GRIFFINS©

IDENTITY

and so the day was not heavenly blue

not a morning glory twined round some pump handle

and neither was it ruled by an invisible hand

all ancient glories cloaked in barest mirage

just here at the work bench

whittling adjectives in my desultory manner

smoothing  with a long plane phrase

I am a shade tree metaphysician

coiling bits of wire

fashioning

beads on a string

one after another at a time when the sun shines

on memories that have become transparent tsetse flies

one or two of you know this

there is no burden to bear

no debt

no cross

pregnant rivers and city ovens put the lie

to sidewalk cafes

on my belt another notch appears, but not into dimness

willows by the river weep for me?

or with the wisdom of moss hanging in oaks

and those people we knew at the 5 Spot Drive In

shaded in oak trees before they were felled

for the village of profit

commercial violence disguised in Styrofoam Whimsies

for Christmas

oh, it was all somewhere else

or perhaps further than Oakland

or the climate fires in Seattle

well anyhow, long ago

not our responsibility

no one wants war

we say everyone wants profit

and the difference?

my day ignores what people say

I don't wear a suit

my jeans are faded comfortably

and as previously alluded, my waistline

is shrinking

blood pressure dropping

and the patch on the radiator of my truck

seems to be working

all you politicians keep on promising

go on and on

you don't want my kind of day

I don't want yours

yeast is rising

cinnamon rolls, everyone

islands disappearing

just a word carpenter

whose words are disappearing right beneath our feet

land fill liquefying in the next quake

pay no attention

it will be over soon

I greet the day

laughable this I, and in fact

by just a bit of chipping and sanding

I am you

SCHTICK

imagine a TCM silent movie, piano too

old fashioned

with subtitles in Sanskrit

villain bares vampire fangs

shots are heard through the back porch door

wafted on a gentle breeze, bringing leaves

in their language

familiar as a forgotten dream

images flicker

there is an Amber Alert, the abducted child appears

a knock at the front door

and a young black guy with a clipboard

it might be politically incorrect to ignore him

but so what?

the distant shots are no longer heard

who sets these rules that might be broken like a ruler

over the palm of my hand

if I disobey?

there are theatres and cell phones and bare legs

walking cute dogs

my truck is parked and says nothing

cool morning air after the legs have filtered on

without warning a swoop of wings

loud greeting of the crow who seems to hang out here

and another make a pair on the lamp post over head

we have a conversation in subtitles

it would be politically correct to listen

to the President's speech

but there is just so much time on this earth

George Bush eats broccoli; a favorable sign

so do I

real politic

withal, the me that laughs at I

finds me laughable, too

and you?

oh, please do not ruffle

we are not immortal, nor our leaders

cherished or not

so the scales of justice are weighted in their own favor

where is the balance of truth on an infinite scale?

Presidents, leaders, elected judges, crows, cute legs

all weigh equally

I do enjoy this laughter

don't you?

TREASURE

IT'S ALL PRETTY PLAIN

when it rains, it rains

sometimes drought without a doubt

dust bowls, a turtle by the road

Hey! let's make a song

civilization show me your face

so much sent to the sewerage treatment plant

and the treatment plant?

ask the workers there

because here we all are, living lives that . . .

what?

ours is not to question why

OK, take it at face value

civilization is a lottery ticket

one dollar at 7-11

bet you lose

whether or not you snooze

Hey! play it again

down to the mosque, the synagogue, The Church in Santa Clara

right next to The Pumpkin Patch at Halloween

are we having fun yet?

I certainly am

didn't go there, don't do that, no question about when

no trinity to sing

no allegiance to pledge

no gratitude or debt to . . .

oh, can't remember

write it off, festival goers

accountants, lawyers and people with guns

fire at will

without question

the dust of ventures will not settle

before it all begins again

green gargoyles on ancient buildings

migrations carrying plague

and all the treasure of . . .

let there be no doubt

there is gold

buried at Fort Knox

artifacts and literature in libraries

and scholars . . .

it all hardly glimmers before my day begins

all you cosmologists . . .

there is so much to remember and forget

a voluntary vine is growing on our front porch

it has such pretty yellow flowers

as the fruit forms . . .

FAME

these words are immortal, no doubt

they will join in the record of infamy

with those written and digitally transmitted

and now preserved in perpetuity

SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

will find it

mined from recursive records

in a universe that folds back upon itself

along with Moore's law

and ever cheaper storage

the Patriot Act

all blending into a certain assurance

Future Fiction Authors will admire this

while probably not sharing my biological imperatives

my syntax is beyond celestial comprehension

dental records will be available for scholarly collaboration

please note my absence on Facebook

I have to say my destined fame is satisfactory

and of course this I

so brazenly proclaimed

is you

check it out

send an email

it's all out there

or in here

take it to the cloud, to future galaxies

OIL AND VINEGAR

how could my big toe or your hair do

not be indebted somehow?

mother's milk, Mohawks, Pantene, whatever

next slide, please

and here we see Connecticut

in days before that great mover and shaker

Ethan Allen

logged a heritage of freedom

from the masts of British ships

a long history

but taking out the middle terms:

I, you, we were born

therefore we owe

we "own" cars, houses, educations

which calibrate the degree of our slavery

because we must pay

with interest

or have a stay at the penitentiary

we "own" our bodies

subject to disease and putative cures

which will confiscate anything that survives

bankruptcy because . . .

what?

people with guns, tear gas and tasers

enforce it

everyone knows this

everyone knows the climate is changing

tremble or fume

take your pick

makes no difference

it's changing

you limousines and leaders it's much worse

than any revolution that may have ruffled

your salad

this morning I turned the compost

Rosie went there to sit right on the edge

waiting

and she was not pleased when I told her

that the compost bird is family

but that bird can fly

when it all comes down

and cultivated plants revert to seed

they start over, and has anyone seen an apple bow to a pear?

bees, though

they're slaves, right?

workers, queen, hive

termites

thunder clouds

not fair!

to conflate all this into a sentence

it is not very reasonable

enjoy your salad

TENURE

nightly the walls of bedrooms and bathrooms disappear

a new cast of characters takes the stage

speaking in tongues that defy logic and reason

for about one third the life of anyone

normal people

if reminded

are rather more interested in a savory spectacle

for reasons of the Enlightenment

a supposed equality and the rights of all humans

are assigned

by minds claiming freedom from magical thinking

an owl with unblinking eyes

fill the scrapbook with clippings

digital photos

a documentary flashed through fiberglass cables

at the speed of instant disintegration

all fill the stage with a vanishing assumption

of inalienable rights:

life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness

discovered by rational thinkers who noticed desires

common to all people

thus self-evident and the basis

for a new nation dedicated to inarguable

but fragile truths

that only really applied to the framers

of those self-evident truths

the new nation and its founders were served by slaves

the inalienable rights were actually disposable depending

upon a declaration of national emergency

or perhaps the assignation of a political opponent

ideas rationally born can be rationally terminated

and worst of all

slavery persists

so forgive my lack of dedication to a Truth supposed immortal

by reasonable men

what we are

the actual reason of human appreciation

cannot be rationalized away

TRAVEL ADVISORY

STIFLING HEAT CAUSES DEATH IN CHINA & CHICAGO

record rainfall flooding Missouri

tornadoes, tennis ball hail

drought in the desiccated western states

buy an electric car

the President will address the nation

about something, maybe terrorists, evacuation of embassies

yes, something must be done

and of course it has been

recycle plastic

go for a bike ride

things are so much better

experts worry for us

lots of them are ignored, of course

but which of them actually know

better believe the Budweiser frogs

or read this on my website

not much

the content is not coded

plainly opening to uncoded minds

in this place the sun rises and sets as elsewhere

birds sing, frogs croak, the TV blabbles

the volunteer vine growing on the porch rail

is perhaps a watermelon

oh summertime, and the livin' is easy

except it's about 15 degrees below normal here

and I'm a reasonable person

what if it manages to reach normal size

and falls off the rail

disaster!

obey evacuation orders

but we have a solar water heater

who will tend to it if there's rain like in Missouri?

the commander of my dreams seems to be on another channel

I am reminded of things never before experienced

which naturally brings up the question of dimensions

when the moon is full are there astrological tides?

are super-colliders vulnerable to gamma rays?

old silent movies are treasures

they come with forgotten music

it all gradually fades

the sea walls of daily life

are insufficient for the next tsunami

insignificant

as I cut a fuchsia bloom

to put in my room

sitting quietly