GALLOPING©

SOTTO VOCE

today's gas prices are shameful

water and a squeegee for the windshield

considering our lack of representation at central banks

there should be outrage but at the pump

it is satisfactory if there is free air for the tires

BP disaster in the gulf

midwest floods, California in drought, eastern heat wave

the obesity epidemic as millions go hungry

will Mother Nature beat the powers that be to the punch?

or will the bay bridge actually open on Labor Day?

war in Egypt, missiles in North Korea

the Brotherhood facing off with

Big Brother

bankers order austerity for Grecian citizens

who never voted for their sinful debt

oh my, let us not exaggerate, if that were possible

but rather change the channel

forgive and forget

especially the latter

but how about the floods, heat waves, hurricanes?

will there be amnesty?

citizens of the wealthiest nation on earth

until the mortgage meltdown

backed by the most destructive military force ever assembled

nuclear weapons hotter than the sun

will tanks stop the calving icebergs?

solar storms threaten power grids

and thus the internet

Patriotically monitored by the guardians of money

truth?

a luxury defined by Brothers of the Knighthood

secluded from hoi polloi

armored limousines in muted heraldry

and so, of course, who thinks of this while pumping gas

for a cash discount?

technocrats who have children to get to soccer

maybe a hot dog on that day off in the park?

the park?

an atavism not quite forgotten

perhaps ancient history for high rise dwellers

turf for gangs in the projects

or underwater right now in Alabama

how nice it would be to be nice

tune in to the Ministry of Patriotism

pledge allegiance to the drones of democracy

let the Brothers shake hands and come out singing

kumbayah we will all get along

have we learned

or will history repeat itself

with increasing shock and awe?

all this while washing a windshield at the gas pump?

yeah

and how about you?

or maybe we all go down saying, well . .

there was this fly speck

wouldn't come off . . .  

DUST DEVIL

do you have a Ph.D. in existence?

yes?

waking up is not a big deal

happens every morning

birds sing, bombs fall, the sun rises

I am lucky

every morning, but consider . . .

sunrise is relative to one's position on the planet

morning prayer for Muslims is not the same

as that for Christians

Christians accept Buddhists

who are nonetheless in error

but the sun's rays are accepted by everyone

everyone is right but no one agrees

it is a mish mash

history is the record of baby steps

learn or fall again

don't spill the milk

outside the crib is a blue skiff

bobbing gently

how did it get there?

it was docked at the Eiffel Tower

Stephane Grappelli was playing on the deck

and there was a longshoreman's strike going on

those people knew Martin Luther King

before the great crowds moved on

to Woodstock

so I water my African violet

recalling morning glory seeds

Heavenly Blue

for those in the know

making violet look tame

actually, I don't have an African violet

not enough light in here

and how can I water a memory that's gone?

so here we are, on our hay ride

or haywire

rolling along

merrily, merrily

life is but a scam

space is vacuous

but hear it echo through the galaxy

I am the poltergeist in the kitchen

the solipsist of academia

unholy am I

watch the fingers

carrots are particularly dangerous

I am a scorpion with upraised tail

my day begins like many another

sunrise

a stick of incense

just sitting

bombs fall

the day passes

birds sing

PURRFECT

the pen takes me in hand

molecules of inexpensive ink spin eons in their dimensions

history rewrites itself

certainties go to welcome graves

thus proving themselves

Tabitha has snuggled into her place

her purr, and she pushes this hand

does she know?

this morning Susan clipped her paws

does she remember?

monsoons in Mississippi

molecules and hailstones beyond computation

ivied walls and Chelsea bridge

a Cracker Jack atomic ring

fire opal

my Ouija pen sketches wonders

Tabitha snuggles closer

one ear crumped beneath the clipboard

yes, she does remember

this moment without end

GROWTH

the communications revolution

ideas and beliefs released, floating free

pillars of tradition are visited with a family of birds

nesting on a city ledge

whose daily activities are videoed to millions

waters of climate change ask no permission

flowing through natural channels and streets

rescue boats are not examined

thunder clouds darken expectations

actual truth supplants speculation

beliefs are the first causalities

but ideas survive a torrent that sweeps past cameras

a brief glimpse is opportune

free from publishers

gate keepers of profit swamped with politicians of greed

raging waters

float dandelion seeds

TAIL WIND

copper tubes at the perimeter

ceremonies of deliverance

therapies, Tiny Tim

the whole collection

will be announced through water pipes in the wall

while being watered automatically tomorrow

sun rising inexorably

a personal history that can be ignored

copper tubes?

ceremonies?

Tiny Tim in his pot bellied desperation, maybe

no one knew him

or the lead pipes at our rented mansion in Atherton

gold gilt ceiling above communal dinners

special pleading for the masses

integrated circuits

compost

and don't even think of the commute

access to schools and shopping

soccer practice

maybe an engineered suburb just like the one

your mother thinks she remembers

kids walking, playing with neighborhood kids

but what if you're a homosexual?

you can adopt them

or if you're infertile?

you can rent sperm

or if you're a Mexican immigrant and can't afford that?

a tenured academic who just wants to discuss it all

without worrying about political correctness

weren't there, after all, the classics

undying?

perhaps the common ground has been destroyed by fracking

Shakespeare Twittered off stage

remember birds?

the smell of sawdust after rain?

garbage cans in the alley outside?

whales rotting on the beach?

clams and oysters on the half shell, so delicious

it has been said, in the same breath with limburger cheese

definitely, it is all insubordinate

all this stuff

why mention it?

my neighbor has a motorcycle

well, that's not very Sierra Club

but he is forgiven

because of a mandala he never saw

a temporary fiction

our cats never saw it

maybe a few in our commune thought they did

and so what?

the suspected watermelon on our front porch turns out to be

a cantaloupe

now there's a fact

I support it, or at least the porch rail does

will it fall?

will it be a disaster?

or will we eat it?

Emerson, Plato, Heidegger, Stalin

where are you when we need you?

maybe not

Great Books of the Western World

what do you say

to Bob Dylan?

so there it goes

flip it off

leaders

pretenders to the cause

defenders of the dream

well . . .

was it a structure or

maybe your house, neighborhood, kids

homosexual dog, apartment walls

clitoral hopes

are we on the same page

or flip it?

did you live in Haiti?

Egypt?

Chicago, New York, anywhere off this planet

not engaged in a crisis no politician will ever contain

deaf, blind, already dead?

look up / / /

worship the god, guru, drug or yacht of your choice

and so what's the soup of the day?

shark fins?

beliefs?

copper tubes?