Friday, December 31, 2010

Always Together, Never Again


We always said we would always be together
          Never dreamed of being one without the other

Always be together, at least in these short lives
          No one can say how we first met or why

Those long hours we spent wrapped in each other
          Always waking up with you so warm by my side

I can imagine my own death and some endless stillness
          But I can never imagine being without you

I see our skeletons intertwined on a quiet, hidden hilltop
          Every year we both bleach away just a little more

Always together and slowly fading away as one
          So where now is that love which never ended?

We were made for each other, as we always said
          And when each is finished is that purpose simply quenched?

The joy that you give me that helps light this world
          Without any living memories, tell me where is it found?

The peace and security we create for each other
          Tell me how will it be when we both are gone?

Always together through death into an unimaginable future
          Clinging to each other as we bob towards the unavoidable abyss

Yet we choose to live our lives in love and uncertainty, but not in fear
          The irrational choice of the rational facing this vast unknown

There is no armor but our love, in this long and hopeless struggle
          Our only hope springs from the light we radiate from within

And as we slip away and our hands grow cool though we are touching still
          We can no longer plan for the comfort of each other

Always together, but where were you those first 14 billion years?
          And I fear that you will leave me once again for an even longer time

Tattered Gray Shadows


memories of all the good times
fewer stories, oft-repeated

the tie that binds when the cord is cut
obscene tirades not remembered

the great old oak that roots the clan
at last upturned with roots exposed

one who has known you for all of your days
more demanding than your child

that person once so very active
that man now lying in his own wastes

keeper of what they used to say
simply entranced by TV games

happy model for our golden years
unlikely plans for resuming life

one who helped you when you were helpless
you cannot really help her now

he who, smiling, made it look so easy
now you find you have no answers

lives of dignity and quiet virtue
ignored by strangers at their day jobs

strong men who fought in the greatest war
gray shadow struggling to sit up for dinner

enjoying a life of wise contemplation
lying awake in a confusing silence

doing things there was never time for
squirming over bedpans and suffering from bedsores

spending time with the grand kids
frightened children at a stranger’s bedside

passing on rich memories and great lessons
mementos committed to the dumpster

secure enough after a life spent saving
nest egg plundered by corporate health care

skills for living honed and sharpened
quiet desperation among real strangers

committed forever to a soul partner
left alone to sort out the tatters

enjoying a healthy, active lifestyle
watching their bags fill through tubes

making plans and talking trips
but riding everywhere on their backs

watching fat and getting fiber
eating dog food to stay on budget

seeing the grand children growing up
mistaking your daughter as her child

wisely tending to the household
being fleeced by thieves and cons

passing away with quiet dignity
bilked one last time by the funeral ‘industry

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Finding My True Place In The End


Take a deep breath, at least one of the molecules entering your lungs came from Caesar's last breath. Enrico Fermi
There will still be a place for me amid the inorganic and the inanimate
Taking part in the complex cycles of the atmosphere here on earth
Cycling with the moon as she waxes and she wanes
Flowing with the tides in steady and peaceful respirations

Falling with the gentle rain from clouds of mist above the valleys
Crashing on a rocky shore with no one there to see
Carried upon the wind that always blows across the southern ocean
Inhaled by the plants in one form and respired in another

Circulating deep within the ocean around the globe for many centuries
Exposed with the dancing motes of dust backlit by a shaft of sunlight
Thrust up with the mountains built during vast tectonic plate collisions
Flowing with many different rivers through long inter-glacial epochs

Glowing with the northern lights in the star-filled Antarctic sky
Part of me in the rolling dawn and sunset that travel around the world
Ingested by the plant eaters and left behind to nourish wildflowers
Breathed in by living organisms to become part of them as well

Reacting in the upper atmosphere with the sunlight that sustains
Escaping into the quieter reaches where the planet’s gravity is not measured
Subducted down below the earth’s crust to flow up again with the liquid magma
Part of some few molecules in certain raindrops of every passing storm

Refracted briefly in a rainbow visible from one empty spot on the desert floor
Locked for centuries in the bogs or for millennia in coal deposits
Merging with the sun when it grows to claim us in its old age
Rippled by the passing of the cosmic background energy

Falling as snow and merging with the icecap for a thousand centuries
Rising with the smoke of countless burning fires
Riding with the earth around the sun, through the milky way, across the universe
Part of the biology of your sorrow and the chemicals released in your laughter

In one layer of stone finally exposed once more to the morning’s light
Helping conduct the voices of the birds and the calling of the insects
Freezing up as winter darkens, gliding down with the falling leaves
Blind chemicals from me reacting in someone’s creation of a work of genius

Consciousless but swirling, in those patterns perceived only by the living
Busy with the cycles of the inorganic and the radiations of the life force
Part of me was part of them and will be part of you as well as all of this

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Planned Departures

        Globally, Over 1 million people a year die by suicide - WHO
He punched the cruise control, undid his safety belt and aimed for the tree
          He lived several moments, merged with the wreckage and branches

The car idled in the garage, a hose running from its exhaust into the window
          The CD changer played on and the dead man spilled a bit of red wine

The shotgun he had fired with his toes lay near his crumpled torso
          The inside of his head splattered and misted the wall behind him

The last step took him over the cliff and the acceleration energized him
          Fully awake hitting the rocks he never made another movement

He beat his wife, finished the case of beer and then called the police
          He threatened them with his empty shotgun until they riddled him with bullets

He saved up his pain meds, though he suffered, yet he remained quite silent
          One evening he took them all and drowned quietly in his own vomit

After drinking for hours they roared off upon their powerful new jet skis
          The force of their impact killed him even before his friend drowned

He overate and then smoked, drank heavily and laid about for many years
          The crushing pain in his chest came one day, like a prize in the mail

She lay in the now cold bathtub water stained pink with her blood
          Her wrists were neatly slashed and her shapely legs were nicely shaved

She said her goodbyes to each of the family as they gathered all around her
         She willed herself to be gone and simply ended the pain and the weakness

He was strapped into the explosives through a mumbling of prayers and praise
          After the Mullah triggered his flight by cell phone, his family celebrated

Lost in a stoned depression his subconscious purposely ignored a dump truck
          His shabby little car was crushed as it ground him into a juicy pulp

Left for another, she shortly stepped off the platform just in front of a train
          There was not much left to clean up and the funeral was very small

Sealing dry cleaning bags over his head, he sat quietly and turned quite blue
          Condensation had formed by the time his youngest child entered the room

With a noose round his neck attached to the ceiling he kicked away the chair
          He struggled gagging in the air for a five minute eternity

He strapped on a great rock, tied up his hands, then jumped into the water
          he took a breath at ten feet, choked and inhaled but one more time

She overdosed not quite on purpose but surely not purely by accident
          The attendants discussed the fine augmentation work done on her breasts

Fortified with a quart of vodka, he vowed to end this Winter in the snow
          He was not cold for long and soon he fell asleep and did not awaken

Poised high over the bay with a strong tide rushing out far below, he leaped
          Crabs, mollusks and scavenging fish cleaned him up pretty quickly

Unable to stand his continuing success, he put his small plane into a tail spin
          I read that he was a good pilot on a clear day, without mechanical issues

Facing life with no possibility of parole he dissed the leader of the blacks
          One day later they knifed him to ribbons underneath the showers

Depressed over a lack of attention, her suicide attempts kept her alive
          As a fatal overdose overtook her, she realized her mistake

Strung out on the last of his crank he began to mix another batch
          The explosion and fire burnt his toothless face beyond all recognition

Flushed with an early success the guitarist bought his first new motorcycle
          His long golden hair was matted with the contents of his skull

At midnight of the shortest day the medicine man finished his great circle
          His people evinced little sadness as he was now with their ancestors

Far from any trail he found a spot beneath a spruce facing south with a grand view
          He took the pills and waited for the crows, hoping never to be found

Exceptionist Just Desserts


You drove in air-conditioned comfort on even the shortest of unnecessary errands
The toilet in your tiny nursing home room has become an impossible destination

You lamented that the big box chinese stores were all so far away
Now you are so lucky with a super WalMart right next to your house

You ate as much as you wanted of all the wrong foods for too many years
Finished that up without any insurance for your multiple medical conditions

The brave accomplished your mission and you had a great photo op
But the media conspirators followed that up with cruel ongoing coverage of the thousands of dead

It was so hard back then without any fast food drive-thru places
Now I can grab a quik lunch to eat in the car on my way to my next showing

You re-financed and took equity for great vacations on your credit card
Your house is worth less than you owe but your payments keep going up

You kept rolling newer cars into more expensive leases just to drive to work
Laid off and unemployable it’s funny how you can’t even sell that POS

You often wondered why your mother was bitter and angry on your visits
Now you sit in a drugged silence between institutional meals with soap operas droning

You kept your waterfront lawn green with fertilizers and pesticides
You were outraged as the fish all died when the poisoned water turned into algae soup

You put your complete faith and trust in private dialog with your personal savior
You thought you ascended safely to heaven, never glimpsing the empty truth

You spent hundreds monthly on creams, supplements and rejuvenators
Fashionistas take your foolish measure with half a glance then simply ignore you

You always carried plastic-bottled water to stay hydrated as you drove around
Their factory was not far below where others were releasing your half-treated wastes

You deftly combined stress, overeating, drinking and inactivity for years
Now they turn you carefully twice a day like some fat and overcooked bratwurst

You drank yourself into a stupor upon every possible occasion
All of that lost time now just makes your too-brief life seem even shorter

You stuck to mouthing the core values of voters targeted by your financial backers
Gridlock, bad planning, fiscal immaturity and arrogance is your legacy

Your knowledge of sports and entertainment was both wide and deep
It dispassionately evaporated like the water in your tissues upon your demise

You smirked and shook your head over those ignorant, poverty-stricken lands
Now your boomerang children hear they have steady jobs, good housing and even buy new cars

You met your retirement head on just like all the challenges you had faced
You collapsed on the 5th fairway in a lime green shirt and funny white shoes after 8 months

You leveraged a second home for family gatherings in some toney region
You visited maybe three times and they sold it off just as soon as you died

You felt safe in your monster truck the size of a Russian family apartment
You hurt your knee because it was unsuitable for carrying a few groceries

You made your own rules with guns, knives, fists and your powerful muscles
You finally took your own life soaking in your stale and smelly piss in a wheelchair

You were aggressively noisy, proudly ignorant and fiercely independent
Your back and your hemorrhoids brought you to welfare and Medicaid

You ate nothing but pre-prepared corporate food, often for days at a time
Now you live large under the hot lights of the earlybird cafeteria specials

You sold your vote to the most attractively packaged puppet that was dangled
You’re angry at somebody because your debt just grows and the job you just lost was shit

Cheap illegales worked quietly inside and outside of your oversized trophy home
Now their foreign tongue is everywhere and they vow to re-take your land

You blew off school and took up some now-forgotten extreme sport and old video games
Now you think maybe some kind of sales job might just work for you

You bravely rode looking tough without a helmet and your lip curled up in a Harley sneer
You breathe, eat, shit and piss through tubes and you can’t move a single muscle

You gave in to their every whim in hopes that they would always be your friends
They lay near half-eaten snacks on your couch greasy, tattooed and pierced

You got a good job cutting down the old forest and said, well, fuck them tourists, anyway
Now the big trees are all gone and no visitors ever come and you have no job

You followed leaders who relied on faith in god tempered with a studied ignorance
Their colossal blunders have sacrificed your future and forfeited your morality

Sunday, December 26, 2010

He Rides With Me


He rides with me
          Long bony fingers rest lightly upon my shoulder
He stands behind me
          He casts a shadow upon me even under noonday sun

He takes rest with me
          He reeks of the earthy smell of my own decay
He laughs with me
          He sees my toothless skull beneath the sandy soil

He looks at me
          From somewhere within my dying father’s eyes
He comforts me as he holds me close
          when I can no longer bear the pain

He waits with patience for me
          While my short moments come to pass
He drinks with me
          And he helps me to see how old you know I have become

He trains with me
          As I prepare to take him on
He believes in me
          And truly I can never fail him

He flees with me
           We look back for him together
He stays with me
          Always just a careless moment from leaving for good

He prays with me
          With his toothy grimace, ever unchanging
He closes his hollow eyes with me
          In case the bell should toll while I sleep

He reminisces with me
          His dry cackle sending the noisy crows into the air
He takes to the road with me
          As we seek the kindness of some good soul to bury me

He rolls the dice with me
          Someday those grinning snake eyes will come up at last
He gives thanks with me
          For without life he does not exist

He takes chances with me
          But never does he lose his grip upon my naked soul
He grows careless with me
          And he lets me make it easier for him to do his job

He grieves with me
          And his tears are as cold as any November rain
He forgets with me
          Yet through dreams he always keeps in touch

He smells the Spring with me
          Even as we rest alone in the darkness of February
He rages with me
          But there is no rage to be found within him

He breathes with me
          And every single breath reduces my precious finite store
He believes with me
          Without any wavering from the goal that we share

He grows fatigued with me
          And his shadow increases in its length and darkness
He wastes time with me
          For to him it is indeed just the same

He gasps for air with me
          Thereby gaining more of his real voice
He absorbs the world with me
          As he prepares to begin my sifting back to the earth

He goes to war with me
          Soundlessly he greets those with my brothers
He answers the call with me
          Steadying my gait upon this pre-ordained path

He contemplates forever with me
          Yet he is but the mute doorman to the void
He is frightened with me
          But he whispers that soon I will fear no more

He tells lies with me
          Only laughing out loud when I lie to myself
He stumbles off to sleep with me
          My snoring and my mumbling help him to frighten children

He fades away with me
          Until my bones are bleached so white and very pure
He stays at home with me
          Quiet and clean until my time has come

He struggles for life with me
          And in the end he is there beside me
He makes deals with me
          Somehow I miss the details just like all the others

He asks for mercy with me
          For she is, after all, his saintly sister
He views the microcosm with me
          His hand ever upon me, watching their lives play out

He grows pale with me
          But for him, it is a sign of increasing strength
He makes foolish mistakes with me
          Just to illustrate how close he always remains

He reeks of life just like me
          Maybe a little more damp but very earthy
He sits up with me
          Staring into the dark with those huge empty eyes

He drives too fast with me
          His grip ever tightening upon my shoulder
He helps himself with me
          And he might envy all the fat that he will never have

He watches the sunset with me
          Our dusty smiles and tattered looks, one and the same
He heads off alone with me
          Always just as close as that last mistake

He smiles with me
          For he is always grinning, in any case
He kisses ass with me
          It is the kiss of death no matter what

He finds time with me
          Just the same he counts the knots every day
He loses consciousness with me
          Knowing all the while if it will return

He blasphemes with me
          Laughing at the slightest unease that I might feel
He gets quite sick with me
          Finding my feverish ruminations entertaining

He fucks with what I call my soul
          But that is neither his real job nor his true purpose
He slays the enemy with me
          And together we watch ourselves lay down til I die

He finds fault with me
          Shrieking with inner joy at the life that’s left within me
He wanders aimlessly with me
          Every stop a ticket punched on my chosen route

He stands in the rain with me
          Our dirty clothes all wet in the shadow of a rainbow
He fears the unknown sounds of the night with me
          My anticipation seems to draw him nearer

He performs one routine task after another with me
          A monotony of boredom before my delivery to the emptiness
He sees all this suffering with me
          His whispers of the causes and the meaning, I never quite hear

His vision fades with mine
          As the grasp I only thought I had upon the world grows ever weaker
He stands shivering in the snow with me
          But he is ever so much colder without any flesh

He pays back debts with me
          And in the end I still owe him everything
He becomes lost in thought with me
          But those brief moments are deducted just the same

He strays off course with me
          Yet the path we take remains just as straight
He makes friends with me
          During that brief interval between the ashes

He performs unspeakable acts with me
          Faithful witness to any heinous crime
He ignores advice with me
          Howling madly at the moon as we lurch along our way

He finishes jobs with me
          Every motion just one more decision that cannot be undone
He bites feeding hands with me
          But there is no joy within him from my folly

He watches others pass away with me
          Silent and alone, his emptiness fills my thoughts
He stays far away with me
          But no matter where I roam, where I am going always stays as close

He casts down his eyes and I am grateful
          As some kind soul digs my small place
He works through the pain with me
          My age a weight that slowly increases my burden

He fears for the safety of my loved ones with me
          Never losing sight of the next possible random life changing event
He evolves from dust to dust with me
          No simple journey but certain just the same

He waxes and wanes from ashes to ashes with me
          And it is not like he has never been there before
He gazes fixedly with me
          Wondering how I could have forgotten our noble cause

He founders and fails with me
          Knowing that I reach his goal under all possible scenarios
He considers the devil with me
          Not explaining what I will only understand when he shows me

He questions god with me
          But his job is finished before my nails stop growing
He feels immortal as much as me
          For he cannot realize that he, too, must perish when life is no more

He looks directly into the sun with me
          Still, no light can penetrate those empty sockets
He frolics by a fantastically colored sea with me
          He is so sober he never knows that he is stoned

He bears witness with me
          His mute testimony forever ignored by the righteous
He stops passersby with me
          They sense our closeness and try to get away

He seeks the eternal with me
          But he cannot know that some day he too will have no more work

In His Image


The hare-lipped                                       The stillborn
The club-footed                                       The myopically near-sighted
The walleyed                                           The retarded
Those with heart murmurs                      Those with Spina Bifida
The juvenile diabetic                               The hereditarily obese
Those born addicted                                Those without limbs
The dwarfed                                             The congenitally angry
The truly ugly                                          The stone deaf
The scarred                                              The pink-eyed albino
The hermaphrodite                                  The cross-eyed
The miscarried                                        The breech birthed
Those with Down’s Syndrome               Those strangled by their cords
The very mute                                         The dead twin
The Idiot Savant                                     The unwanted
The sterile                                               The illegitimate
Those with dead mothers                        Those with infantile paralysis
The bleeders                                            The fetally undernourished
Those expelled by a kick to the groin     Those larger than the birth canal
Those with cleft palates                          Those full of lead and mercury
The heart murmurers                              The aborted
Those born of rape                                  Those without immune systems
The unresponsive                                    The fish-fingered
The mutant doomed                                The lactose intolerant
The autistic                                             The oxygen starved
The pre-natally infected                          The hopelessly premature
Those born to children                            Those born to prisoners
The very frail                                           The infant cancer victims
Those quickly perishing from unknown causes     Those born without fathers
The unknowingly blind                           The chronically normal

Friday, December 24, 2010

Just A Small Turtle

From "The Lives of the Reptilian Saints"
I saw a small box turtle
          next to the roadway,

emerging from the bushes
           he stuck out his neck

And the commuter traffic roared by
           not slowing down a bit

Just a small turtle, all alone on his way,
          why must he cross? What does he seek?

As humans fly by, encased in their cars, as he in his shell
          millions of years of survival never trained him for this

He ducks in his head at the massive vibration of a semi
          Its wheels rumble close and a dark shadow blasts overhead

Without a movement he feels hidden upon the yellow centerline
          Then cautiously extends just the tip of his nose

Women pass by too closely, oblivious on their cellphones
          Brave men in pickups consider swerving over top this little thing

Many minutes pass until he reaches the very crown of the highway
          Just a small turtle with a very short life, and certainly no soul

I barely recognize him as I pass by lost in my AM fog
          But somewhere inside me his small struggle evokes a long-lost pathos

I keep on driving but my thoughts focus and remain
          I slow down and turn round to return and help him cross

My thoughts are lifted, for once, on the way to some lackluster work
          Perhaps one small deed can really begin a larger change

Only a moment too late do I return to the scene
          For though not yet dried, he has re-entered the eternal void

Just one very small turtle crossing our busy highway
          Just one more small accident on the road to my personal perdition.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Finally, Really Out Of Time


When you realize that you may be almost out of time
          Things swim into focus that you know now you never really noticed
The preciousness of the dullest moments you once ignored
          Become quite apparent as you are led off to be rewarded
A series of  last times and silent goodbyes lead to new conclusions
          And things as they are molt into merest memories for you
And though voices call out as you are peeled away
          The path you must take only leads you further and further astray
Then there are those few brief moments so inexplicable and sweet
          And you try to pause within them but they vanish like the dew
And if one finally realizes the very preciousness of the ordinary
          The busy world goes on around, quite unfairly, without a second thought
When at last perched on the brink of that chasm our thoughts can never fill
          Slowly grows an awareness of that awaiting unknown, so dark and so very still
Colors seem somehow brighter, familiar voices ring much more dear
          Though they don’t yet see it as clearly, their time is also very near
There is no more daily rush to nowhere then back again every night
          And now there is this fearful separation from the herd that you must fight
The burden of increasing uselessness grows heavy and confounding
          Food and drink can be tasteless with no real life to surround them
Memories boil up from places far away and all those times that did not last
          It becomes easy to imagine a hidden goodness in the distant past
Opportunities squandered and chances not taken return to haunt
          things you took for granted all those years re-appear just to taunt
Some come to sell you jesus, some come to relieve you of your assets
          The drugs remove your fight but still you lie awake in the night
Chance events from childhood on, strive to weave a full quilt of meaning
          Feverishly your mind keeps seeking some pattern before your leaving
The little ones are brought by to stand in wide-eyed apprehension
          friends and cousins may briefly pause and ask themselves a question
Some perish in a fiery instant, some linger painfully and grow quite bitter
          But many long-held but false assumptions will never even be reconsidered
Some may find great peace in knowing faith alone will see them through
          Others continue to ignore those who pimp religion’s pretty whore
All our lives we comfort in the fact that we always have tomorrow
So it’s quite hard to accept there is no more time to be borrowed
Can I draw from long hours spent praying or squandered in front of TV
          Do I await a re-uniting with those loved ones who left in front of me
Some make wondrous plans for a future others see shrouded in uncertainty
          Faith-based reservations can be made but arrival comes without a guarantee
We can still speak of someday but there are many things that won’t get done
          We can try to forget and to ignore but it will never be again like it was before
It was never supposed to come to this, not for me, in any case
          Dying was like being old, possible only for some other race
My grandma said she would never leave me, but long ago she went away
          I still did not grasp it all, even when mom and dad could not stay
And now as I lay here, so stiff and very still, I see others who have different plans
          To them it is very obvious I cannot escape, but that they most surely will

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Lines From Our Obituaries

Among his hobbies were going out to eat and watching NASCAR races
She always coordinated her pre-planned outfits with utmost care

He had an impressive collection of pornographic websites saved on computer
She cooked them delicious meals using canned and pre-packaged ingredients

He enjoyed driving his loud pickup truck with its expensive custom mufflers
She drove safely while talking on her cellphone and sipping expensive lattes

He spoke with Jesus regularly after the deep shock of his mid-life coronary
She was serious about watching every single episode of all her favorite TV shows

His own opinions were often voiced by others on television, the internet and radio
Vacation planning was an important aspect of her life satisfaction

They enjoyed discussing sports and movies with him after boring meetings
All her trash was always tied up neatly inside of shiny plastic bags

He owned several weapons which he enjoyed firing in his spare time
Her granddaughter was a single mother before her grandma was 45

He only drank to excess on the weekends and missed very little work
She put 15000 miles a year on an SUV that never left their town

He was a valued patron of the gaming industry and nearly a poker expert
She was on a gossiping first name basis with the stars in all her magazines

His yard was always cut short and quite green and his garage was very clean
She was so attractive that she remained a hooker until well after turning 40

His knowledge of beer commercials was impressively encyclopedic
She was ever feisty despite her emphysema, diabetes and obesity

He pursued a career in drug addiction and did graduate work in prison
She worked full-time and raised children with absolutely equal attention to both

He drove heavy equipment and found it unnecessary to ever read
She was a professional real estate agent who made friends very quickly

He had no patience with those worn-out, liberal cowards who live in France
She supported our troops and hoped they all came back safe and sound

He rolled his credit card debt into his home mortgage on three occasions
She decorated every year for each season and every holiday

He had a healthy mistrust of fuzzy thinkers such as scientists
She always kept her hair dyed right down to the roots

He took his wife to Las Vegas for that very special 25th anniversary
She never drove around the town with her car windows down

In his mind, he carried his excess weight like so much powerful muscle
She was proud of her gifted children and kept them strictly to their meds

He brought them the latest home entertainment he had bought on shaky credit
She got a part-time MBA and was quickly advanced to middle management

He financed a loud Harley and dressed up expensively for short rides on Saturdays
She tried to banish her cellulite with the various creams she saw on TV

He was never observed to simply be out walking - Anywhere, anytime
She eased the suffering of menopause with alcohol, pills and bitchiness

He began saving for retirement around age 55, but the economy then went south
Her friends all said she was a wonderful home entertainer

Despised by subordinates, dismissed by superiors, he was quite irrelevant at home
She tried hard to visit her Mom at the nursing home at least once a month

He loved the outdoors and drank beer there as often as he could
She learned to cook her own Meth in the kitchen of their apartment

As a high-powered sales executive he put his people skills to good use
Sometimes she power-walked for up to 20 minutes after lunch

When he went on vacation, people often thought that he must be quite well off
She fed the birds and squirrels as she poisoned the ants and wasps

He cut to the chase, stayed on message and met the bottom line at the end of the day
She believed in women’s rights and liked it when men held the door for her

He worked with great loyalty and they downsized him without a second thought
She delighted in tormenting her Ex for years after he unceremoniously kicked her to the curb

He honestly did not know the tired man staring at him from the mirror
She had a white, fuzzy, little dog that she talked to like a baby

He often had a strong urge to beat someone to death with his soft bare hands
She spent time in tanning booths because she felt that she was worth it

His barbecue grill cost $1500 and he had a little fridge out there as well
Her jewelry always drew stares of admiration from those in the know

He belonged to that proud fraternity of injured former would-be athletes
She quickly lost 15 lbs and bought stylish new clothes after her divorce

His friends down at the tavern always cashed his check for him on Fridays
She killed germs ruthlessly with the newest anti-bacterial cleanser available

His son once stole his credit card number and bought videogames on the internet
She tried volunteer work but those people did not appreciate her efforts

He tossed his burning cigarette butts aside wherever he might finish them
She spent hundreds a month on high-fat, low-fiber, packaged factory family foods

He sneered at the fool recyclers, tree huggers and energy conservationists
She found a secure job and caged the system for many unproductive years

His goal was to always keep the bed of his pickup truck very clean and empty
She enjoyed the little treat of having her nails done once a week

He always had the time to leer as the young secretaries passed on by
She braided her grey hair, wore Indian turquoise and smoked menthol cigarettes

He was nearly overcome by road rage on several different occasions
She noted happily that she did not grow old as did all her contemporaries

He believed the government should step aside and let him run his business
She devoured countless mystery and romance novels in her bathtub        

Though his eyesight and wind failed him, he never lost his badboy attitude
She survived her husband and got by alone for nearly twenty years

His self-esteem was low as he was but a weak and reviled high school teacher
She trained as a nurse to help others but burned out in a hurry

His great sensitivity denied him success in the Darwinian office arena
She dispensed spontaneously-generated  opinions freely on all manner of subjects

Violence, porn, beer, food and loud noises were the real joys of his life
She adopted each passing new-age fad as a singularly life-changing event

His behavior became more saint-like in proportion to the malignancy of his prostate
She loved baby animals and prepared delicious veal cutlets for her children

He looked forward to retirement and died 15 months thereafter
She clung grimly on to life and, in the end, it cost a cool half a million

He said that we should just level their useless countries with our nuclear weapons
She knew nothing and no one for the last three years of her life

He was taken in mid-flight on a journey he had never planned or reviewed
Her implants still looked good as ever even as they were embalming her

He desperately sought their unearned forgiveness for his abuse, anger and absence
She left behind thousands of cherished knick-knacks that they quickly threw away

His job was sent overseas, they canceled his retirement plan and so he defaulted on his debts
She spoke often of her money problems but saved until the day she died

He mixed business with pleasure until the concoction blew up in his face
She showed the children pictures from their shared past that they could not recall

All his long experience and hard-earned wisdom were totally ignored as pathetically irrelevant
Her old and faded pictures might have been of a woman of great beauty and grace

He built a huge second home as a place where he would try and bring the family together
Sometimes she found herself in tears for no apparent reason

He loved to get behind the wheel where he took control in heavy traffic
She had no desire to be rich or famous and in that she succeeded fully

His former colleagues still mention him every now and then at work
She filled them up with unavoidable guilt during each of their numerous visits

He certainly was not one to try to do more using less
She proudly displayed a knife wound sustained in a bar fight

His service in Vietnam provided a basis for guilt-free and lifelong dependency issues
She ignored livestock manufacturing conditions and shopped family meat on price alone

He shared a pro sports championship along with other loyal fans one year
She said she felt safer riding high in an SUV on the way to the grocery store

He adhered to a strict regimen of alcohol, tobacco, a poor diet and never exercised
She spent thousands on cosmetic surgery and wound up looking like a zombie

He could compare vehicle horsepower over many model years from memory
Her ankles gradually swelled as her obesity worsened her circulation

He often observed wryly to his fellows that when you are dead that you are dead
She knew in her heart of hearts that she was not descended from some ape

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Not So Far From Here


    The December 2004 earthquake released about enough energy to power the United States for six months
Not so far from here a vast destruction rules
          Not so far from here women weep inconsolably

Not too far away parents mourn for their lost children
          Not too far away a little girl sobs for her mother

Far too close the towns are shattered
          Far too close there is mud and dirty water everywhere

Almost here is the overwhelming smell of decaying flesh
          Almost here the artifacts of daily life are strewn about in confusion

Much too near half-naked people wear everything they own
          Much too near the sounds of wailing fill the air

Within our own villages there is no clean water
          Within our own villages we have nothing at all to eat


Not so far from here the cars and buses are scattered and jumbled
          Not so far from here life’s possessions lie broken everywhere

Not too far away the sea has left corpses a mile from its shore
          Not too far away unrecognizable bodies wash up upon the beach

Far too close the injured linger without treatment or even a bit of shade
          Far too close the sun beats upon discolored flesh and broken glass

Almost here a foot protrudes from the shade of a collapsed structure
          Almost here the fishing boats perch upon the ruined houses

Much too near the people are still muddy long days after the great flood
          Much too near the death toll still rises every hour

Within our own villages bulldozers perform burial ceremonies
          Within our own villages relief workers toil without sleeping


Not so far from here salty tears stream down upon their muddy cheeks
          Not so far from here malarial mosquitoes emerge from the flood

Not too far away a glance reveals artifacts from one more destroyed family life
          Not too far away shouts of the living mix with the silence of the dead

Far too close rotting bodies poison drinking water
          Far too close dysentery and cholera shadow dazed survivors

Almost here entire cities must rebuild themselves from beneath total rubble
          Almost here many millions simply have no homes at all

Much too near a man with nothing places one flower upon a single grave
          Much too near the memory of the black water stirs up fear again

Within our villages the living simply have no lives left to resume
          Within our villages the shock numbs people into a mute disbelief


Not so far from here those who fled find nothing to return to
          Not so far from here are too many in need to be helped in time

Not too far away in the heat the flies begin to swarm
          Not too far away roads are bulldozed clear of once-valuable debris

Far too close the hometown landscape has been warped into powerful desolation
          Far too close children have no schools and parents have no jobs

Almost here the aged sit on the streets under plastic tarps
          Almost here wounds fester untreated for everyone to see

Much too near the dead arrive upon the incoming tide along with more plastic debris
          Much too near the bloated bodies decay into anonymity

Within our villages there is no running water or electricity
          Within our villages the great tide filled the land with sewage


Not so far from here there has been no food for many days
          Not so far from here the weaker begin to perish once again

Not too far away the colors of destroyed lives are all of a muddy brown
          Not too far away desperate hands reach out in supplication

Far too close unpaid volunteers work tirelessly for days on end
          Far too close many good spirits have been overwhelmed

Almost here pockets of faith and trust survive
          Almost here video captures this great collage of human suffering

Much too near the once fertile soil is now laced with toxic salts
          Much too near the faithful wonder at the will and mercy of their god

Within our villages orphans cling to each other for support
          Within our villages heroes honor the dead with their service to the living

Monday, December 20, 2010

Like time to a stone


like the long spring twilight so slowly fading but not quite ending
          the dark winter's night without any real beginning

like the endless school year when we were still young children
          time, to a stone, as it is ground into sand by a stream

like the trees never growing though seen every day
          the changes on our own faces, so difficult to notice

like the loss which hurts less often than it did at first
          the future that contains us knowing only one direction

like the threads that lie scattered without cause or effect
          the lines of our lives flow then end, with no change in pressure

like the volcanic islands which arose, flourished and were swallowed
          the constant roar of the ocean as it is pounds away on a shore

like the day of the year which shifts light into dark
          the memory of a lonely figure fading off into a dusk

like the smallest of details which plagues one for long years
          the certainty of our passing can never quite be ignored

like the vision that visits in time of our greatest need
          there is this mute summons served without any notice

like the confusion that we sense at the center of so many things
          comes a slow perception that quietly aids in our adjustment

like the fearless zeal of those who know very little
          the honesty of children which cannot be ignored

like the brief moment we spend as ourselves on this blessed earth
          our un-measurable fraction of all of time grows ever smaller

like the two atoms fusing brightly in a far-off star
          the smallest cause can bring about the biggest change

like the simplest ideas that transform entire societies
          only the best teachers can explain all things to their children

like the way that details appear when one walks upon the land
          the faster we can go the less we are able to notice

like the myriad drops forming a river that’s now lost in the ocean
          those experiences unfolded into someone we had known

like the way the dawn ends so very quickly
          the morning builds quite slowly and then disappears

like the distance light travels while we are sleeping
          the multiverse measures our allotment with utmost precision

like the strain in our voices that was never there in the past
          the stranger with failing eyes shuffling up to the mirror

like the end of the day as we finally drift off into sleep
          the journey of the dying is taken alone, by one and by all

like the time that you wake up not a child anymore
          the days of our wisdom pass quickly in a dimming of our senses

like the home only dreamed of and the childhood but imagined
          the long distant future is as empty for any as for all of the others

like the many days so far gone that we have forgotten when we forgot them
          the unknown we emerged from lies infinitely open before us

like the things which once moved us and the songs in our hearts
          a quiet contemplation becomes a means to our end

like the far distant stars which move but little no matter our puny time frame
          things pass so quickly for so long and then comes nothing more

like the years passing by ever faster than we can grasp them
          the volume of uncertainty increasing geometrically

like the jagged lightning, we are hurled to the earth
          the endless days that follow leave but a random pile of pearls

like the holy blue planet in whose shallows we bathe in the light
          the darkness eternal surrounds while enfolding us into long night

like the countless tiny creatures with crucial lives to attend to
          the nearness of the emptiness spurs us on to but small actions