GALAXIES©

AMISTAD

years ago my work was done in a place held by primitive capitalists

means are so much better now

better bombs, Google eyes, statistical target identification, better tracking of people, nuanced suffocation

anyone living outside of a survival bunker may have noticed

an undeniable counter climate

strange weather

perhaps conflating it with the counter culture

of about forty years ago which was when

I squiggled out from under my high tech job

imagine:

about half a year after leaving the capitalists

driving my truck along an access road to the Palo Alto dump

and there jogging along was my former co-worker

"Hey Paul!"  and he smiled

we talked briefly about something

then I waved goodbye

"I'm never going back . . ."

Technical Writer

Warrant Officer in the corporate hierarchy of 1973

stepping off the ladder to be come

the gardener

still writing in 2013

we have been bred to believe there is no choice

probably you are reading this on the 'net

not at work because you are being watched

have you reached your quota?

don't think about this

I can tell you it's not easy

not for everyone

better be willing to die if it comes to that

both physically and emotionally

but then perhaps you sense a crack in the tectonic plate

and where you are seems not quite right

sort of like the weather

I can also show and tell

to all slaves everywhere

the ones who have built civilization and are still confined by it:

get free

it is possible!

PATIENCE

first the vision

then the elements are assembled

a hand clipper

next, of course, a mower and edger

after some hesitation (considering the drying effect)

a blower

all to go in a truck with a sign on the door:

the gardener

then consider:

first came Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed

then came

the temple with priests, church with preachers, mosque with imams

next

I am not the sign on my truck or the equipment it carries

and without these, would the vision perish?

what is most valuable?

a loaded question, no doubt

the upshot:

institutions do not have my allegiance

surely this is a personal voice

it has an I

but I am you

I escape metrics cobbled in sacred spaces

overflowing into these words from the bowels of mowing

trimming, gnashing machines

let us speak plainly of our lives which return to dust

 let's get on with it

value is assigned

whether to suffer the slings and arrows . . .

did our institutions generate the venerated ones?

did they generate themselves?

they seem to have known who they are

take away the halo and find

who I am and who you are

so about 30 kilobytes was more than enough

to get to the bottom of this

and I have some trimming to do

OFF BEAT

while gauging the seismology of patent technology

oh please, bring back the ivy towers

I am prompted with a divergent rhythm

tribbles nafore, a prelate

drab

boom all the

never waffle more, here it comes

hang onto your hat in the cave of the winds, bats

there it goes almost

made sense

travel lightly and do not leave a horse print

in sand dollar dunes

tan skin

trouble and

that caterpillar on

a mushroom

puff

has the curtain fallen yet?

sing, sing, sing – go

present technology

Alzheimer watch that glows in the dark

radioactive

freedom is a messy word, limburger

fraught with wars, microbes

green algae promising

the future of mars in

exploration

bring me sautéed snails not

for breakfast

but

TV time, dangles all the bojangles of creeks in summer time

and steaming

gyoza

a mushroom, say it 'shroom, get the lift way up to Blue Angels performing war feats for General Electric and the corporate good ole' psychopaths

who inhabit the same earth

pansies

tribble down, hey!

let's plant tomatoes they

don't ask questions

babble on Babylon

caves of Cappidocia spill

onto the brass ring, Santa Cruz playtime with laughing

clown, doesn't it?

unravels a new bay bridge

sight seers where

we began

ivy towers

hey!

SUMMER OF '76

bare bones and the hard rock truth

nostalgia on the wane

a persistence of slavery

the Spice Islands are important to cooking

 though India and China are distant, commerce rules

the Pyramids are mysterious, visited with caravans

seeking frequent flier miles

great temples of ancient repute

documented on PBS

are taken on faith

Aztec sacrifices

so, pilgrims

please have a nice day

some of us do appreciate this earth

the droves now destroying it

will also come to last days

you few

let us think

not of the central bank, nor wideners of the Panama Canal

nor Chinese redevelopment of ancient buildings

not the money changers or derivative spinners

nor politicians and campaign trails

or even the clock on your favorite device

there is a reality that seems to survive

while the moon is full, neighborhood dogs argue

even the pair of birds in the oleander next door

and the compost bird is not here

suddenly the sky darkens with a prospect of rain

on Channel 5, Roberta says we have a fire alert to last 3 days

dry lightning looms

in the midst of her forecast it begins to happen in the eastern hills

to accept blame is egotistical

can anyone claim credit for tides

mental influences of the moon

asteroids, volcanoes or earthquakes

but when it all comes down to financial meltdowns, war, slavery

or even climate change

an argument can be made

well, the moon is full and I'm still here

and know I'm sane and that, yes

it happens

and that all this stuff might matter - - -

suddenly as I write the weather interrupts

the Arabian night thunders - - -

heavy rain

smell of dormant dust quickly distributed

the cantaloupe on our porch is singing

 seeds stay quiet for a long time

they do not mind

in the desert flowers bloom

the fish in our family room snap

 as I take my hat from the pencil sharpener next to their tank

they are not piranhas

which brings us back to the beginning

which by now

being independent and almost 76

is sort of forgotten

and the rain has stopped

AFTER ELECTROMAGNETISM

robes of aristocracy have been traded for a suit

an emblem pinned to the lapel

yet still an orchid is priceless

green stains on jeans

Roman roads carried Paul's message

the 'net carries this:

no precedent

a message goes from here to there

but it's all one place

words are not the message

cell phone towers on darkened ridges

are the mind talking to itself

orchids, green stains, and blue donkey beads

machines plan our future

dispassionately, they know my face

name, books read, socks bought, property owned

phone calls, blood pressure, prescriptions

and of course

this is being read and correlated with your data

since you read this

but control of events is a fleeting illusion

the juice of life passes through Siren Servers

like ether in the Michelson-Morley experiment

after having asked the wrong question

knowing wild birds and speaking with squirrels

are associations that elude digitization

seize the words, miss the meaning

invisible in plain sight

UNWRITTEN HISTORY

infiltrates my fingernails

growing slowly as civilizations do

stars and winkling fireflies

Ramses glancing back towards China

a barricade of accountants tumbling into hell

my buggy whip needs watering

there are forests in our backyard

crouched beneath blades of grass

and many people buried who might have favored coffee over tea

that have a certain place in gravel

where lilacs grew

looped over wells seeking pure water

found anywhere

fingernails grow

HOLIDAY

emperors, wizards, empires and clearance prices

at Orchard Supply

war ships off the coast of Syria

China's Forbidden City, despite favorable omens

astrological signs, and rooftop talismans

shortly after opening for diplomatic relations

was struck by lightning that burnt temples to the ground

the Yosemite rim fire has reached Hetch Hetchy reservoir

low pressure sending up moisture from the south

threatens rain and lightning to delay opening the new bay bridge

the juniper after root pruning and repotting

survives with frequent mistings

the camphor round is now a coffee table

summer vacation

why go there?

crowded and expensive

here there is free parking

no waiting in line

no security checks

somewhere out there is adventure, mystery, discovery

I am told, over and over

to no avail

just whatever comes up is all of that

a grain of sand without explanation

is the residue of stars

parent of fingernails 

LEGACY

archaeological treasures

that once slept comfortably at the foot of my bed

look up with grief

cherished companions

still part of the journey and yet . . .

there are promises to be kept

it is hard to grow up

as childhood ends some friends are slower

our life is not what it seemed

our civilization

 with misguided rulers, thugs, laws and psychopaths

is built upon the illusion of separateness

scientifically shown

to be obsolete

our technology reflects its creators

produced by and perpetuating the illusion

enforced with batons, digital surveillance and nuclear weapons

reality redefined

so that results no longer map back to causes

which nevertheless rule

for every action

there is an equal and opposite reaction

childhood's end

at the foot of my bed

LIFE ON THIS PLANET

fever and chills

that is our weather

something for everyone

for those who like it hot or not

and in between:

 see – it's normal!

engineered reality

we are cabled to it

our potted juniper

recently root pruned

doesn't watch TV

intensive care since surgery, with many mistings

the next heat wave

starting tomorrow

will make life much more difficult

people are rooting for it

(ha, ha, you TV people)

the march of time

eyes and ears of the world

interpreters appointed by whom?

I can see the sky and know a lie

when I see it

can't you?

so

 to be imprecise

not too many engineers, if you please

the juniper doesn't need you

RELATIVELY REAL

flowers petal towards this moonlit porch

rhythm of eons

a company of elders files past playing flutes

rooftop gables droop beneath sleeping chimneys

forget-me-nots

blue with yellow rimmed spectacles

playing with a white winged moth

pine sea needles

glistening rocks

this cannot be El Camino on a late Friday afternoon

double tandem transit busses

but why not?

a collision of dreams unimagined in the daily commute

no way to scrub the mind

of butterflies, angels and roses

just compare a barren hill top

with the grizzled truth

through that gap in the mountain ridge

there for an instant

so quiet and ordinary as to have been almost unnoticed

now rumbling past with banal advertisements

WAITING

at a sideshow with stoned scratchers

and wild morning glories, heavenly blue

comes the dust of robber barons, red sunsets

and friends just yesterday on that hill

a war scene never ending

trees of Brooklyn where I have never been

trolley cars of San Francisco

recording studios of LA

far flung battlements

sideshows

tomorrow's time table has no place in creeks and streams

nor lupine meadows

nor hermits who share the space with corporations

it's almost biblical

perhaps depressing

breakfast eggs, either scrambled or hard boiled

and anyone looking for a result should wait

the question will be redefined

this wonderful world dawns upon few

poor, rich, psychopathic and enlightened

always with us

crows know friendly humans

watching from skyscrapers with firefly windows

and have a temporary nest

somewhere

HOPE FOR HUMANITY

Christmas for our cats

is when we play Caruso

and we are all quiet

and the living room disappears

far beyond the realm of these words

INCENSE

words are a rainstorm

why listen

it will pass

there is nothing to do

nothing to get

forget this

and just sit