CLIMATE BEETLES©
SEASONS
October Fest
leaves begin to line the streets
Halloween colors
weather lurching like a kite without a tail
perhaps unremarkable
without plans or armaments
ordinary people persist
shall we ignore dangerous people?
drone strikes, suicide bombers, insane leaders
the heater comes on
how many people have a heater that comes on?
“On the Radar” reports freezing conditions in the east
and the reporters trying to smile
Cutty Sark is good antifreeze
how many people can buy it?
kids dressed as ghouls, witches and bandits
will ring the door bell
SCULPTURES
eventually we come to the fringe
to relax at the Palo Alto City Dump
where treasures abound
giant bamboo, fence wood
some kind of vanity cabinet with old fashioned legs turned on a lathe
to become a lamp with Japanese paper lanterns
a tool box for the truck
a reclaimed table with burl wood facade
and other things only recognized by the stoned mind
sculptures in plain view
beyond the fringe
recalling wood paneled station wagons
disgraced by pigeons
a deck of Tarot cards flying uncontrollably from
the stage magician's hand
birds, cards, cars
a complete disaster
marmalade metaphorically speaking
a stage littered with confetti
how tempting to say graffiti
but why not?
as though it were somewhere else
please don't fiddle with the dials
in the summer
when rain doesn't fall
it is normal for ducks to come to the city park
calling cards falling
another sort of jam in the artificial lake
duck!
at that time of year, depending upon tax revenues
do not think of marmalade
a band will fill the park with festival tunes
booths with painters, sculptors, jewelers, political hopefuls
and dancers
but no fortune tellers
a roller coaster world
and the smoke of Teriyaki chicken
rising to a bald eyed sky
nonetheless
since the sky is dry
lightning
does not strike twice in the same place
it has been said
MANGLE
nothing happened today
weather – not a problem
we can handle a couple of days rain
it certainly shows
that rain canfall during a drought
here in Santa Clara – no tornadoes
the political climate is clouding up
out of control
anarchists are obsolete
superseded by software that doesn't work
everything is too complex
parties to the BART agreement presumed
that some underdrone had read it
and caught the glitches
it's not just about sharpening swords anymore
or harvesting wheat
no one can assure enough water for an exponential population
who can sequester radioactivity
volunteer for the City Planning Commission
record funnel clouds, report police brutality
information wants to be free
so long as it sells news and products
nothing is happening
DREAMT IT BACK THEN
the weakest station carries the most interesting stuff
with the least effective speakers
who need to be heard
anyhow
bees dying
cattle crushed for cat food
voices unheard
all the world is a stage
dung beetles, climate change
collapse of industrialism
today a cornucopia of fresh vegetables
tomorrow a hurricane
unheard voices haunt prison yards
the bull horn rages
reconditioned inmates are released for public insanity
overcrowding rearranged
Walden pond by a peaceful park
family photos with happy kids
hot dogs, mustard and beer
away from all the endless houses
cars that clot
as the BART strike commences
government shutdown tips the economy into foreclosure
fright for Halloween
all the pumpkins
and then the parks are closed
campers evicted from their land
sent to Colorado?
cleaning up after record floods
what dream are we discussing?
even scientists are waking up
Einstein's relativity
("God does not play dice")
collides head on with quantum physics
and even a beginning mathematics student confronts
the square root of negative one
("the imaginary")
