STEP BY STEP©

FAMILY TREE

why couldn't this be

just some homey news

like falling off a ladder

something understandable

that fits in

well show me the contract:

who wrote it?

who signed?

enough said?

for those offended on such cold winter grounds

and it's not a Spare the Air Day

here's some kindling

please accept my wish for a satisfactory fire

wars and making sense happen

the funeral pyre of common parlance

also needs a starter

a May pole

about which the celebrations

will flicker

Caterpillar tractor treads

high on a mushroom

the long, psychedelic goodbye vaguely out of tune

with faint wrinkles in remembrance

traces of a horse drawn hay wagon

hi-yah!

if that seems not very clear

then in some moment between personas

an awe in the face of eternity

might stir an intuition of the One

furtherance of this will be

to set a high goal:

reversing the damage we have done

a threat truly common to all creatures

climate change

there is no army or institution of equal extent

so our response must dissolve regional divisions

I have descended the ladder

step by step

to stand on the ground of being

INDEPENDENCE

listening

fields of green

rain, rain, rain

if every week is like this week

the drought will be over

will NOAA provide an ark?

run off down a storm drain

globs of sea, dust, microbes

molecules, atoms, quarks

merging unperceived

beyond knowing

sand bags

hold your breath

here we go

no use trying to visualize

the gravity of the moon

which springs tides

influences legislative minds

stirs dreams of dogs and homeless people

vague rhythms from the radio of a passing car

utter silence within

not tuned to anything

DISTRICT OF DISTRACTION

a field of mossy light

the row of sunset Victorians

San Francisco in the distance

conjures an image in the well

without a ripple, sharp and clear

stars

without looking

must be there

but they are neither needed

nor their mystery

the whole of it is right here

without looking

calm and clear

ATTRITION

ripples on the surface of the lake

gradually subside

a disappointed dream has vanished

once it was admiral of the navy

from the depths a haunting voice commands

purge the locker!

let no copies survive!

the tale of the emperor's new clothes --

is hereby banned!

but too late

from my house on the shore

the emperor scans with opened eyes

a log is kept

no dream will long float unremarked

before it's sunk again

FAMILY

under a bald eyed sky these cold early mornings

before the grapes of wrath make wine

blooms on the vine

go further

as the gravel warms

twitter bits and robins mingle

foraging for seed

small wings, large wings, shoulder to shoulder

brothers and sisters