Ol' Factory

Maybe it's true

for lack of dust

that after all those years as the gardener

or depending on humidity, a lazy breeze

a bit of doing nothing

the disappearance of time

a forgotten sense of smell, that gentle delight

~ whiff of compost with hints of barn, manure

jasmine blooms relaxing on the front porch

reborn nose introducing a new generation

valedictory, unfamiliar

reports from the backyard are loaded onto the

word train

packet switched through servers that blink

thoughts bigger than a cranium

though

cannot be caged

moving faster than the speed of light

arriving in fits and starts

what comes back surprises

what I asked for

indeed, there is no comparison

scents somehow foreign yet familiar stir memories

I didn't know I had

how is it?

that without effort an adventure to elsewhere

takes place right here, as though meeting an old

friend

and the usual birds sing their songs, robin's tweet

recalling trees of San Bruno

it's a magic show with rabbits and ribbons

trailing disremembered lives

who am I to complain

if thoughts are creatures without cages

what to ask for?

who wouldn't ask for peace at last?

for the world, just look around

they're not hard to find . . .

not what I wanted

waiting . . .

do a little jig, earlier this year

the cherry blossoms came out a week early

due to the heat

time is collapsing, it's

a beguiling afternoon

with sleepy pen syndrome

nothing that would dismay, the world

will solve its problems

or not

suspended animation

I think if possible I would sketch an ancient texture

a line of stones

with lichens to mark time

which has disappeared again

but that doesn't matter, does it?

I have forgotten how to make apple pie

I wished

if everyone felt like this, it would make

such a difference

we could trade thermogeddon

for a breath of fresh air

an hour before sundown, right on cue

they all arrive

doves to the feeder

finches to the fence, and baby squirrel on the cable

wire

dancing like The Great Wallendas, no balance pole

yesterday it was suspended animation

nothing to dismay today

the National Weather Service says:

Dangerous Heat Wave

Desert Southwest and Southern California

Heat Advisory Increasing

across Los Angeles and San Diego

right here in this backyard

89 degrees

I fill up the bird bath

and robin, as undismayed as ever

comes for a glorious shower of liquid jewels

that I, playing poet, make into a rainbow

baby squirrel is swaying the cable wire

a miracle again