FIELD HOLLERS

ECHOES

REVERBERATIONS©

Fukishima rising

Samurai dissolving

Samba Yosemite

and popcorn with butter

we are one

are we done?

reverence, do not forget

is said to be necessary

the bird by the compost not only chirped

but we laughed this morning

realms of silence are no more profound

than the jasmine living on our front porch

which brings into view the realm of jasmine

isn't it wonderful!

our cats are philosophers

see them curled in meditation

an aspirant for City Council called yesterday

 today his mailer arrived:

"Thank you for all you've done!"

and inside:

". . . we must never forget that the highest appreciation

is not to utter words but live by them

---JFK"

By John!

I will not stop mowing lawns

Holy, Holy . . . elect me

but will I run?

would you?

gets complicated doesn't it?

did the Samurai get elected?

we, I, on the other hand

are democratic, free, and so far

unelected

which leaves time for the bird by the compost

and humming birds

whose accomplishment is outrunning predators

and squirrels

we're all winners, right?

we won cities

bright lights

rapid transit

ATMs

we are better

we make apple pies, paint landscapes

and some of us are reverent

whatever that means

those famous babbling streams

tapestry of ancestral dreams

don't you have a watering can for houseplants

and other treasures

and all those words

we can speak them

HOW TO GROW VEGETABLES©

from methane ponds of Titan

to the shores of Tripoli

a shower of leaves yet falling

flower of denial

capital follows laws of profit

preferences that will return to dust

we are extracted from our surroundings

holed up in concrete cubicles by the million

living in no one's best interest

our surroundings will reclaim their primacy

ageless wisdom lives

where logic escapes reason

not to be confused with a mélange

of Survivor, American Idol

pre-Einstein Adam Smith

and made-for-TV elections

will those who live in prisons hear

the  music of a humming bird

do they touch the earth

can they remember

?

ARK WELDING©

LAYING DOWN THE KEEL

come with me to the edge of the sea

it is fluorescent, solar powered, green, in tune with galaxies

it does not do poetry

see the weeds flourish

not cities, armies, or nuclear power plants

it dwarfs our creations

politicians and oil companies think they own it

birds laugh at play

but I, in particular, owe it nothing

having paid nothing

and I do not understand ownership

RAISING THE MAST

would I lift a finger to save the world?

well, yes

there

at my age, you know, exercise is important

hell

was it worth the effort?

GALLEY SLAVES

hire programmers, two of each kind

well, no

way too many

just a few thousand, that will do

they'll stay at it, sleep under their oars

hardly noticing where the ark goes

think of the cumulative energy

all those fingers raised over thousands of keyboards

and if they should wake

give them stock options and video games

let them eat ramen

DESTINATION

make-do rafts, extra baggage, threadbare uniforms

aphorisms

socialism, racism, buddhism, capitalism, communism, protestantism

ad nauseam

cannot survive the trip

chains of bondage superseded

there are better ways

to spend money

that hasn't even

been printed yet

NASA has an ion drive now

to get to Titan

but is it big enough?

and is that where most of us want to end up?

let a United Nations Committee of the Whole decide

who decided how we got this far?

READING MATERIAL

long voyage, probably

must prevent boredom and

whenever we get wherever

another dark age

or at least not a darker one

everyone bring your  Kindle

no arguments if we all stay in our own worlds

maybe synchronized rowing is too stifling

or maybe enlightened

but is it necessary?

is ramen fattening?

GUIDENCE

ark welding was big before the Vocational School

became City College

then it got put out by the athletic field

the curriculum got enriched

we studied existentialism

modern fiction

Kant, Heidegger, reflections of an aging Einstein

Sarte, Camus and that other guy

a breath of fresh air

relatively speaking

I didn't get into ark welding until later

my auto mechanic had a torch

but, you know, it takes more than practice

to get the hang of it

collecting Darwin postage stamps

for instance

the old fashioned way

glassine turtles waddle down to bay

autumn rain drives thunder storms

seven drachmas freight a weight of missiles

mailed without delay

missiles before their day

and radios before a freight of galaxies would shoulder

passing microwaves

turtles cross vast oceans to the place of their birth

there to start the next generation

true guidance

we must switch ours from inertial

where we've been

to internal

who we are

we can go further

the lode star:

our original face before we were born

why did the turtle cross the road?

traffic was slower

THE FINAL VOYAGE

of course we'd all like to know

are we there yet

are we happy yet

learn how to mow

and above all . . .

don't do poetry