Saxes
    • Moving On
    • Search Dog
    • SETI
    • Fried Artichokes
    • The Rock
  • Rolling ThunderClick to open the Rolling Thunder menu
    • Toehold
    • Pistory
    • Back Beat
    • Next . . .
    • Stop and Go
    • Beyond
    • Sleep
    • Pulse
    • Outback
    • Retro
    • The Source
    • It Is
    • Red Berries
    • Communication
    • Simpatico
    • Salt Pond Dues
    • Green Gremlins
    • ONE
    • Tea
    • Magic
    • Jackdaw
    • Final Analysis
  • With FireClick to open the With Fire menu
    • Puff
    • Wild Onions
    • The Toll
    • Mute Messenger
    • Serentripity
    • Five Ring Circus
    • The Road To Well
    • Pacific Players
    • Gumbo Gone
    • MGB
    • Castle Rock
    • Truth
    • Breeze
    • Daycare
    • Nothing Doing
    • Existence
    • Flying Circus
  • FREEDOMClick to open the FREEDOM menu
    • The Corner
    • The A Train
    • Solstice
    • Holiday 2016
    • The Quarry
    • Suite Home
    • Spring
    • The Dream
    • Go For It
    • A Grove
    • Unfree Speech
    • Seasons
    • Wheelies
    • Rim Shot
    • Rain Drops
    • The Loft
    • Benton Street
    • Jingo Jangle
    • Surreygate
    • 'Snuff Box
    • Tiuana
    • Being
  • NO MINDClick to open the NO MIND menu
    • Surfing
    • H two OH!
    • SV Tweet
    • Fusion
    • Dove's Dream
    • Super Sol
    • Unseen Universe
    • Outsourced
    • Effortless
    • Fool's Gold
    • Between Storms
    • Gas Lamp Blues
  • Debit MemoClick to open the Debit Memo menu
    • Whim Logic
    • Ripples
    • Renewal
    • Frond
    • Noon Moon
    • The Red Seals
    • The Song Itself
    • Marmalade Mind
    • The Marquee
    • Dodge Cities
    • Book TV
    • Hymn
    • Referendum
    • Next
  • DRY CREEK OVERPASSClick to open the DRY CREEK OVERPASS menu
    • THE CREEK TALKER
    • heresy
    • nothing doing
    • the story
    • cap trade
    • burning bright
    • purgatory
    • the way
    • stirring coffee
    • Sightless Vision
    • dung flower
    • mute vision
    • dove
    • Margin!
    • Bone Deep
    • yestermorrow
    • the ROSE garden
    • Cancelled Flights
    • Oak Country
    • XTECHNO
    • gateless
    • Transitions
  • reckoningClick to open the reckoning menu
    • hysteria
    • juice like blood
    • yonder
    • step by step
    • sharp tools
    • blinders
    • plain clothes
    • souveniers
  • phoenixClick to open the phoenix menu
    • ashes
    • leaf mould
    • window blossoms
    • flat bush
    • improvised vision
    • 100 proof insurance
    • how's them apples?
    • bits and pieces
  • circling forthClick to open the circling forth menu
    • back home
    • middle earth
    • lightning strikes
    • tabitha
    • night vision
    • spirit tune
  • karmic fireClick to open the karmic fire menu
    • rosie
    • harbinger
    • sleepy time tea
    • speed bump
    • breaking news
    • juice
    • plenitude
    • brain storm
    • no price
  • wild muffinsClick to open the wild muffins menu
    • moments
    • bow sprit
    • taiko buzz
    • real music
    • from here to . . .
    • karma dogs
  • oil lamp daysClick to open the oil lamp days menu
    • repose
    • tranquility
    • harmony
    • rapport
    • departure
  • bird brainClick to open the bird brain menu
    • wind song
    • dust devils
    • folded echo
    • bach boogie
    • bird brain
  • rusted dinosaurClick to open the rusted dinosaur menu
    • blue haze
    • what hath?
    • fractal
    • transbiohomo
    • rusted
    • peacocks
    • beetles
    • tents
    • trance
  • sand dollarsClick to open the sand dollars menu
    • grist
    • griftology
    • gerrymander
    • gondolas
    • griffins
    • galloping
    • galaxies
  • LIFTOFFClick to open the LIFTOFF menu
    • commencement
    • joy nest leap
    • wisp of reason
    • breeze cap
    • the gathering
    • impersonal portrait
    • when chaos dies
    • going down the trail
  • oroborusClick to open the oroborus menu
    • smoke in our eyes
    • anthrology
    • buried gold
    • R and R
    • dominion
    • compost
    • oroborus
  • laughing thunderClick to open the laughing thunder menu
    • swivel liberty
    • scrabble stone
    • never never mind
    • clap rag shuffle
    • circus pipes
    • endurance
    • sky serpent
    • song breeze
    • fog thorns
  • thoth moodsClick to open the thoth moods menu
    • peace cloud
    • truth food
    • drifters
    • out of context
    • radar ears
    • crow song
    • green tea day
    • floating
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Savvy Neighbors Impede Profiteers
  • Links
  • AS THE WORLD BURNSClick to open the AS THE WORLD BURNS menu
    • the creek talker
    • ark welding
    • old tree
    • the compost bird
    • through the scaffold
    • holly day celebration
    • infinity paralyzes time?
    • opus 3!
    • way past

impersonal portrait

IMPERSONAL PORTRAIT© ZIGZAG RHYTHM

 

 

leaves of the day settle down for a nap

tides in a kettle

flowers folding prayerful petals

the gut sense of it all

and breakfast can wait

until our star, the main player

comes back on stage

 

the sky erupts in lightning

a silent tic grows louder

till thunder casts Sunday off its perch

West Coast magic is a tumbling megaspeaker

a rock concert living up to its name

Highway 1 becomes history

 

sand paintings warned frogs and lizards

until a breeze blew them all away

it reappeared in a store next to the gas station

just as the winning ticket was sold

and forgotten

 

I wonder about the laws of sleep

but they escape in the act of being investigated

quantum outlaws that appear on the other side of a window

when no one is looking

 

it is so delicious that perhaps

turning on the radio will be too much seasoning

after all, preparing food from basic ingredients

outflanks preservatives, additives, MSG

 

my shoes hurt

corporations that make them have determined

my size is unprofitable

I will email Mike Honda that corporate "personhood"

must be unlegislated

maybe it's not very zen to be thinking about this stuff

you know, eat when hungry

when tired sleep

so simple

 

so it's all my fault

I like to trim hedges and maintain my equipment

and write stuff

oh, the big bugaboo

 

purity

that's pretty simple too

every morning just sit there

no words, no nothing

just the origin

 

then the incense winks out

lightning, stadiums, flu shots, nuclear missiles

it all smells rather different

murder, corruption, burning flesh

steaks

 

the other side of literature ends up

here

arms flailing

tendrils of a dying coral reef

 

not gently

not raging

but the gut sense of a long Spring's night

leaves fluttering

 

 

 

FLOWERS OVER THERE

 

 

morning zebras sleeping

lazy heads will miss the quilted fog

the circus is under wraps

a sign says

SEE THE MOTHERLESS BABY

but it's just too early

 

thankfully my '57 Chevy truck fires up on the first hit

still no one on the street

it stutters for a bit, clears its throat, smooths out almost to a purr

off we go to the first account, one block away

there is no accounting for magic

we get there

 

no cause for amazement

though it simmers in volcanic cauldrons

full appreciation must await the chickens

 

no one speaks

no one is there

there is no one to think

just doing

 

work shades into returning tools

cats

and neighborhood birds

though they are in danger

gather to see me back

 

cooking dinner, chopping vegetables

not much different than work

just chopping

how good it is

with miso, fish and tofu

 

bad weather turbulates across eastern states

while here in California

clear air and pleasant weather are the rule

making politics a comic book

 

after dinner

evening sun

an onshore breeze

in a sudden shift falls quiet as I sit

energy of the day propels two ducks speeding high

and the quiet has its say

 

eves of the neighbor's house, painted white

are a shadow play

leaves the principal players

a ballet of silent reign

fluttering together

a flow of ripples

 

 

 

BUSINESS AS USUAL

 

 

on the way to Bank of the West

traveling El Camino

at the corner of Scotts Boulevard

an arrow jabs the sky

nothing unusual

then goes horizontal in a wild circle

even the pigeons take notice

 

a young adman has escaped all restraint

flaunting his sign with passionate abandon

flying oblivious to compensation

no one can read his burden because it has been lifted

flailing, flying, forgotten and forgiven

by zombies floating by who hardly notice

but who would have paid good money if his employer were

Barnum & Bailey

and there were real elephants at Walmart

and the Taiko drums and all

with BBQ smoke rising to a clear sky

flea market days and all the outriggers of civilization

 

the bank teller recognizes me and smiles

 

 

 

THE YIN YANG

 

 

take sand, for instance

how is it comfortable?

sometimes in public places but rarely in private ones

beach or buttocks

a conflict of interests

 

or take comfortable

or leave it

the whole issue is subject to hot air

which blows in drifts

leaving dunes

which are uncomfortable and hard to move

 

so perhaps the sand itself is of interest

sand consists of many small crystals

sharp sided little things that are not irreducible

each crystal is made of atoms

which in turn boil down to quarks

and other strange things Ph.D.s argue about

big bang, dark matter, dark energy, strings that travel

through the Science Queen's imagination

 

so it's Memorial Day

flags wave, people weep, trumpets blow taps

and I applaud with laughter

the end of insanity is here

war is over

we have all died and gone nowhere

 

what, no more wars?  what will we do?

please don't say it's all right here

 

take sand, for instance

 

 

 

 

FLIGHT OF THE HUMMINGBIRD

 

 

broccoli for breakfast

Doctor Livingstone, I presume

ate it

or its relative from a forest floor

and thereupon declared

Kellog's corn flakes are the way to unlimited energy

 

then the TVs went dark

finally the last drop of fossil fuel

all the birds in our neighborhood fluttered and chirped

 

but wait!

 

for what?

 

don't forget our offer!

 

and it was . . .

 

every business in Silicon Valley, every home, hospital, library, apartment building, parking garage, school

solar panels!  for free!

all those wasted rooftops converted to leaf tops

silicon leafs

Silicon Valley Power in truth, in deed

 

but who would pay?

 

criminals

 

but aren't they in jail?

 

no, they profit from jails, run them and what they call

the economy

and their derivative gurus, who engineered the collapse . . .

 

Shut up!

 

those Ponzi profiteers owe everyone, not

the other way round

put criminals where they belong, take back stolen assets

outdate fossil fuel, take the climate back . . .

 

Shut up!  Shut up!

 

 

 

 



write "subscribe" or "unsubscribe"  in the subject line of an email to:  theroot_us@yahoo.com

The Gardener
Santa Clara, CA 95051
theroot_us@yahoo.com