TEN FOOT RUSTED DINOSAUR

DUSTINY

El Real Nursery is defunct

the dream is over

pack up

bring a tooth brush

the ten foot rusted dinosaur is gone

hugs and farewells on the final day

Sharon, Dave and Miranda are gone

the lot has been cleared

they made Santa Clara a better place

but actually, nothing is really gone

CIRCULATION

Santa Clara the god's eye

full of emptiness

with neither beginning nor end

winds in the east bay topple giant trees

step on the Bay Area Rapid Transit

and step off into nowhere

which of course has a name

the “pineapple express” brings torrential rain to our south and east

people wearing anything know where it is

they live there

work there

cold air from Canada

twenty degrees below normal

brushes past the great lakes

anywhere but here

where people with sunny smiles enjoy beautiful weather

bright, seventy degrees, November

how long will it last?

FOR OPENERS

so how is the garage door important?

if it does not open . . .

or the driver's side door on my truck?

ditto

full moon

sameo sameo

great temples do not last

even the pyramids

are becoming sand

but my driver's license may survive them all

a digital inheritance

social security number

date of birth

information wants to persist

our DNA wants to persist

so I am the repository of our most valuable asset

aren't you?

humanity is its own treasure

an argument for crows and humming birds as well

have we all forgotten where we are?

the laws and leaders?

our planet spins in scientific circles

oceans circulate our humors, averaging extremes

leaders, pyramids, volcanoes, technological wonders

vie for center stage

mystics hurl asteroids and other neglected realities

will the center hold?

dreams of a youthful hayride that never happened

that doesn't matter now

what matters is getting the garage door fixed

before torrential rains

samsara outlasts everything

and without it

no nirvana

COMMUNICATION

the forest on my arm looks over

a well worn

familiar landscape

no admission fee

not far to go

no tents

anyone can see it

Tabitha purrs and purrs

her ears get warmed at intermission

she melts into the forest

THIS

as long as it took to get a human body

even so a collection of thoughts

words are the assembled forces of generations

great armies follow these forces

civic structures rise out of them

and fall because of them

great leaders know this

the least of us who do not know

are movers of thought who sit without it

not trying to move anything

FALL

leaves of the liquid amber tree

in bright sun slowly changing

yellow, brown and red

grey haired temples

just so

FREEDOM

walking along a country road is of not much interest

to financial institutions

our planet might be trampled

bees, antelopes and humans might disappear

the universe will continue

regardless of civilization

if nuclear war or climate change might do it

not having a glass of wine will prevent it?

recycle used oil, plastic and paper

ro-sham-po

presto-changeo

earthquakes happen

corporations are not the only evil ones

tsunamis also happen

and whose heart is entirely gold?

global warming now brings Arctic cold to freeze our nation

better have a blanket

some bottled water

jingle bells, drying wells

ho, ho, ho

our favored status is being demoted in secret banker's meetings

middle class evaporating

walking down your favorite road

out of gas yet?

before then invest in yourself

cultivate who you are

appreciate freedom