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!